Why Can't I Be A Non-Racist?

Like many of you, perhaps, I have been having some hard conversations lately. The most difficult have been with my White family and friends. Invariably, we reach a stumbling block when I acknowledge my own racism. "Speak for yourself," I've heard more than once. "I'm not a racist."

Speak for yourself. That's good advice for all of us. And a good reminder that we cannot ask others to speak for anyone but themselves. That's one of the many things we can do to make hard conversations more productive (see June 17 post for more suggestions).

But "I'm not a racist" is a statement that I cannot let stand unchallenged. I can understand why acknowledging personal racism would be threatening for those who believe that only bad people are racists. I don't know if I have actually changed any minds about that conviction. I do hope that I have caused folks to at least reconsider the belief that they cannot be racist because they are good people. And as I said in my June 25 post, we have more important work to do than debate over who is a racist.

It is important, though, to be clear about the claim that one is not a racist, because the false notion of non-racism can prevent good people  -- potential allies -- from doing what needs to be done. If I truly believe that I am not a racist, then I might be tempted to believe that I am already doing enough to address White supremacy and systemic racism. I might think that I don't need to keep listening and learning, that I don't need to read works by Black authors and racism scholars, or that events like Race Talks are for others, not for me. I might believe that my thoughts about personal and systemic racism are necessarily well-informed, and that my beliefs about them are correct. 

 At its core, the assertion that "I am a non-racist" must be false: the opposite of racist isn't non-racist, but antiracist. As historian Dr. Ibram X. Kendi explains in "How to Be an Antiracist," there is "no in between safe space of 'not racist.' "  

Dr. Kendi offers these enlightening definitions:
  • Racism: Policies and ideas that produce and normalize racial inequities
  • Racial Inequity: When racial groups are not on an equal footing
  • Racist: One who supports racist policies through their actions or inactions or expresses racist ideas
  • Antiracist: One who supports antiracist policies through their actions or expresses anitracist ideas
  • Not Racist: See "Racist."
  • Racist Policies: Measures that produce or sustain racial inequity between racial groups
  • Antiracist Policies: Measures that produce or sustain racial equity between racial groups
Seen through this lens, one can be a passive -- even an unknowing, or supposedly unwilling -- racist through simply accepting the world as it is. But one cannot be a passive antiracist. One only can do antiracism. 

An antiracist is an activist, then, one who pushes back against personal and systemic racism through actions and/or communications. The peaceful vigils and protests urging an end to White supremacy are one example of antiracist behavior and expression. These are vital gatherings, but they are just the beginning of what needs to be done.

And doing the work of antiracism takes commitment. As Dr. Kendi points out, while racist ideas "feel so natural and obvious" to us, "antiracist ideas remain difficult to comprehend, in part because they go against the flow of this country's history." So before we can do the work of antiracism, we must study our history and learn how the racist policies of our country were put into place and maintained. Dr. Kendi's 2016 book "Stamped from the Beginning" is one place to start.

 "The only way to undo racism," says Dr. Kendi, "is to consistently identify and describe it -- and then to dismantle it." Like you, I cannot "be a non-racist." But I can be an antiracist by doing the work of antiracism with humility, commitment, and diligence. With enough of us joining together, the change will come.

 Love,
Nancie/Mom/Mimi/Grandma


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