I'm looking forward to a quiet day, spent outdoors (if it remains cool enough), tending to my garden, reading, drinking coffee.

The morning started out with a harsh, dismissive attitude from my housemate (we often begin our days with together, communing with the birds and watching the sun rise up over the trees, usually in good humor and harmony).

Today I made the mistake of bringing up yesterday's conversation about the recent trial (she had gone to the Federal Building to join the demonstrators). In her opinion, she's the only white person in our circle of friends, in our congregation, who can speak to the African-American point of view, because she has had a close relationship with an African-American and attended a church in a black neighborhood for years.

She says that the rest of us are children of privilege and have no standing to speak on the subject of race relation, since we (not she) are all prejudiced and ignorant. Did I mention she herself is white?

So any time the subject comes up she is harsh and dismissive, cutting off the speaker (me, in this case) and pronouncing The Truth.

Needless to say, my multi-cultural situations and life experiences don't count. I am dismissed out of hand, no discussion possible when the other person assumes a priori that I (and all of us white folks) am bigoted and ignorant and blind. She alone can speak from the African-American perspective.

It hurt my feelings. This is one topic that Shall Not Be Discussed in our household and I better remember it. She says she's "done" with discussion; we white people need to shut up, sit down, and listen (except for her, of course).

Well, then, OK.

I'm hoping she will go to church soon this morning and leave me to my quiet peaceful loving house. And I will try to recharge my compassion batteries. She is depressed by the tsunami of current war on women, blacks, immigrants, the poor, voting rights--and has obviously had some trauma around this topic and needs to defend herself from all real and imaginary attacks.

Thank you for letting me vent. I feel better now.