And My Little White Lies

By Kim Brassor

One Voice Evolving

I didn’t ask to be born white — or female for that matter. My conception and subsequent birth were both out of my control. Through it all, the only constant has been the color of my skin. It is the one immutable trait that directly affects how I am perceived and treated in this world.

I can change locations globally and alter my social experience. I can resist aging and alter my appearance a myriad of ways.

What I know for sure: my whiteness is an artificial construct that has afforded me opportunities in this country that I did not earn. There is nothing superior about white or light skin just as there is nothing inherently evil about darker complexions. But there is a distinct difference in the way we’ve been treated in society.

So let’s unpack some history about this assumed yet unearned power and placement in time and space.

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Did You Know?

1. Whiteness didn’t exist before colonialism.

It was legally constructed in the 17th century to divide European indentured servants from enslaved Africans, ensuring poor Europeans aligned with elite colonizers instead of joining forces for liberation.

2. The U.S. Naturalization Act of 1790 restricted citizenship to “free white persons,” cementing whiteness as the legal gateway to rights and protections, while Indigenous, African, and Asian peoples were deliberately excluded .

3. The Irish, Italians, and other European immigrants weren’t always considered white.

Their “whiteness” was earned over generations through assimilation, anti-Blackness, and proximity to colonial power.

4. Skin tone privilege is global — but not universal.

Colonial rule exported colorism worldwide, making lighter skin a currency in places from India to the Philippines, tied directly to European imperial occupation.

5. The GI Bill after WWII disproportionately benefited white veterans due to racist banking and housing policies, fueling the racial wealth gap we still see today.

6. Whiteness was marketed as purity.

19th and 20th-century advertising tied white skin to moral virtue and “civilization,” embedding racism into consumer culture and beauty standards.

7. Policing in the U.S. has colonial roots.

Many early police forces evolved from slave patrols and militias designed to protect white property and suppress Black resistance .

8. Even science was weaponized to protect whiteness.

Phrenology, eugenics, and IQ testing were used to claim white biological superiority — all later debunked, but not before influencing policy, immigration laws, and education.

9. White supremacy is a system, not an identity.

Whether or not you personally hold racist beliefs, the system of white supremacy — born from colonial conquest — continues to advantage people racialized as white at the expense of others.

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So Where Does That Leave Us?

If whiteness is not natural, not ancient, not earned — then it’s a story we inherited without consent. A story written to keep us loyal to a system that feeds on hierarchy, fear, and disconnection. And if we didn’t ask for it, we have every right — and every responsibility — to rewrite it.

This isn’t about shame. It’s about clarity.

It’s about choosing truth over comfort, solidarity over supremacy, and humanity over a lie that has gone on far too long.

I’m dismantling my own little white lies — the ones I was raised in, the ones I’ve told myself to stay safe — because I know silence only serves the system.

You’re invited to pick up the pen with me. To unlearn. To resist. To step into a circle where we name the truth and refuse to pass the lie to the next generation.

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🌱 Join the Healing Circle

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The work of unlearning and truth-telling doesn’t just live on the page — it’s woven into the way I move through the world, the conversations I say yes to, and the stories I choose to tell out loud. Recently, I’ve had the chance to share pieces of this journey beyond my own platform, stepping into spaces where vulnerability and honesty take center stage.

🎧 Listen to “Cutting Hair & Cutting Ties” now and find out where my journey has been taking me.

👉 Listen here

And, to get a peek behind the curtain, listen as Janice Vance interviews me on her "Women Majoring in Marriage" podcast: HERE