To the Editor:

To the town I love so much I’m willing to push you, I write to you, a town who helped raise me and grow me to the woman I am and working on becoming. A woman who is working to become more okay with uncomfortable conversations, one who is working to be more willing to risk relationships in the name of anti-racism, and one who is trying to continuously figure out how to make the world a more equal and just place. I write to you with a charge — to start getting uncomfortable.

Newtown was one of the most comfortable places I have ever lived. Newtown is comfortable because, in my experience, it was conflict free. But what I’ve learned through seeking personal growth as an adult is that conflict, when handled appropriately, can promote growth and change and should not be avoided.

You may feel exhausted, overwhelmed, guilty, and anxious about everything you’ve seen in the media and social media for the past week or two. Change has never been made because people are comfortable and feel good. Sit in those feelings. Why are you exhausted? Maybe you’re tired from seeing all of the information and peoples’ posts on everything that’s happening — imagine how black Americans feel dealing with racism every day. Are you feeling guilty? White people have benefited from the color of skin since the day we were born and will continue to benefit from it. Take the privilege received by being white and use it to lift up others and promote change. Are you overwhelmed from not knowing what to do? It can seem hard to make actionable change when you’re not a police officer, don’t live around many non-white people, and are not in politics. Fortunately for you, Google, Instagram, and Facebook have numerous resources published that will take you to places to show you the books to read, organizations to donate to, protests to join, and politicians to write to.

What’s not okay is to shut it out. That’s exactly what Newtown makes it easy to do. Close the door to the rest of the world, and if you are white, sit down and eat with your white family and talk about something else. I know it’s so tempting, but don’t do it. Somewhere, a family just like yours but with black skin is sitting and having dinner and talking about how to keep their sons and daughters safe around the police… and while on a jog… and while birding in Central Park… and while sitting in their own homes...

Tonight, after you read this, have an awkward dinner. Learn the right terms, look up and seek out the opinions and voices of black people, and talk about it and make a plan for change. If you’re not sure where to start, here you go: “Did you read that Letter to the Editor in The Bee?”

Looking forward to progress,

Sarah Truitt

200 Rhode Island Ave NE, Washington,DC June 1, 2020