Kathy Ford: People of color are treated differently in our society

To The Daily Sun,

Perhaps it would be easier to "get it" if the slogan was Black Lives Matter NOW! Look at it as the "suffrage movement" for persons of color.

While working for the Peace Corp's domestic organization, VISTA, I spent one year in a predominantly black environment. I was viciously verbally accosted once in public because I was a white woman. No one came to my aid. I can't begin to tell you how that made me feel. Imagine knowing that you are judged immediately by the color of your skin or your sex. After that incident I lived in fear daily of being attacked. I felt alone, different and less than for a long time after.

I understand now that being white affords me a certain status in our world. I believe that if we examine our hearts deeply and with brutal honesty we will all realize that we hold some inherent racist beliefs. We need to admit the problem first and then do everything we can to change it.

Persons of color are treated differently in our society. Face it and change it now before the soul of our nation is beyond repair. Stop the violence and hate, it doesn't solve anything. This may be our last chance to get it right.

I beg you to please be kind to one another

Kathy Ford

Laconia