If #BLACKLIVESMATTER, indeed if #ALLLIVESMATTER, what are you and I going to do about it in 2016? [Note: Updated, May 2020 and April 2021 with new links and resources]
Regardless of whether one believes that the United States has actually achieved “freedom and justice for all,” we can probably all agree that freedom and justice for all is desired, and an ideal aspired to, by all (or, at least, the majority of) U.S. citizens, regardless of our backgrounds or political affiliations.
If we share these common ideals, then why do some people believe we have achieved freedom and justice for all, while others do not? The answer lies in very different life experiences of U.S. citizens, depending on one’s environment, and access to opportunities and resources. It also lies in the stories we tell ourselves about our own roles in our respective “successes” and the blame we place on others for their so-called “failures”.
The idea of the United States as a meritocracy (the “American Dream”) is a deep-seated one, inculcated through education and media over centuries. We do have exceptional heroes and heroines “of color” throughout American history that align with these ideas (W.E.B. DuBois, George Washington Carver, Oprah Winfrey, the Williams sisters etc.). These exceptional examples make it easier and convenient for some to dismiss people who decry the United States as an unjust society as whining, complaining “radicals” (a word that, unfortunately, within the dominant American lexicography, has acquired a negative connotation in mainstream media).
If we are to be truly honest with ourselves about our collective, national history, we will begin to see that there has never been a level playing field among “the races” in this country (or the sexes — a topic for another day).
There are very few individuals alive today that are personally responsible for America’s physically and psychologically violent collective history from the 1600s through the civil rights era, and up through today. Yet we have all inherited it. We may feel powerless to change the path of a history we did not create, but we do have the power, and we are responsible for either its perpetuation or its correction.
As with all things, knowledge is power. And knowledge is freedom. Combined with action, both can lead to justice.
And, so, on this Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in 2016, I make the following challenges to people of all “races” in the U.S.
DEAR “WHITE”* PEOPLE: If committing 3–8 hours of your personal time in 2016 would help our nation achieve freedom and justice for all, would you do it? If your answer is “Yes, of course,” then I challenge you to make this commitment, by doing, reading, and watching the following today or this week:
0. Building an Anti-Racist Workplace (April 2021, 51:21)
Conversation between psychologists Dr. John Amaeci, O.B.E. and Dr. Adam Grant, host of the Work Life podcast
https://www.ted.com/podcasts/worklife/building-an-anti-racist-workplace-transcript
Privilege is “the absence of inconvenience, the absence of an impediment or challenge. And as such, when you have it, you really don’t notice it. But when it’s absent, it affects everything you do.”1. How Structural Racism Works (2017, 60:00)
Dr. Tricia Rose, Director, and Samuel Rosen, Senior Researcher, Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America, Brown University
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bC3TWx9IOUE&feature=youtu.be
This presentation shares ideas from Professor Rose’s on-going research, which aims to make accessible to the public what structural racism is and how it works in society. The project examines the connections between policies and practices in housing, education and other key spheres of society to reveal the intersectional and compounding effects of systemic discrimination as a significant force in American society today. In addition to sharing the outline of the project, Rose and Rosen give examples of how structural racism works in everyday life.2. The Skin I’m In: I’ve been interrogated by police more than 50 times — all because I’m black, April, 2015, by Desmond Cole
http://torontolife.com/city/life/skin-im-ive-interrogated-police-50-times-im-black/3. White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, 1989, by Peggy McIntosh
https://nationalseedproject.org/Key-SEED-Texts/white-privilege-unpacking-the-invisible-knapsack4. “How Studying Privilege Systems Can Strengthen Compassion”: Peggy McIntosh at TEDxTimberlaneSchools, 2012 (18:26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-BY9UEewHw5. “We Need to Talk about an Injustice”
2012, video, 23 minutes, Bryan Stevenson
http://www.ted.com/talks/bryan_stevenson_we_need_to_talk_about_an_injustice?language=en
“In an engaging and personal talk — with cameo appearances from his grandmother and Rosa Parks — human rights lawyer Bryan Stevenson shares some hard truths about America’s justice system, starting with a massive imbalance along racial lines: a third of the country’s black male population has been incarcerated at some point in their lives. These issues, which are wrapped up in America’s unexamined history, are rarely talked about with this level of candor, insight and persuasiveness.”6. White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard to Talk to White People About Racism, 2015, by Dr. Robin DiAngelo
https://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/white-fragility-why-its-so-hard-to-talk-to-white-people-about-racism-twlm/
Dr. Robin DiAngelo explains why white people implode when talking about race.7. Do You Have Advantage Blindness?
2018, by Ben Fuchs, Megan Reitz, and John Higgins
https://hbr.org/2018/04/do-you-have-advantage-blindness
Their research on speaking the truth of unearned privilege to people in power shows there is often a blind spot among the powerful, preventing them from seeing their impact on the less powerful. The authors call this advantage blindness.8. (BONUS!) Implicit Association Test
https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/
“The Implicit Association Test (IAT) measures attitudes and beliefs that people may be unwilling or unable to report. The IAT may be especially interesting if it shows that you have an implicit attitude that you did not know about. For example, you may believe that women and men should be equally associated with science, but your automatic associations could show that you (like many others) associate men with science more than you associate women with science.” Take it and begin to understand how your brain makes judgements you are unaware of.9. (BONUS!)The Untold History of Post-Civil War ‘Neo-Slavery’ (NPR, 2008, 30:28)
Free, streaming online.http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=8905111510. (BONUS!) 75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice
2017, by Corinne Shutack
https://medium.com/equality-includes-you/what-white-people-can-do-for-racial-justice-f2d18b0e0234
Action matters. Here’s an excellent list to get started.
Once you wrap your mind around the implications of the information above, resolve to make a difference, and to learn more (see the reading list here), and to stand next to your neighbors in the hard work of challenging individual unconscious biases and institutionalized biases to achieve a truly just society. James Baldwin points out that “whites” also bear a psychological and spiritual burden as inheritors of, and conscious or unconscious participants in, an unjust system. There is much to gain personally by making such a commitment to learning and action in support of justice.
Begin to insist that the organizations you participate in, and the agencies that your tax dollars support, reflect the demographics of the nation, your state, your county, and your city. If your locality is disproportionately white compared to your county, state, or the nation, then start asking yourself why this is, and how your decisions, beliefs, and unconscious habits might reinforce unequal access for non-”white” groups. Hold the 2016 presidential candidates accountable to enact not only legislation, but to fund enforcement of such legislation to correct the imbalance. Engage with any of the organizations working for social justice, listed at the bottom of the page here.
DEAR PEOPLE “OF COLOR”*: Please stop self-censoring your experiences and thoughts and begin to insist that “white” people expand their horizons to understand and empathize with human experiences outside their own. Even if it makes them defensive and angry, or makes them cry. Even if it makes you vulnerable by making you a target of their defensiveness. Push back on this and don’t allow them to overwrite or consciously or unconsciously dismiss your experience and reality. Give them the list above, and point them here, and then be willing to listen as they process their shock and incredulity, guilt, shame and anger. Then ask them how they can help correct the situation and stand next to your neighbors in the fight to achieve a truly just society. Join forces to hold our elected officials accountable. There is a list of organizations taking meaningful action towards justice and equality at the bottom of the page here.
*”Race” is not real. “White” and “Caucasian” and all of the other “races” are not genetically-important or biologically-meaningful categories. “Race” is a human invention, but one that has very real implications for our lives and our institutions.
