I’m Not Racist — But I’m Not Sure I’m Anti-Racist

What ‘Me and White Supremacy’ taught me about racism and anti-racism

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

White supremacy brings to mind images of the Ku KLUX Klan. I am not a member of the KKK. I am not racist. Then I read Me and White Supremacy by Layla Saad. And I had to ask myself if I AM part of the problem, part of white supremacy.

I might not be racist. Am I anti-racist?

Me and White Supremacy forced me to explore my relationship with Layla Saad’s definition of white supremacy — a relationship I didn’t know existed — and it left me feeling hopeless, that I couldn’t win:

White supremacy is a system you have been born into. Whether or not you have known it, it is a system that has granted you unearned privileges, protection, and power — Layla Saad

I was born white. I have never considered I was born into a white supremacist system. I have never considered that I have unearned privileges, protection, and power. So perhaps the author is correct when she says:-

It is a system that has been designed to keep you asleep and unaware of what having that privilege, protection, and power has meant for people who do not look like you. What you receive for your whiteness comes at a steep cost for those who are not white. — Layla…