The Beauty Of Anti Racism

The beauty of anti-racism is you don’t have to pretend to be free of racism to be anti-racist. Anti-racism is the commitment to fight racism wherever you find it, including in yourself. And that is the only way forward – @ijeomaoluo .

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Systemic racism has been expressed for generations in the practice of social & political institutions, reflected in disparities regarding wealth, justice, employment, housing, healthcare, education etc. Hence, it’s TIME TO TAKE ACTION, NOT vs. white people, but EVERYONE ACTIVELY becoming ANTI-RACIST.
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In order to do this, it’s critical for ALL of us to ACCEPT that we each have biases, typically unconscious. Unconscious biases are learned stereotypes that are automatic, deeply ingrained, universal, able to influence behaviour & decisions. This means it isn’t enough to “just not be racist”. We must EACH critique our current habits & force a change of behaviour to become ACTIVELY ANTI-RACIST in our daily lives & where white people who have privilege, to leverage that dynamic to help those being “oppressed”.
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The ‘knee on the neck’ of George Floyd that led to his MURDER feels like a metaphor for how the system so disdainfully holds black & minorities down, ignoring cries for help, “I can’t breathe…”, ignoring “doing the right thing” & “turning a blind eye” because it supposedly “doesn’t affect them”, even though it ABSOLUTELY does. It feels like people in power don’t care to serve anything other than protecting their own positions; this is tragic for all communities, cultures, economies & society at large.
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So, it falls on EACH of us, regardless of our race or position to work together to undo how bigotry & unequal treatment has INFECTED our institutions & society as if it’s “normal”.
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Hence, being ANTI-RACIST manifests in who we vote for, how we stand up for equality at work, school, social gatherings & how we hire. We must stand UNITED & PROMISE to TAKE ACTIONS in what we do in our day-to-day life to educate ourselves & others, to have those uncomfortable conversations & make ourselves an ALLY in being ACTIVELY ANTI-RACIST #blacklivesmatter 🖤🖤🖤