How to Spread Antiracism — Popping the Bubbles of Denial
In Ibram Kendi’s bestseller, How to Be an Antiracist, the core lesson is the assertion that it’s not enough to claim that you’re not racist. Since racism is a default condition of our system, the only option — if we are serious about our distaste for racism — is to be antiracist. Of course, this assumes we accept that systemic racism exists, and regrettably, there are still too many people who don’t.
The many recent high-profile tragedies have awakened more White people from their oblivion, but pockets of denial remain — a denial rooted in a disbelief in the existence of systemic racism and our role in sustaining it. The deniers are the people who are not likely to read Kendi’s book, or any other in the growing canon of antiracist literature, because they don’t believe it applies to them. That leaves it up to the rest of us to pop their bubble of denial and lead them forward.
With that in mind, I present a logical argument for all disbelievers of good faith — those people with an authentic desire for a better world that transcends their own self-interest. As with any successful act of persuasion, it begins with meeting them where they are, wrapped comfortably in their staunch belief that they are not racist and/or that racism is dead.
