These past few weeks have been an insane wake up call up to the racism that exists today in the United State. It’s also been a huge wake up call to my my own white privilege. I’m embarrassed it’s taken another black person to be murdered by the police for me to even grapple with the fact that what happened to George Floyd would never happen to me. And it’s because I’m white.
I’m sure a lot of you are feeling this way. You’re feeling sad, disgusted and frustrated. You’re asking yourselves – what can I do to help? Where do I go from here? Well, for starters, it’s not up to black people to educate white people on how to be anti-racist. Or how to be an ally. We have to do the work ourselves and luckily, there are amazing resources out there.
Because it’s more than just posting your statement online (as seen in the image below). Now that we’ve shared our words and re-shared other people’s words on social media to spread awareness – what else are we going to do offline?
EDUCATE
For starters, I’m going to use these anti-racism resources and listen to podcasts, read books and watch documentaries to give myself a foundation on what I need to learn to be a better ally and an anti-racist. I’ve mentioned a list of other resources in this blog post too.
I finished listening to 1619 (The New York Times) this morning. This podcast has already opened my eyes to the pain of black people I will never understand. It honestly shows how black people are the backbone of our country. 1619 explains how a lot of aspects in the American culture + history (ie: music, capitalism, farming) have come from slavery. Yet, black people are still being killed by the police and treated as less equal.
I’m listening to Code Switch (NPR) next – and I just ordered White Fragility – Why Is It So Hard For White People To Talk About Racism? This is just a very small start, but I need to learn that not being racist and anti-racist are two very different things. Cup of Joe talks to this so clearly on why starting with yourself and working towards anti-racism is the only way to begin.
SUPPORT + DONATE
Unfortunately, the majority of the people I follow on social media and the brands I support and buy from are white. I need to support more black and POC businesses, creatives, influencers, etc. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be doing the work to follow and share these people + brands.
It’s also important to donate to organizations who are fighting for racial justice. Here are a few:
SPREAD THE WORD
During this time, it’s just as important to talk about racism and white privilege with your friends + family. As I mentioned before, not being racist and being anti-racist are two different things. We’re all racist and have unconscious bias whether we realize it or not. As mentioned in Cup of Joe’s article: “We have to actively recognize our privilege and confront racism, as well as learning and listening as much as we can. It’s not enough to just be neutral and live your life; we have to actually do the work.”
I hope by having conversations with my family + friends, it will act as a catalyst to keep this work going. So in a few weeks when the news blows over or another extreme event happens, we don’t forget about the protests, we don’t forget about George Floyd and most importantly, we don’t forget about the fact that black lives matter. The work never ends.
As I take all of this information in and truly reflect on it, I will soon share more resources and other ways to keep the education going.
Please comment or share with me any resources you’ve found to be helpful. I’d love to hear from you. Thanks for reading.
xx
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