What, Exactly, Have You Done to Help Build a Less Racist America?
So, here it is, the end of November. I think we can all agree that 2020 was not the year we wanted (although I might argue that it’s not all of us who didn’t deserve it). Yes, this year has been an absolute mess. But also, it’s not some grand accident that just happened to befall us. Everything that has transpired this year has been in the making for years, decades, centuries even.
We are getting rocked by Covid-19 because our healthcare system is so inadequate and predicated upon profit that it’s not at all set up to deal with this situation. Also, one of the things that’s always been held as a virtue in America is its citizens’ sense of individualism. Everyone is responsible for their own destiny and has the right to make any and every decision for themselves. That’s what we’ve told ourselves makes us a great nation. The problem with that is, in this pandemic scenario, many people then don’t feel obligated to withstand any kind of personal inconvenience to help keep others alive, even if those others are their own family members. We want what we want when we want it, and we won’t take “no” for answer. Unfortunately for us, pandemics aren’t really concerned with making sure Americans don’t have to play by the same rules the rest of the people on this planet do, and when viruses come to kill you, they will kill you if you don’t respond appropriately, and there’s no chapter in The Power of Positive Thinking that effectively helps you wish death away.
It’s an election year, which should’ve been a surprise to no one, especially not to those of us who have been counting down to this year since the 2016 Presidential Election. And let’s be real; this was an awful election year. Due to the realities (as opposed to promise) of living in a democratic republic, we really only have two viable political parties, and real talk, neither of them are meeting the needs of the people, and that’s definitely not new. The Democratic Party offered way too many candidates, especially when they had absolutely no intention of letting anyone but Biden secure the nomination. And it shouldn’t have surprised anyone that they did this. The Democrats have BEEN riding the wave of appealing to the idealistic and progressive portions of the population for votes and then once those votes are received, their focus is keeping their own jobs. And not even keeping their jobs for the sake of leading the nation and providing the people with what they need; they just want to keep their jobs. And Trump has spent a lifetime of telling half-truths and outright lies, so there was no scenario where he was going to abandon that to become a “respectable politician” this go-round. So, his entire campaign was propaganda nonsense, and because all of our mainstream news outlets are so concerned with ratings, they played and replayed and replayed every ridiculous thing he said, which was helpful to no one. Point being, the way our media corporations are cogs in the wheel of unfettered capitalism, that’s not new at all, either.
And then the #BlackLivesMatter Movement became a thing more than black people were talking about. And to be clear, the movement itself isn’t new and black people being murdered by police with astronomical frequency isn’t new, but apparently things don’t matter until white people care about them, so this became a huge “aha” moment for many of them. But again, all of this? Not new.
My point is that all of these things have been building for some time, and it’s unfortunate that they all decided to implode in the same year, but the implosions were inevitable. But when it comes to #BlackLivesMatter, it seemed like we had reached a crucial moment back in the spring. People saw that video of George Floyd and then heard about Ahmaud Arbury and Breonna Taylor, and there seemed to be an urgent desire to get some societal changes made which would include tackling racism. And a lot of people vowed that this time would be different. White allies were going to rise up in droves and be the ones to see to it that this world, in which their privilege serves to oppress others, was going to change. They said, “we’re going to have to be the ones to end racism, and we will.” And as I recall, black folks were optimistic but skeptical, and there was a sense that many allies were basing their allegiance in their need to make themselves feel better instead of a need to see the humanity of all respected. And to be fair, many of us black folks tried to warn them not to do this. “It’s not about your feelings,” we said. “Basing it on that alone isn’t sustainable,” we said. But allies assured us they were in it for the long haul this time and would prove it with their actions. And I, for one, was willing to see how that went. So, I offered resources where they were needed and provided perspective on some of the issues and then trusted that white people were doing the work. And this was a mistake. And I don’t think the failure of most white allies to actually do the work is the mark of people being malicious; I just think they got bored and were ready to move on. And I think they also saw that this wasn’t going to be as easy as getting everyone to “find common ground”. And as the work began to require them to do more than post a black square and say “black lives matter” out loud, that became too inconvenient and too uncomfortable.
So now, it’s November. And white allies, many of you were beside yourselves with shock to see Trump get so many votes, and it was nearly like 2016 all over again. But what exactly did you perceive had changed since May that would mean less voters would align themselves with the white supremacy antics of the Republican Party? How did you expect those votes to go from Republican to Democrat when you knew just from talking to your family that they had no intention of voting for Democrats? What exactly did you think had been accomplished in the struggle to fight racism? And what were the specific things you did in order to help make this happen? Here; I will list a few examples of action steps, and you can see which of them you did.
Have you read any books by black authors regarding the history of racism in this country and the ways in which we’ve fought against it in the past?
Have you read anything by black authors regarding the contemporary issues facing Black America like higher unemployment and prison rates and the wealth gap to learn more about the systemic reasons why these problems persist?
Have you watched any documentaries about Black History and/or contemporary black issues like Eyes on the Prize, I Am Not Your Negro, and Central Park 5 by Ken Burns?
Have you arrived at the conclusion that the version of American History you were taught is fraught with grandiose lies promoting white supremacy and basically ignores any black people of prominence who weren’t Dr. King or Rosa Parks?
Have you wondered why it’s those two people that have been chosen as our black heroes by mainstream white culture?
Have you realized that even the version of Dr. King and Rosa Parks that you were taught that painted them as passive and nonthreatening is wholly inaccurate?
Have you checked out any black entertainment that you might have never thought to notice before like:
TV shows such as Living Single (which was ripped off and reworked into the mega hit we know as Friends) and A Different World (which tackled many issues of its day including AIDS, bigotry, and date rape AND had such an impact on the black community that, during its original run, enrollment in HBCUs increased drastically)?
Famous playwrights like Lorraine Hansberry and August Wilson?
Famous authors like Colson Whitehead and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie?
Famous poets like Langston Hughes and Nikki Giovanni or even someone more up-and-coming and contemporary like Kai Davis?
Famous artists like Jacob Lawrence and Kehinde Wiley?
Famous musicians like John Coltrane, Earth Wind & Fire, A Tribe Called Quest, and Talib Kweli?
Famous films like Malcolm X, The Hate U Give, and BlacKkKlansman (none of which rely on the overly-played and inaccurate trope of the white savior who ends up diffusing hostile racial conflicts by merely learning to care)?
Have you had any meaningful conversation with friends and family in which you explained the basis and need for the BLM movement and why it’s not a political stance to say that black people should not have to still be fighting to be acknowledged and respected in 2020 AND have you done that without validating any of their bigotry and misconceptions with phrases like “Yes, I agree that both sides are the problem” or “Yes, it’s valid to feel that being pro-western culture does not necessarily mean being pro-white”?
Have you looked inward and really thought about the biases you harbor within yourself, where they came from, and what you can do to re-conceptualize these ideas?
Have you checked on your black friends in these past several months?
Have you realized that you don’t really have any black friends or that you don’t have any black neighbors or that there are no black kids that go to your kids’ schools and see how problematic ALL of those things are?
Have you been aware of all the terrible things that have happened since the death of George Floyd that have traumatized the black community such as the death of Quawan Charles and the fact that the grand jury convened in Kentucky was not even given the option to issue murder indictments against the police officers who shot and killed Breonna Taylor?
Have you been following any contemporary black activists like Shaun King, Tamika Mallory, Gary Chambers, and Stacey Abrams who have been doing the legwork of enfranchising black voters, leading protests, and using their voices to lead and denounce systemic racism?
Have you been willing to determine whether white fragility is something you might unknowingly harbor and resolve to change that?
Have you grown concerned that support for BLM has dwindled significantly between the end of May and now, and have you decided to do something about that?
Have you realized that, if you were shocked by how many people STILL voted for Trump in this election, that probably means you’re not as in tune with the prevalence of white supremacy in modern America as you thought you were?
Have you re-examined your base level of respect for the Republican Party after witnessing them spend the last couple of months trying to steal this election and how that was in direct response to the belief that they couldn’t allow too many black votes to be counted because they’d likely be against them, which is not at all the way of a democracy?
Have you maintained the same anger and determination to “be the change” that you felt when you watched that video of George Floyd having the life choked out of him?
Have you finally come to the conclusion that grounding your fire to combat racism in your feelings CANNOT be the way to move forward, because the second you feel better, your desire for change will wane, even if nothing has really improved?
How many of these things can you honestly say you’ve done? And I don’t ask that as some sort of indictment on your character or to shame you. I ask because I am being honest and realistic when I tell you that any plan you might have that does not include the majority if not all of these things is not a plan that will work. There are established methods for being effective allies; nobody is asking you to figure that out on your own. People have been working to secure the rights of the oppressed for centuries, and it’s pretty certain that you’re NOT going to invent some new way that gets the job done AND allows you the comfort you are used to. This can’t be like Covid-19 when many Americans assumed the rules of science don’t apply to them because they didn’t want them to. And you don’t get to sit on this until you feel like playing a more active role is convenient, because people are dying while you make your plans for the holidays. And maybe that’s a low blow, but I don’t know else to put it. Black people are not a cause you can keep putting on the back burner because you’re not ready to deal with it. And obviously no one has the power or ability to make you engage in ways in which you are not comfortable, but if that’s the case, then you need to own that. And stop acting like racism is some rare occurrence in America that is largely on the run. IT IS NOT. So, stop telling black people that lie, because none of us believe it, and it’s insulting to constantly be told that, anyway. You don’t have to be an ally, but you don’t get to opt out of being one and still claim to be a defender of all humanity. Either you are someone who believes something is wrong and you want to work to change it, or you are someone who doesn’t care. There is no middle ground, there are no further considerations to be made. It’s not hard to decide which of these people you are. So, which one are you and what are you going to do about it?
Above image from WAM Theatre
