Dear Whiteness is a project evoked by our times, and inspired by the likes of Sara Ahmed, James Baldwin, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Claudia Rankine.

Your white friend is whitesplaining colorblindness, or decolonization, or microaggressions, or racism, or slavery, or even white supremacy to you. You would really, really like to school her/him/them a little. But you know their white fragility will not be able to handle it. And you don’t have the emotional wherewithal (let alone the energy), to deal with the fallout that will inevitably come as a result.

Still. You have some stuff you wish you could say.

Say it here. Anonymously.

Think Post Secret meets Missed Connections by Craigslist. Think of Rankine’s Open Letter Project, and the ways in which it generated both a conversation and a body of work on “the creative imagination, creative writing and race.”

If whiteness gains currency by being unnoticed, then what does it mean to notice whiteness?

—“A Phenomenology of Whiteness” | Sara Ahmed | Feminist Theory | 2007

A few ground rules:

• No hate speech, no slurs, no wishing ill/harm on anyone, and no excessive swearing.
• No plagiarism. If you’re citing or quoting anyone, please make that clear, and provide links and/or references.
• No identifying information (both in terms of you, and the person/people who “inspired” your work).

And finally: Please go easy on the ranting/venting. This is absolutely about saying the things you need to say — having them out there in a world — in a way that is safe for you and (hopefully) safe for your relationships with others. But the idea here is to feature considered, thoughtful, high-quality content that feels both personal and universal (in the way that good letters can feel).

Letters that are intellectually and emotionally generous, honest, and rigorous.

Letters that — if our white friends were to read them from a place of real intellectual and emotional curiosity, humility, and receptivity — they might actually learn something about some things that matter.

To all of us.

If you’re still unsure, take a look at what’s already here. And if you’re still unsure after that, feel free to write in and ask.

Letters (and questions) should be sent via email to [address forthcoming]. All letters are published anonymously.