I think the concept that Black people need to educate White people about race is total bullshit.

But I also can't deny that moving to the South and having Black coworkers who talked about their feelings vis-a-vis Charleston and the removal of the Confederate flag has totally changed my White, upper-middle-class, mid-60s liberalish dad's viewpoints about race. Before he moved there he thought about what you would expect from that demographic. And last time I saw him he started a conversation with me about the shittiness and reality of white privilege and literally used the term "white privilege" all on his own. His parents were involved in the Civil RIghts movement but he's spent the past 40ish years in all-White communities, and had the normal amount of White fragility as a result (i.e. a lot). I love my dad but I really never expected he'd ever progress that much on the topic, and wow, he really has.

One thing he keeps saying is that it feels like such a relief to be talking about race out in the open. And from growing up White in all-White communities, I think a lot of White people would benefit from a forum where they could sit down and talk openly about race and ask all the dumb questions they want, followed by getting knowledge dropped on them. But I cannot imagine asking any POC to subject themselves to that (I wince wondering how patient my dad's coworkers had to be).

And yet if the discussion is all White people, then you're basically having yet another White discussion about race where the voices and experiences of POC are shoved in the background, or at best reported second-hand.

In an ideal world White people research this on their own and figure it out, but I don't know if that kind of self-driven mind-changing has happened ever in the history of any oppressor/oppressed dynamic. But, as I said: the concept that Black people need to shoulder the burden of educating White people is total bullshit. I don't know what the answer is.