If you’re reading this, you’re probably not racist. But you might be complicit in racism.
I’m not saying this to judge anyone because:
- I myself have been complicit in racism before so I don’t want to be a hypocrite. (hence why I deleted my old tweets, you live and you learn)
- Nagging, lecturing and virtue signalling people rarely gets them to change their behavior
But I do think for a lot of us, while we might not be “racist”, we ignore racist words and actions from our friends, parents, aunts, uncles, bosses, coworkers, boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, wives, partners etc.
Often we say, “they’re just joking” or we try to rationalize their hurtful remarks (“that’s just the way they talk” or my favorite, “it’s not racist it’s ‘cultural’ “) . Unfortunately, that excuse has officially expired.
Every single website, social media and group chat has covered the injustice going on in America and all over the world the last few weeks. Now no one can hide or defend people they know making hurtful remarks under the pretext of “it’s not racism, it’s cultural”. If you still don’t understand what’s going on in the world, it’s because you have chosen to not understand.
It’s funny, even though I’m a black man, I actually thought the phrase Black Lives Matter was racist. I was one of those “but don’t all lives matter?” type of people. All I had to do was spend 10 minutes Googling to understand that Black Lives Matter doesn’t mean Only Black Lives Matter, it means Black Lives Matter As Well.
This is just one example of many things I’m unlearning and learning as I try to become a better person in a changing world. I know we can all do the same.
Finally, there is blessing amongst all the hurt right now: This is an opportunity for us to reflect and stand against all injustice. Including but not limited to: racism, sexism, homophia, Islamaphobia, anti-Semitism, classism, ableism, xenohphobia and all other types of hate.
If you believe you are not racist, but fall into one of those other categories, or If you do not fall into any of those categories, but your friends or family falls into that category, now is the time to educate them.
It’s never too late to start doing the right thing. Love and Peace ❤️
Appendix
First, I want to thank the homies Jacob Munene and Tofunmi Atiba for tagging me in their posts and motivating me to write this.
Here are some charities you can consider donating to or volunteering at:
Reclaim the Block – They invest in housing, mental health support, opiod support etc. in Minneapolis
Pathways to Education: Provide youth in Canada with an equal opportunity to graduate from high school and build the foundation for their future success.
