Anti-racism 101: Own Your Racism
You’ve heard all the clapbacks.
“I have lots of Black friends!”
“My neighbours are Indian, they bring us over samosas all the time!”
“My brother is married to a Black man!”
And, of course, everyone’s favourite, “I don’t see colour!”
As if that proves the utter impossibility of their being racist. It’s laughable. It’s insulting. How dare you even suggest it?
People rarely react well when someone points out their racist behaviour. Point out sexist or homophobic behaviour, say, and they’ll try to laugh it off. But racism? We’re outraged. White people are incredibly touchy about being labelled racist. Most of us will declare we’re anti-racist and we’ve been misunderstood. But few of us are genuinely, actively anti-racist. Even fewer embrace anti-racism 101.
The True Foundation of Anti-racism
Approximately 99.9% of well-meaning white people like me approach anti-racism with the goal of being able to declare that we aren’t racist. We recognise that racism is a deeply rooted, centuries-old systemic injustice that has robbed millions of people of dignity, opportunity and life. We want no part in that, so we Do The Work.
