Dear Aunty & Uncle: Let’s Talk About Being Anti-Racist

Dear Aunty & Uncle,

Last time, we talked about Anti-Blackness.

Now, some of you may be thinking, “but we are doing our part,” “we treat everyone equally” or “it’s better to just stay silent.”

But it isn’t enough to just not be openly racist. Today, let’s talk about the importance of BEING ANTI-RACIST.

“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.”
— Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Silence is Complicity

Everything that we have discussed in previous posts–all of the horrible violence, racism, and killings–occur because society has allowed them to occur, over and over again.

Though only some people are actively engaging in racism or violence, the rest of us have been sitting back and allowing these dehumanizing acts to occur.

By staying silent, we are complicit (meaning we are a part of the wrongdoing).

Think about those times when:

we laugh nervously when a family member makes a racist joke,
we change the news channel (without doing anything else) after hearing about another Black person being killed,
we let people make comments about predominantly Black neighborhoods,
we walk away whenever we see people being racist or racially violent.

Every time we do those things and more–we think we’re doing the right thing by not getting involved. We think it’s better to just stay neutral. We think we’re better off not raising our voices or concerns.

And that’s exactly what we keep doing–we do what we think is better for us, and what makes us comfortable.

But if we all keep walking away or turning our backs whenever someone is making fun of, attacking, or killing a Black person–then how can we expect to stop seeing things like this happening in our country?

*an Asian American cop has been charged with aiding & abetting (being complicit) in George Floyd’s murder for standing by and letting his colleague kill a Black man without intervening*

“The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.”
— Dr Martin Luther King Jr

We watch from the sidelines or turn our backs, thinking staying silent is better than getting involved.

We think we just need to “do our part” and not be racist.

So we sit back and let people get hurt. We sit back and watch people suffer in pain. We sit back and allow more people to get killed.

If we’re being silent, we’re encouraging the problem to grow to new heights.

How to Be an Anti-Racist

Being anti-racist means we’re actively fighting against racism by: (1) unlearning our own harmful biases and prejudices we talked about yesterday, (2) challenging the racism that arises in our own communities and (3) putting an end to the existing racist practices, leadership and policies that exist in our society.

*“Implicit Bias and Structural Racialization,” By Kathleen Osta & Hugh Vasquez, National Equity Project.*

Keeping in mind the systems that have allowed for racial inequities (as we discussed earlier, and as the image above shows), here are some of the things we can do to actively be anti-racist:

Educate ourselves.
Understand our own knowledge, attitudes, and actions.
Unlearn our own harmful or racist beliefs and practices.
Speak out when we hear racist comments.
Intervene when we witness racist actions.
Vote for leaders who are fighting for equitable changes.
Support policies, campaigns and organizations dedicated to social justice.
Understand that this isn’t a “them” problem.
Fight for the human rights, opportunities, and freedoms we came to this country for.
Stop staying silent.

I understand that it seems easier to just not get too involved, to focus on our own lives, and to believe we’re not doing any harm. But no matter how much we may think otherwise, staying silent truly helps the ones doing evil; and we must step in to fight for all of our basic human rights.

I’m sure many of you have read part of the poem, “First They Came”:

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
–by Martin Niemöller, in reference to the Holocaust

The poem’s lessons on the dangers of staying silent are applied to this day. How can we ever expect anyone to stand up, speak out, or support our communities in the future, if we are silently watching from the sidelines as other communities are suffering today?

“Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph.”
— Haile Selassie (Former Emperor of Ethiopia)

Thank you again for another great discussion! I hope you’re better able to understand how it’s not enough to just not be racist, but how we have to actively take steps in order to become anti-racist. Tomorrow, we’ll talk about your concerns of how “not all cops are bad,” or “there would be no law & order if we defund the police” and the realities of Policing and Reallocating Resources.💕