Who will you be to eradicate racism?
“The beauty of anti-racism is that you don’t have to pretend to be free of racism to be an anti-racist. Anti-racism is the commitment to fight racism wherever you find it, including in yourself. And it’s the only way forward.” Ijeoma Oluo, author, So You Want to Talk about Race.
My heart hurts over the racial inequities and injustices in our cities.
The murder of George Floyd by asphyxiation, before our eyes, captured on video, by four complicit policemen, makes it impossible to look away. Sadly, Mr. Floyd is just another in an all-too long line of senseless deaths of black people. This is an unjust reality, every single day.
Our collective sadness is not enough. Every one of us should be sickened and outraged. I am.
I have not done enough, spoken out enough, stood up against racism enough. I am disappointed in myself.
It is said that if we forget history, we are doomed to repeat it. It is also true that white people may willfully avoid seeing or acknowledging complicity, our white privilege. It is time to take off our blinders.
The first person we lead is ourselves.
Each of us has the capacity for courage. We can seize this time and decide how to substantively contribute to a breakthrough for a more just, equity-based, inclusive and kind world for all of us, one human race.
Instead of asking “What are we going to do/prepare to do?” the more important question is “Who are we prepared to be to bring about long-overdue justice and change?”
The first step towards change is a personal and internal one, as Ijeoma Oluo points out above—declaring what is morally repugnant and will not be tolerated: racism and discrimination in any form, systemic injustice and inequality, police brutality, instigating violence in the name of race, and bullying, scapegoating or shaming based on race. The next step on this journey of self-discovery is to see racism for the cultural disease it is, white people’s role in it and to understand the multigenerational toll it inflicts on black people and all people of color today.
Educate yourself on the full history of our country, and the role African Americans played in the creation of the laws, commerce, and liberties we enjoy today.
For a scholarly work, a series of essays, you might consider Readings for Diversity and Social Justice, 4th edition by Adams and Blumenfeld.
I found the New York Times 2019 series “The 1619 Project” a particularly eye-opening and enlightening look at African-American history and the legacy of slavery in contemporary American life. While there was some scholarly critique, which the Times responded to, the first essay in the piece, by Nikole Hannah-Jones, won a Pulitzer Prize.
How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi kept me up all night.
Become part of Harvard’s unconscious bias study to test your attitudes and beliefs about race. It is online, free, confidential and you get the results immediately.
Learn more about the often-invisible attitudes and beliefs we hold about race in Blind Spot, Hidden Biases of Good People, by Mahzarin R. Banaji and Anthony G. Greenwald.
Understand one person’s account of coming to terms with her race in Waking up White and Finding Myself in the Story of Race, by Debbie Irving.
Look for and support the portents of positive change across the country and in your backyard. Genesee County Sheriff Christopher Swanson in Flint, Michigan, was leading for justice and change when he took off his riot gear and walked with demonstrators. The policemen kneeling and praying in solidarity with protestors are making change. So are the volunteers cleaning up the wreckage of the riots.
Leading the way in Rochester, New York, the city I grew up in and call my home, is Monroe County Sheriff Todd Baxter. He said his office is "loaded with love" for the people protesting for significant change around discrimination and police brutality. "With that being said, what we have seen and heard downtown was something that was hijacked by people who do not believe in our community," he said. "That cannot be tolerated.”
Learn: Let learning draw you into new relationships. Join a race discussion group. I took part in the Rochester YWCA’s Person2Person program several years ago to foster understanding across races and form new relationships that would not have been likely otherwise. Volunteer to fight racism. Vote.
Act: Seek opportunities to lead and empower change in your organization. Be an ally to people of color. Launch or support initiatives that invite diverse voices to uncover and address the systemic racism that may be masquerading as “the way things are”. What you learn may be uncomfortable. Deal with it.
Love: Staying silent is no longer an option. Stand up and we will fight the disease of racism together, with the energy of compassion, love, bravery, and resolve.
I commit to being more, doing more. Will you?
Sherri McArdle is a wife and mother to adult children and has been a business leader/owner for over 25 years. She is also a Master Certified Coach (MCC) to leaders and executives across the country and a trained mediator.
