I agree with you, on most of your points. I’ll admit —I’m a white man I have engaged in performative ally-ship (my FB feed is mostly public), and it’s a pretty shallow exercise. Absolutely. It’s just that every now and then, I think it is possible for us wannabe allies to step up and make a difference. I was on a racially tilted jury for a trial that was racially biased, and I’m sure that my efforts contributed to a fairer trial, and helped a young man avoid the label of “dealer” and years in prison. It wasn’t easy. But I had read some of the books and done some of the hard work. I could see my own bi-racial boys sitting in that defendant’s chair. And I was still hard-pressed to step up and speak the truth, to break with white solidarity.

Would I bring my ally-ship to my involvement in the justice system? In the quiet confines of a jury deliberation room, I know the answer to that. Would I try to physically intervene in a situation where a cop is choking a black man or woman to death? I’d like to think so, but I don’t know if I have that level of personal courage. I hope to never find out, and I hope that I don’t stop to think of my privileged white self in any action that I take.