Hey, it's Anna. We are rerunning an episode today about race and friendship. This episode

first came out in January 2020 before the murder of George Floyd and the racial justice

protests that followed. For many of you, that summer changed things, including your closest

friendships. That's also the case for many of the people in this episode. So be sure to

listen next week when we'll have some updates from them. Often throughout our friendship,

I've had the experience of this sense that you're on really solid footing in the relationship.

There's a lot of trust and love there, which there is. But then, you know, your white

friend can just make one comment and it feels like a trap door has opened up from underneath

me and, you know, I'm thrust back into the realities of living in a racist America.

This is Death, Sex, and Money. Friendship is our only social relationship that is purely

voluntary. The show from WNYC about the things we think about a lot. It is only by mutual

agreement and need to talk about more. I'm Anna Sale.

Chrisana White was one of the people who wrote in when I asked for your stories about when

race became a flashpoint in a friendship. Sarah and I, we've been talking about our

friendship in terms of race. And I think it really started after I had my bachelor

at and I didn't invite her.

Chrisana's black and everyone she did invite to her bachelor at party is also black. She

wasn't sure if Sarah, her close friend and coworker would fit in.

She's the only white woman. She's a little older than us. I don't want people to have to

feel like they have to feel to themselves because she's here. And I was like, it just

may be easier to not invite her.

Do you remember feeling like you needed to explain why she wasn't invited?

...