“People of color have had it bad for so many generations,” says Erica Turner, host of the podcast Bridge the Divide. “It's hard to tell another person, ‘Let me tell you how racism shows up in everyday life.’ It's hard.”
Hosted by Erica and co-host Heidi Wheeler, Bridge the Divide talks about race and social issues in and around Ozaukee county. Erica is talking about how there has been progress on understanding issues of racism in America. But there are still moments where when racism shows up, and those moments aren’t fully understood as a problem. That’s where her work comes in.
“You have people who still say that racism doesn't exist,” says Erica. “The people who are talking about changing policies aren't going to reach this person who doesn't know how racism shows up in the world. Because I'm a relationship builder, it feels like that’s the place where we start. We start from the beginning and we layer up.”
For Erica, holding conversations on racial reckoning is something that she can do because of certain conditions and factors she has in life. She doesn't have to worry about her kids now that they're older; that’s one less energy drain. She also has a desire and a temperament to hash out nuances.
“I do much more calling in than I do calling out,” says Erica. “However, we're still not afraid to show up at the school board meeting. We show up at the common council meeting. We encourage people to write editorials.”
With Martin Luther King, Jr. Day just behind us along with the events at the Capitol, Erica says that conversations on race are still needed. She’s told people about how her son had three neighbors call the cops on him for walking around his own neighborhood.
“You can't have three people call you about something and not come right,” Erica says re-telling the story.
Erica says that when the cops arrived they approached her son and asked him if he was taking a walk. Erica says her son replied, "yeah," and the cops drove off. There wasn't any incident.
"Which is fantastic," says Erica. "This is not the story of George Floyd. But how is it that before you turn 18 you have two or three of these types of incidents that happened to you?”
While these conversations could seem repetitive, Erica says they’re still needed. Otherwise, racism might seem like something that happens someplace else.
“We could very well just leave the people in the ‘burbs to kind of figure things out for themselves or continue to isolate themselves,” says Erica. “But if I am here, I can tell you exactly how I felt when you touched my hair.”
These conversations are tough, and they demand a lot of nuance, but that’s why Erica holds them.
Erica and Heidi are still producing podcast episodes if you want to check some out. They also host book clubs that are going on through Black History Month for those interested. Check out their website to learn more.