The Grocery Store Shows Us How Systemic Racism Works
While we are searching for bargains, the space is shaping our perceptions
A long time ago I read The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron. Cameron recommends a practice she calls “the morning pages” to help eliminate mental clutter and prepare for creative work. Every morning, before taking on any other task, you write three pages. I’ve been doing the morning pages ever since. In winter, I write as the sun rises, and my mind clears along with the sky. I’m used to storying myself like this. Each day, I rehearse my individuality.
And each day, the dominant culture replies back. It tells me I am special and deserving of vacations, products, and information tailored to my particular needs. The experience of individuality is so all-encompassing that it’s challenging to see the world from the vantage point of systems and structures. These are entities that are not sentient. They don’t plot, hate, applaud, or sulk. They don’t act on the world like people do.
But there are ways to practice seeing structures and systems — to notice how they work, and how they wield power. It is easier to see a system when it stands out: when a horrendous injustice is handed down by the courts; when a concept like qualified immunity makes it virtually impossible to prove police brutality…
