Eliminating Racism Starts With “Everyday Empathy”
Elimination is a long-term goal, and we ALL need to make everyday changes
The past week and a bit has seen the issue of racism rearing its ugly head again, and protestors have rightly called for greater government and police accountability. Scenes in Minneapolis and Washington DC are reminiscent of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s — after all, have we changed that much since?
Whilst the current protests and criminal charges against police are totally justified, eliminating racism is a long-term game and it requires a fundamental reconsideration of how we talk about racism and tackle it. In truth, I believe that the four officers involved in the death of George Floyd harboured racist sentiments that evolved over many years, with plenty of negative reinforcement. I’m also of the belief that most of us in Western society (regardless of ethnocultural background) potentially harbour similar prejudicial sentiments, albeit to a lesser extent. These can play out in crass jokes, or apathy towards people of a certain background both from Whites and between POCs (people of colour), which is more common than we’d like to acknowledge.
I do think it’s important to point out ‘systemic racism’ and ‘white privilege’, however a long-term approach based around empathy and greater understanding needs to be taken in conjunction to prevent early racist sentiments from fermenting over time. In order to truly eliminate racism over time, both Whites and POCs need to unite around common tenets of EMPATHY and UNDERSTANDING to be practiced on a daily basis. As much as legal and political accountability for racism can help, we need to foster positive daily affirmations against racism that don’t vilify or take the moral high ground.
This blog will cover a lot of sensitive topics and it will be trying for some people so I encourage you to reply and tell me your thoughts. I’m not being an apologist for ‘white privilege’ and ‘systemic racism’, for police brutality, or apathetic policymakers and judiciary who are presently culpable— they deserve retribution. Instead, this blog will talk about four daily actions all of us regardless of our ethnicity, religion, or social class can take to building “everyday empathy” and eliminating racism.
1. Stop Finger-Pointing
It’s really tempting to take the moral high ground, I get it. It’s really tempting to dismiss someone’s inaction or silence as perpetuating ‘systemic racism’. But what we are ultimately doing here is vilifying people who could be allies to the cause. I don’t disagree that silence or inaction aren’t helpful for racism but I think our TONE needs to change because the last decade of tweeting and keyboard bashing doesn’t seem to have helped much.
This is particularly the case for White members of society, not all of which are directly involved in perpetuating ‘systemic racism’. When we use phrases like ‘white privilege’ in an accusatory manner we are closing the conversation off to White allies. By dismissing someone’s ‘white privilege’ we are also doing what racism does best — attacking someone’s identity. Most White people rarely experience or witness racism, it’s likely a nebulous concept to them, so it’s important that our tone isn’t accusatory or dismissive because eliminating racism is a collective effort.
Instead of finger-pointing, point out the error in a direct but respectful way and let that person know why you think they may be wrong. Have an informed and adult conversation. More importantly, positively reinforce their non-racist behaviours and sentiments.
2. Don’t Put Yourself In Their Shoes
The old adage is actually a really bad idea — instead I think we should all develop better “listening” skills. The phrase itself “put yourself in their shoes” often literally sees people take their existing world view or experiences and awkwardly adapt that to someone else’s circumstances. If you’re a White man from an upper middle-class family from Long Island you may think that rioting is a poor excuse for protest, and rightly so. In your frame of mind, it’s difficult to comprehend the life of a Black person in Minnesota and you shouldn’t be blamed for not relating to someone else’s motivations. This is the same for POCs, for whom a coloured identity is often their only identity and they may struggle to comprehend the experiences of White folk. Ultimately, if we are to position ourselves to understand somebody else’s perspective, be it White or Black, we need to leave our baggage at the door.
The goal should be to understand the circumstances of others without you being the referent object. It’s important to listen to the perspectives of others, ask questions, and make an attempt to understand. It would be unreasonable to expect whole-hearted empathy, but respect and an understanding of the origins of a person’s stance or rationale for a difference in opinion is crucial. This also applies to POCs — we aren’t in a position to “correct” the perspective of Whites, because everybody is entitled to their own opinion. If we expect to receive empathy we need to be equally prepared to give it.
3. Open Your Horizons
This is possibly the most important action that we can ALL take in building empathy to eliminate racism. Racism, like other forms of prejudice grows out of ignorance, we know this and we all have some level of ignorance which is natural. For many Australians and other people in the developed world who may rarely leave their particular suburb or city, and often don’t have many meaningful interactions with other ethnocultural groups. I for one can confidently say that outside of my volunteer work, I rarely have meaningful interactions with Indigenous Australians which is a sad truth and I’m not sure many other Aussies do. It’s no wonder that for many non-Indigenous Australians, Indigenous rights don’t sit very high on the socio-political agenda. It’s no wonder that only 5 years after his death, are we refocusing on the death of David Dungay in custody.
If we care about eliminating racism and the deaths of Black people at the hands of the law we need to recognise that social segmentation is part of the problem. Social segmentation builds apathy and can lead to governments and the justice system making poor decisions about the welfare of Black people because it’s not high on the agenda or well understood. If we care about racism and prejudice we must change by stepping out of our comfort zone, because only through knowledge can we make better decisions to protect and respect one another. We can’t be expected to have interactions all ethnocultural groups, but we can take every opportunity to do so.
What we can all do is this — take the time to explore the people in your city, state, or country. Learn about different social enclaves, religions, and cultures. Don’t say that you care about reducing racism but never visit that “ghetto” part of town because the news tells you it’s sketchy. Don’t enjoy Lebanese kebabs but not bother to understand more about the Lebanese Civil War which brought your neighbours over here.
4. Practice Empathy Amongst Each Other (For POCs)
This is the last tip and it’s mainly for POCs — be your neighbour’s keeper. Do your best not to look down upon other ethnocultural groups, or even people in your own mob. I’ve definitely done it and frankly it’s stupid. If we care about eliminating racism and ensuring upward mobility for all social and ethnic groups we can’t be tearing each other down. We can’t fight against racism but demean the Pakistani student in our group project who doesn’t have strong English skills, it’s paradoxical.
Concluding Thoughts
I’ll end simply by saying that above all empathy, taking active daily steps to understand one another, and providing positive enforcement should equally be applied alongside punitive measures to reduce racism. After all racism is a social problem, and we need collective socially-derived solutions.
“Kevin’s Dead” is a blog about improvement, connecting with the world, and doing away with passivity. In this blog you’ll find the musings of an Australian-Chinese millennial who is tired of being faceless and being another “Kevin”.
If you’re looking for bold opinions with no f*cks given, and a fresh Antipodean perspective, take the blue pill and follow.
