CRE 287: Being Not racist is not enough

 CRE 287: Being Not racist is not enough

 

1. Even after over 200,000 residents in the town of Harrison, Arkansas, objected to the sign advertising white Pride Radio, Alt-right TV -it remains.

a.      The sign, the first thing that people see when entering Harrison, has been up for 7 years

b.      The billboard is on private land, which is guaranteed under the Constitution.

c.      Lawyer Jason Robb owns the land -his brother Thomas Robb is the director of the white supremacist Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.

2.      But what’s the big deal…simply saying you’re not racist is not enough

a.      To effectively defeat systemic racism -racism embedded as normal practice in institutions like education and law enforcement -you must continually work toward equality for all races -to undo racism in your mind, your environment, and the wider world.

b.      You have to be anti-racist.

c.      Race, racism, and anti-racism is not something we think about often

d.      But the police killings of George Floyd and Brionna Tayler -have convinced more people that they need to know how to be anti-racist.

3.      Tip #1; accept that we’ve all been raised in a society that elevates white culture over others. Being anti-racist means challenging these notions.

a.      How does anti-Black racism live within us?

                          i.      White body supremacy = a term used by therapist Reshma Menakem serves to elevate white bodies and cause trauma for non-white ones.

b.      Colorism = defined as prejudice or discrimination against individuals with darker skin tones, typically among people of the same ethnic or racial group -affects just about every part of the non-white world-African Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans.

c.      But also see how other color designations can be racialized and demonized

                         i.      Asians and yellow -consider the yellow peril traced to a dream of Berman emperor Wilhelm II in 1895 that became more virulent during World War I

                         ii.      See the announcement we called ourselves yellow in colorization

                        iii.      This has led to slurs such as chinamen, Japs, gooks, Asiatic, Mongols, and Chinks

                          iv.      This has prompted some Asians, such as Indians, to use whitening creams to acquire “total fairness” and to “complete whitening (see skin tone scars Asian Americans

4.      Tip #2: Learn the history of racism and anti-racism, especially in America, and educate yourself about the complexities of the issues you’ll be confronting

a.      This means confronting the reality that we live in a racialized culture

b.      White supremacy’s greatest advantage is a white racial culture in America that is almost invisible

c.      This means challenging ideas of colorism and contempt for non-white skin by people of color

 

d.      Challenging internalized whiteness and racial inferiority

e.      This means understanding the multifaceted ways in which colorization operates.

                i.      Not just the black/white binary, them and others, but Black, Asian, Hispanic, Muslim, Jewish, and yes, White

1.      Interjectionally, these groups will be deconstructed to see the variability of racial frames.

5.      Tip #3: Seek out films and TV shows that challenge notions of race and culture

a.      Delve deeply into learning to see anti-racism in new ways

b.      For example, the Netflix drama -Dear White People

                      i.      Saw a dramatic rise in viewership after George Floyd’s death sparked international dialogue concerning anti-racism

                           ii.      Dear white folks, center on non-white students at predominantly white, Ivy League colleagues negotiating issues of identity, classism, anti-racism vs. racism,

                           iii.      See the announcement of black Ivy League students Reveal Institutions’ racism on Instagram in announcements.

                        iv.      These help others understand how racial trauma is real, but they do more than sympathize but empathize with individuals who deal with this daily.

                  v.      They challenge us to see racism as a ubiquitous and systematic system that often exists in our collective blind spots.

1.      Consider Miami black students in the announcement above.

6.      Tip #4: find a local organization involved in anti-racism efforts -preferably led by people of color or different from the group you belong to and help uplift their voices and ideas

a.      It is important to become allies.

b.      It means letting go of privilege and putting yourself in situations where you may be uncomfortable.

                     i.      We have actively supported the work and organizers dealing with systemic problems for generations.

                        ii.      You must assess your won power -your privilege AND SEE HOW YOU CAN USE THIS TO INFLUENCE CHANGE.

                          iii.      When you sit down with fellow students, who do you speak to first? Who do you think of when you are planning an event, going out, or thinking of hanging out…who comes to your mind…

1.      Where do you shop, and which groups do you support when you purchase something?

2.      Do you check the label to see if it is made in a place that Bans child labor

3.      Do you support diverse businesses, take courses from diverse faculty, and diverse subjects centered