Paola Egonu and our walls

In 2014 Reni Eddo Lodgea young British writer published a post titled «Why am I not talking about racism with white people».

In a handful of lines she declared to the world that she was no longer willing to address the subject.

Why?

Because every time she talked about it she found a wall of disbelief and denial in front of her: her experience was belittled and she was immediately silenced and cataloged as heavy and as a victim.

I find these attitudes in the comments below the interview Paula Egonu.

Paola Egonu, in her latest statements, recounted racist episodes she suffered during her childhood and expressed her concerns about the future: she wondered if, given the circumstances she experienced, she would be ready to give birth to a child for fear of condemning him to death. ‘unhappiness or the same discrimination that she herself has experienced on her skin.

But in front of her, like Reni Eddo Lodge, found a wallthe wall of those who are still surprised or annoyed when someone mentions a racist episode, the wall of those who are unable to put their own experience aside to listen to that of others without having to invalidate or discredit it, the wall of those who prefer to blame or of the ungrateful to those who expose themselves or the wall of those who are more concerned that their country is not defined as racist than to know if it really isn’t.

Is there an answer to all of this?

You can probably find the answer in the book published in 2017, the author Reni Eddo Lodge in fact explains what these walls are, these attitudes and how it is possible to get out of them, she guides us to understand what racism really is and how it manifests itself in everyday life and to realize how we ourselves can be the first to unknowingly convey it.

I hope one day that books like this will no longer have to be written and that interviews like those of Paola Egonu will no longer have to be released but I believe that it will only be possible when people, when it comes to racism, will no longer build walls but will be able to listen , admit that this is a real problem of our society and they will want to work on themselves to be better citizens.