by Jon Greenberg | February 2016
“If you are one who has avoided or even defensively shut down discussions of race, it’s never too late to make a change. In fact, when it comes to racial dialogue, defensive reactions are arguably a rite for passage for White anti-racists – an early step in the long journey of challenging racism.”
TAGS: [Individual Change] [Tips-Dos/Don’ts] [White Fragility/Tears] [Silencing POC] [White Privilege] [White Culture] [Colorblindness] [Anti-Racism] [2010’s]
by Hzfi Ziyad | May 2017
We know the way that Blackness is inherently seen as a threat makes even living while Black a dangerous activity, but what does the irrational and deadly fear of Black people actually sound like when communicated in words? “So I’m working last week and get dispatched to a call of ‘Suspicious Activity.’ Ya’ll wanna know what the suspicious activity was? Someone walking around in the dark with a flashlight and crow bar? Nope. Someone walking into a bank with a full face mask on? Nope. It was two black males who were jump starting a car at 930 in the morning. That was it. Nothing else. Someone called it in. People. People. People. If you’re going to be a racist, stereotypical jerk… keep it to yourself.”
TAGS: [Individual Change] [2010’s] [Systemic Racism] [White Privilege]
by Jodi Picoult | October 2016
I just couldn’t find authenticity, and eventually I shelved the manuscript. I wondered if maybe my difficulty was because I had no right to write about racism — after all, I am not African American. I’d written multiple books from the points of view of people i was not – Holocaust survivors, rape victims, school shooters, men. Why was it so hard for me to write from the point of view of someone black? Because race is different. Racism is different. It’s hard to discuss without offending people. As a result, we often choose not to discuss it at all.
TAGS: [Individual Change] [2010’s] [Colorblindness] [Accountability] [White Culture] [White Supremacy] [White Fragility/Tears]
by Isolde Raftery | June 2017
On a gray day last October, teachers across Seattle wore a shirt that read BLACK LIVES MATTER. They knew there might be criticism. John Muir Elementary in south Seattle had done this in September and received a bomb threat and hate mail from across the U.S. But they did, and the day was, by most accounts, uneventful. Some kids got it – most didn’t. Just another school day. And then, a backlash, but this time not from outsiders. White parents from the city’s tonier neighborhoods wrote to their principals to say they were displeased. A Black Lives Matter day was too militant, too political and too confusing for their young kids, they said.
TAGS: [Individual Change] [2010’s] [Black Lives Matter] [“All Lives Matter”] [White Culture]
by Tamerra Griffin | February 2015
The article, written by a Black woman begins: “You don’t hear overtly racist language very often these days. Here are some words with a subtler implication. She then provides 28 examples of sentences and how they are perceived in some contexts by some Black people, in a “what you say” “what we hear” format.
TAGS: [Individual Change] [Tips-Dos/Don’ts] [Implicit Racism] [White Culture] [White Supremacy] [2010’s]
by Deesha Philyaw | September 2016
True or False: Gender oppression is way worse than racial oppression.
True or False: I am aware that Black women experience both, but feminists should stick together and focus on fighting sexism, instead of getting distracted by what divides us.
True or False: Racism is mostly about personal slights and hurt feelings, not a systematic form of oppression.
True or False: I am aware that white women directly benefited from American slavery and that enslaved Black women were routinely raped by white men, but that happened a long time ago and has no bearing on our lives today.
True or False: I am aware that Black women’s low-wage labor as housekeepers and nannies made it possible for white women to enter the workforce in record numbers decades ago, but we are natural allies in the fight for equality today.
True or False: I’m a beneficiary of white supremacy, but I’m sick of Black women making everything about race. I think they just look for things to be offended about.
You may be surprised to learn how many “true” answers you give.
TAGS: [Individual Change] [2010’s] [White Fragility/Tears] [Accountability] [White Culture]
