Ways to Combat Racism
1. Examine your own biases and think about where they came from.
- What message did you receive as a kid about people who are different from you? Why do you think you received those messages? Was it related to the Racial and Ethnic makeup of your community, neighbourhood, school, or religious community. Did that influence any of your own biases? These experiences form bias, stereotypes, and prejudice lead to discrimination, which is the base of Racism. When you examine where your biases came from, it can help build equality and fairness.
- To find out what's wrong with Racism, you can recognize the experiences of other people by engaging in conversations about Racism and racial injustice. You can not be afraid of talking about discrimination and oppression in fear of "messing up" to be effective in this sensitive subject. Take initiative to learning more about how Racism shapes our society. Watching documentaries or reading books about Racial injustice, such as Hidden Figures is a good place to start. The best way to understand Racial discrimination is by learning it from those who have experienced it.
- A well-known myth about Racism is that we live in a "colorblind" society where Racism is a thing of the past. This ideology is obviously not true and it contributes to Racism. Racism is a thing that shapes our world and creates a enlarging gap between different groups of people. It is impossible to eliminate Racism without recognizing race. When people are "colorblind" they ignore a large part of what make up people and virtually deny the Racial injustices many people face in their daily life. We must be able to see color to bring justice and equality.
- Make sure people know that racist comments are unacceptable. Don't be afraid to confront those who make these types comments. Microaggressions, which can come in the form of these comments make biases and prejudice feel normal. If you say nothing or don't act, it means you agree with the statement.
- To find out the history of Racism and how it started you can visit here. It is estimated that everyone is over 99.9% the same race, the human race. People only look different because of where our ancestors lived, the weather they were in, so fittingly people's skin color changed to adjust to the temperature. Racism is something that was created to justify us treating some people as "other." Nobody can justify themselves treating people different then other people based on their skin color, which really only represents the climate of where their ancestors lived. If you take the time to understand the history of Racism, you can have a better understanding of why the world is where we are in terms of Racism. Black people were still discriminated against after slavery was abolished, even today, and faced systemic Racism which led to housing, employment, and lots of other types of discrimination. We can do better.
Works Cited
Christina Marie Noel. “4 Steps That I and Other White People Can Take to Fight Racism.” Medium, B The Change, 3 June 2020, bthechange.com/4-steps-we-can-take-as-white-people-to-fight-racism-a582e826eb92. Accessed 24 June 2020.
“NNEDV.” NNEDV, 2014, nnedv.org/latest_update/8-everyday-ways-to-fight-racism/. Accessed 24 June 2020.
Christina Marie Noel. “4 Steps That I and Other White People Can Take to Fight Racism.” Medium, B The Change, 3 June 2020, bthechange.com/4-steps-we-can-take-as-white-people-to-fight-racism-a582e826eb92. Accessed 24 June 2020.
“NNEDV.” NNEDV, 2014, nnedv.org/latest_update/8-everyday-ways-to-fight-racism/. Accessed 24 June 2020.