I had an extraordinary interaction with one of the trainers at my local gym the Sunday morning after a white supremacist- terrorist plowed his car into a group of people. The people were supporting the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, VA. A young woman was killed and over 20 people were injured by the vehicle.
The trainer (I’ll call him Tony - not his real name) is a person that I’ve always had friendly interactions with, but never talked about anything deep. Tony is a white guy in his 20s. He came over and said, “I’m sure you’ve heard about what happened in Charleston. I’m just sick about it. I don’t want this to sound strange and I hope it doesn’t offend you but I just don’t know what to do. I want you to know that I don’t agree with those racists and I want to support you. I want you to know that I’ve got your back, but I just don’t know what to do.”
This show is about the conversation that ensued.
- KBOO