To My White Neighbors

For a very long time I was apathetic towards racism. As a white man growing up in a predominantly white area, learning from the older generations of white folks around you, that’s very easy to do. My everyday norm was middle class neighborhoods, with well funded schools, industry and many more luxuries and opportunities, existing without diversity was my reality. I believed that in a modern society racism didn't exist because I didn't see segregated water fountains, bathrooms, and restaurants so we were all equal. Even beyond that I would have probably been willing to defend my white neighbors, community leaders, and local strangers against the accusation of being called a racist if it were to ever have come to that. 

Even as I grew in my understanding of the world beyond the bubble I grew up in I was still willing to speak about my communities intentions, word choice, and actions as if their racism was excused by their ignorance, age, or background, never seeing their actions for what they were. Looking through my own lens I was unknowingly invalidating the hurt caused by the actions of my neighbors, too fragile to recognize the racism that existed around me and within me.

To My White Neighbors, stands as a series and opportunity in which I am displaying my own growth, understanding, and research as a White man looking to deconstruct their notion of race, racism, and systematic oppression that exists around me.

Using crackers throughout this series I seek to represent the fragility and uniformity within the blight that is the “modern racist”. As I install, photograph, and perform I explore the tangible and audible brittleness that white people choose to embody while simultaneously drawing awareness and attention specificity of the sight in which the work is installed. I display my own learning process in the hopes that others might be inspired to examine themselves, their lives, and the future decisions they may make.