Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America

Dyson describes various ways through which white people can “make reparation” to Black people. White people should transfer some of their resources to African Americans. Firstly, he suggests social support at a financial level. White people could create a Reparations Account for Black youth who have insufficient resources, pay higher salaries or a tax, and support Black veterans. White people should also learn about African American history and culture. He suggests books by American author James Baldwin, American novelist Toni Morrison, American author and professor Audre Lorde, American civil rights advocate Kimberlé Crenshaw, Martin Luther King Jr., and others.

It is also important that white people educate other white people about white privilege. They must participate in protests along with fellow Black citizens. Dyson notes that “white participation” is not simply support of Black people; it is their own “sense of destiny” as American citizens to repent for whiteness (205). White people must also stop viewing Black people as “other.” Making new Black friends will help white people to learn more about the Black community and its diversity. Dyson also suggests that white people visit Black people in schools, prisons, and churches. Hopefully, knowledge of the Black community will urge white people to protest racial injustice.