Fighting Racism

You're a Racist!!!!

Uh...that might not work.

Even white supremiscists don't like being called a racist. Their rsposne might be, "you're a racist!" It reminds me of the second grade.

Standing idly by is not an option, but how do we approach this? How can we call people out without a confrontation? Perhaps, we need to start with unconscious biases and unintentional racism. And a great place to start might be ourselves. The first thing you should get over is an almost automatic response, "I haven't got a racist bone in my body!"

Last year, NPR's Eric Deggans came out with a post on Life Kit, 'Not Racist' Is Not Enough: Putting In The Work To Be Anti-Racist. You may know him as NPR's TV critic. He's also spent years exploring how systemic racism affects media and society. He's written a book about it, called Race-Baiter, and built a TEDx talk around how to talk about race across racial lines. Deggans says, "As a Black man who speaks often on these subjects, I find race, racism and anti-racism to be things people think they know but often don't – at least, not as well as they think they do."

Deggans came up with four tips to help us deal with these issue. 

If you have an issue with Tip#1, you have a lot of work to do if you're really serious about this.

Tip #1: Accept that we've all been raised in a society that elevates white culture over others. Being anti-racist will mean first challenging those notions inside yourself.

There's a whole political party that wants to keep you from discovering Tip#2. Somehow, learning the truth is anit-patriotic.

Tip #2: Learn the history of racism and anti-racism, especially in America, to educate yourself about the complexities of the issues you'll be confronting.

Broadening your experience, being open to new ideas (Tip #3), can be enlightening.

Tip #3: Seek out films and TV shows which will challenge your notions of race and culture and dive in deeply, learning to see anti-racism in new ways.

Instead of leading the charge, ask how you can help. Reinventing the wheel only /causes tjose wheels to spin.

Tip #4: Find local organizations involved in anti-racism efforts – preferably led by people of color – and help uplift their voices and ideas.