Racism is a global issue. A part of the world, especially the younger generation that grows up with black culture, understands that. But despite all the outrage and screams for justice, most folks fail to answer the question, “how can I help?”
The reality is, there are many ways we can help that depend on your situation, where you live, what you do, and in which community you are spending your time. For example, donating, signing petitions, send emails to authorities, supporting protests, find an NGO to work with, share news to your circles that would otherwise go unheard, and much more. When you flex your google skills a little, you will come up with more than enough things that you can do that are tailored specifically to you.
I will not talk about these specific things. Instead, I want to suggest one thing every human can do to purge racism. I did not come up with this myself, and I did not think I will write about the topic in the first place. I tried to process an overwhelming flood of information from people much more knowledgeable and most likely smarter than me to find the right way to help that works for me. Below I will share how I think that we can really combat racism.
Our responsibility against racism?
We must embrace the mindset that “racism ends with me.” Racism and oppression of people based on race burnt themselves into humanity over generations. Sadly, we can’t change the past and are not responsible for what our ancestors did. But every single one of us is responsible for what happens now and in the future. Doing that work is not an option. It is our responsibility.
The beauty of “racism ends with me” is that the theory is simple to understand. We need to do everything we can in our daily lives to stop racism when we experience it. If we all do this, racism would be gone in one generation. That is, most likely, not going to happen. But the more people join the cause, the faster it will.
How will it end with us?
- Educate yourself about the problem. It is not someone else’s responsibility to teach you. Try to get high-quality information. Talking to people is best, but you can also research on alternative social media platforms to avoid censorship and filter bubbles.
- Speak up when you encounter racism in your daily life. Just speak up instead of looking away. At work, in your family, with your friends, in public transport, wherever. And don’t vote for the wrong people when it’s election day.
- Examine yourself to find every influence of racism in your beliefs, your mindset, and everything you think you know. Then get rid of it, dissolve it, destroy it. Some of us have been taught over generations that racism is right, but it’s not. If you can’t fix it yourself, get help. Most of us will need it. It’s similar to overcoming trauma.
- Don’t pass it on to your children. Your kids can never see you commit an act of racism. They need to see you stand up against it. Children learn by watching you. If you do right, so will they. Get rid of your racist behaviour, and they will not learn it. If you fail, you put the responsibility on them.
Sounds simple enough to me, but it will be incredibly hard to pull off. It will hurt to see where our own minds are corrupted by the plague that is racism. It will be uncomfortable to raise our voices against idiots who still think it is OK to treat our black brothers and sisters like second class. And it will be exhausting to do it all the time. But that does not matter because it is the right thing to do, and all our discomfort is nothing compared to the suffering of generations of black people.
“White feelings should never be held in higher regard than black lives.”
Rachel Elizabeth Cargle
I want my daughter to tell her children that grandpa was “one of the guys who made a difference” instead of “yes, they knew but chose to remain silent.”
What about you?
#blacklivesmatter
