Lately I’ve been asked what it means to ‘not be racist’. Well let’s talk about what it means to be racist. If racism is a system that is designed to give one group of people, we call a “race”, control, and advantages then those participating and benefitting from the system are a part of it. This is true even if those advantages seem like something that just comes naturally, such as hard work, education, and providing a comfortable home. If these ways of life that should be natural for everybody are not afforded to everyone, if the system does not make it easier for us all to have the same access and capabilities to achieve the comforts and safety we desire, then that system is structured to create privilege.
For us it goes even further. Not only does every group not have the same options and opportunities, but there’s also a systemic government structure that opposes a group of people not being in position to create and implement structures of their own. This way one can truly remain ahead of another and control resources to keep the cycle going for generations until it just appears to be the way it is (a natural process of life, human nature, however we want to describe our justification). That system is called racism. We’ve designed a race for positioning ourselves to control, we are in a race to acquire resources, we call ourselves a race of people, and we created the term “white” to define having less melanin. Therefore, we created a system to give us an advantage.
To be racist would be to be a participant and benefit from such a system even if you didn’t willingly choose to be a participant, it was something you were born into. I went to U City High School. I am a U City Lion. When I attended Saint Louis University, I was a Billiken. I participate in a system that is Racism and when I do, I am a racist. What cracks me up is how afraid of being labeled a racist we are and simultaneously how afraid we are of repairing the harms of racism. No repair and the system continues to go on. Even if it takes a different shape and the processes to remain in control and power have been altered, the goals, efforts, and approach remains the same, and results remain similar.
Given this truth, what does it mean to not be racist. It means when I spend time reconnecting with the planet, uplifting people of color because they are human and we all connected to the same energy source, when I am participating in the building of a new way of living (that is really an old way of living for indigenous and Aboriginal people across the planet), when I focus on this new way of living together then I am not being a racist assist.
Not being racist does not mean that I do not judge people by the color of their skin. It does not mean that I do not want more or less for anyone or any group. In this case, I would agree with Ibram Kendi and many others. That is simply not enough and does not solve anything because it removes us from social responsibility.
Until we get to a healed and back to a connected creative life where the systems are determined by what is best for all life and the planet, I can be both. I must be a racist when I’m participating in the racist system that exists. When I’m not participating in the racist system by actively working to build something with different values, practices, and results, I’m not a racist. Hopefully we can continue to build generations that generate a system that is not racist. Then we can truly shed the label that bothers us because we won’t be racist anymore…
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