We all carry a version of the truth, and most of us are afraid to claim it out loud.
In Distortion, the voices are unapologetic, volatile, and timely.
The real question is whether you can stomach it.
Can you sit with perspectives that challenge your own?
If you want to read Distortion, the novel is available for preorder now on Amazon — releasing March 1.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GLKLZFN1
Meet Jeff. He has a lot to say about “The White Hero Conundrum.”
“When people hear ‘white guilt,’ they think it’s a crisis of conscience. And maybe that’s true for some. But for me, it feels… paralyzing.”
His shoulders dropped.
“As a white man, I don’t feel allowed to take pride in anything I’ve earned. Every success feels pre-disqualified, assumed to be inherited. Privilege, not earned.”
A few murmurs rose but quickly calmed.
“I don’t know how to build a healthy sense of identity without it being labeled dangerous. Pride becomes white pride. Pride plus identity becomes white power. It feels like I’m defined by a list of crimes I didn’t commit, yet still expected to answer for.”
“So, you’re the victim?” someone snapped.
Jeff flinched but didn’t retreat.
“I’m not saying that,” he said quickly. “I’m saying I’m stuck.”
The room began to lighten. Volatile apprehension became impatient curiosity, a tentative willingness to accommodate.
He inhaled deeply, steadying himself like a man about to use up his last shot.
“Abolitionists acted without the burden of white guilt. Today, we inherit responsibility for past and present atrocities.”
“So do black people!” someone shouted.
Kane raised a red card. Not at anyone. Just a reminder.
Jeff exhaled. The argument fell away. What followed was confession.
“All I know is this,” he said. “I don’t feel heroic; all the hero in me has been suppressed. I feel afraid of being proud.”
“So… why are there no white heroes?”
A fragile calm like the moment before a bomb detonates.
Kane lifted the red card, then lowered it. He listened.
“We teach equity like a closed lecture: wrong on one side, suffering on the other. But there’s no roadmap forward. No explanation of my role.”
The room exhaled.
“The white people who try to help are often reduced to repeating the same approved rhetoric.
“So what does our version of the Underground Railroad even look like now? If I’m not allowed to lead, and I don’t want to perform, what’s left?”
Jeff’s voice softened. “Acceptance seems to require contrition. Empathy isn’t enough. I have to admit guilt to be validated.
“Bottom line is, I don’t think courage can thrive without pride. That isn’t an environment that creates real activism.”
