Erica Santiago/ The Roar General Manager
As we enter our first Black History Month under the presidency of a man who hired a white supremacist as his chief strategist, it is important to take a good long look at the racism that exists in the U.S.
As the Chronicle of Higher Education stated in its January 20 edition, Obama’s election caused the nation to think we were in a post-racial era; Trump’s election highlighted how wrong that thinking was.
The problem is the confusion between being non-racist and anti racist. It’s rare to find someone who will outright say they are a racist, but non-racists proudly proclaim their position.
The non-racist will tell you how much they believe marginalized communities deserve equality and how they think that it’s time for a change.
The non-racist will say things like “I work with the inner-city children, and those kids are so bright.”
However, the non-racist will not do anything substantial to fight the systemic issues that are in place prohibiting the equality and advancement of marginalized people.
To put it simply, non-racism is lazy and passive. Avoid using racial slurs, be nice to everyone, be neutral – that’s non-racist. If one wants real change then they need to be anti-racist.
Anti-racists are about action. Anti-racists hold others, as well as themselves, accountable for the oppression of marginalized communities. Anti-racists don’t just “work with the inner-city children,” they advocate for their right to quality education resources while simultaneously holding our government accountable for their disenfranchisement.
Anti-racists call out racism at every opportunity, even if the source of said racism is their own peers. Anti-racists use their privilege to create spaces for marginalized people to speak, and then they listen. Instead of saying “Not all white people,” they ask “how can I help?”
Non-racists voted a man who can only imagine black people as poor, uneducated “thugs” into office. They ask us to respect him and support him because “well, he is our president.” However, an anti-racist understands that supporting a racist president means supporting racial injustice. They understand that being passive in this situation is its own form of violence against people of color.
Non-racism is the bare minimum and the people of color who have built this country from the ground up deserve more than the bare minimum. Instead, they deserve direct action. Don’t be a non-racist who feels good about themselves because they exercise basic human decency. Be the anti-racist who centers their activism around the experiences of marginalized people, and who works hard to create actual tangible change.
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Image retrieved from Flickr.
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