I know racism is real because it exists within my body. I’m a light skinned black woman; as such I straddle the fine line between “too black” for some and “not black enough” for others.
I know racism is real because I’ve been aware of the privilege of my “fair skin,” “good hair,” and “fine features” my whole life.
I know racism exists because I am black but my kids are white-passing and because of that, I know I’ll never have to coach them on how to act if they ever have an interaction with law enforcement.
I know racism is extremely fucked up because it exists to dehumanize. It does so by telling white people, outright and subconsciously, to fear black people, specifically black men. It does so by talking about merchandise and storefronts like they’re more valuable than black lives. It does so by keeping black bodies unfree by policing black neighbourhoods and filling jails with black bodies. Do you know what the 13th amendment of the American constitution states? The 13th amendment deems criminals unfree and allows for profit jails in the U.S. to use those black bodies as free labour in production factories. Racism tells us to not think of this as modern day slavery. It tells us to think, “That’s ok because they’re criminals so they don’t deserve their freedom,” but it’s not ok. It’s not ok because not all criminals end up in jail. You know that. I know that. Look no further for proof than the fact that more protesters have been arrested this week than Wall Street criminals were in 2009.
I know racism is extremely fucked up because it is literally woven into the fabric of American society. Think of America as a cup of tea. All of its institutions and traditions are leaves in a bag. Race disparity is the hot water. It is the activator of American society. The country was literally built on the backs of slaves that were brought to America against their will only 4 centuries ago. Racism laid the foundation upon which American society has grown. It is in everything and it is everywhere. And like the rivers and lakes that flow between us, it steeped into Canadian soil hundreds of years ago too and you’d be fooling yourself to think that it is not there, in all the cracks in the foundation of our systems too.
I know racism exists because the information above is still somehow not public knowledge and my understanding of the complexities that define it reveal both my privilege and my profound non-whiteness. My privilege allowed me the time and the resources to find out what I wanted to know about the system we live in and the history of the black existence in North America. My curiosity about this system comes from my experience of living within it as a person of colour.
What I know is that when you are black, no matter where you are on the sliding scale of privilege within that classification, you are still aware of the existence of a system that thrives on your oppression and you know that if you succeed within the framework of that system you will be the exception, not the rule.
When you are white, you have the privilege of unawareness. No matter where you are on the sliding scale of privilege within the context of your whiteness, you are still able to be either oblivious or ignorant to a system that you and you alone feel truly safe in and protected by. And that’s the problem right there isn’t it?
Some of you are waking up to the fact that this system exists right now – as we speak! And I’m so proud of you for that and it gives me so much hope that you seem to really give a shit now because as the people holding power in this system, only you can really change it. Not the government, not “brands” – you. But I want you to know that if you want to do this, if you truly want to be the change you wish to see in this world, then you need to continue to do this work of changing the system for the rest of your life. Not just this week while you are “muted and listening.” This work will not happen on the internet. It will happen everyday, in the minute, uninteresting details of your life.
It will happen at the bookstore, when you’re deciding which stories to read. It’ll happen when you’re hiring staff at work. It’ll happen when your shitty uncle makes a racist joke at Thanksgiving dinner. It’ll happen when you VOTE. It’ll happen when you make friends with people. It’ll happen when you talk to your kids about racism, prejudice and privilege and where they exist within that framework. It’ll happen when you spend your money. It’ll happen when you decide which charities and organizations to support – not just this week, but this year, and next year, and the year after that, ad infinitum.
Black and brown communities sorely lack resources like fair housing, quality education, childcare, income / employment, humane healthcare including reproductive and maternal health, food security and mental health support. Consider how your actions help or hinder access to these things.
Perhaps the most important piece of advice that I’ve seen given to those wondering in which ways they can use their power and privilege to dismantle systemic racism is this:
“Check in with yourself about what you have access to, what you want to contribute, where and how and make a decision. See what happens next and respond accordingly to what’s in integrity with you. There is no right way. What is right resides in you. And it’s a moment-to-moment check in with yourself.”
That advice is by Andréa Ranae, one of the many brilliant black voices I hope have found their way to your radar. Keep black voices on your radar. Invite black thoughts, black people, black stories, black joy, black experiences into your world. Only then will you recognize the arbitrary nature of racism and only then will you realize how fucked up it is that YOU have the power to end it.
photo by @stephenvanasco
HOW YOU CAN HELP:
– start at home: talk to your family, educate your kids, model anti-racist behaviour
– call out racism when you see it, stand up for all people equally
– have all the hard conversations, they are necessary
– read literature by black authors for historical context and perspective (here’s our RM DIVERSE READS list)
– support black owned businesses
– make the lifetime commitment to become an anti-racism advocate
FULL RESOURCE GUIDE
ON HOW YOU CAN FURTHER GET INVOLVED
via @cocoandcowe
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