1 White People Are Exhausting White people can be exhausting. Particularly ex­ hausting are white people who don't know they are white, and those who need to be white. But of all the white people I've met-and I've met a lot of them in more than three decades of living, study­ ing, and working in places where I'm often the only Black woman in sight-the first I found exhausting were those who expected me to be white. To be fair, my parents did set them up for fail­ ure. In this society where we believe a name tells us everything we need to know about someone's race, gender, income, and personality, my parents decided to outwit everyone by giving their daughter a white man's name. When I was growing up, they explained that my grandmother's maiden name was I'm Still Here the world, They were teaching me to speak up until those in the back could hear me, School was over. Time for the real world, Turned out Dr. Simms was right, even when I didn't want him to be, 5 Whiteness at Work Confession: By the time I graduated from college, l thought l was the white culture whisperer, I was fearless, I thought any future encounters of racism would rear their ugly heads like purple dragons, and I had no doubt in my ability to slay racist non­ sense wherever I found it, l was so wrong, Far from an imposing beast, I found that white supremacy is more like a poison, It seeps into your mind, drip by drip, until it makes you wonder if your perception of reality is true, Being a Black woman in the professional world of majority-white nonprofit ministries was far more difficult than my younger self could imagine, In school I had been surrounded by whiteness, but colleges often encourage students to question au­ thority, to navigate cultural conflicts, to be creative ...

1. 1
White People Are Exhausting
White people can be exhausting. Particularly ex-
hausting are white people who don't know they are
white, and those who need to be white. But of all
the white people I've met-and I've met a lot of
them in more than three decades of living, study-
ing, and working in places where I'm often the only
Black woman in sight-the first I found exhausting
were those who expected me to be white.
To be fair, my parents did set them up for fail-
ure. In this society where we believe a name tells
us everything we need to know about someone's
race, gender, income, and personality, my parents
decided to outwit everyone by giving their daughter
a white man's name. When I was growing up, they

2. explained that my grandmother's maiden name was
I'm Still Here
the world, They were teaching me to speak up until
those in the back could hear me,
School was over. Time for the real world, Turned
out Dr. Simms was right, even when I didn't want
him to be,
5
Whiteness at Work
Confession: By the time I graduated from college,
l thought l was the white culture whisperer, I was

3. fearless, I thought any future encounters of racism
would rear their ugly heads like purple dragons,
and I had no doubt in my ability to slay racist non-
sense wherever I found it, l was so wrong, Far from
an imposing beast, I found that white supremacy is
more like a poison, It seeps into your mind, drip by
drip, until it makes you wonder if your perception
of reality is true,
Being a Black woman in the professional world
of majority-white nonprofit ministries was far more
difficult than my younger self could imagine, In
school I had been surrounded by whiteness, but
colleges often encourage students to question au-
thority, to navigate cultural conflicts, to be creative