«What so many black women know is what I learned as I sat at the end of a hallway with a dead baby in my arms.» As a white man, I’m used to being treated with respect or at least some basic decency in most encounters in life. It’s often hard to imagine how it could be different, because why would it? Systemic inequality tends to obscure itself to those who are not affected. That’s why pieces like this personal account from writer Tressie McMillan Cottom are so important. If you’d like to read more from her, I recommend reading her book «Thick», of which this piece is an excerpt.

From Weekly Filet #281, in January 2020.