What if I made a mistake? What if I made it worse? What would people think of me? I might look foolish, and people will realize I am not as competent as they think I am. The truth is, my silence was a clear indicator of my degree of competence. When I feel caught off-guard or experience a new type of racist situation, I often freeze and believe I don’t know what to do. I feel triggered, and all the tools I know and teach seem to disappear from my toolkit.
