5 Things White (Non Black) People Should Avoid (If They’re Looking To Combat Racism)
BY ANDRE J BERRY
1. Avoid being color-blind.
We’re all made wonderfully with different hues, shades, and colors by our Creator. Don’t pretend that we can easily look past these unique features which make us different from each other. What’s important is to not prejudge others based on their color. But if you pretend that I have no color, you are putting aside my experience, therefore dismissing my struggle. Recognize color, culture, ethnicity, language, and dialect. In fact, celebrate it and seek to learn more about it.
2. Avoid Silence.
You may have heard this before, but silence is complicity. When you say nothing, it shows your friends that you have no opinion on the matter. If your friend, or friend of a friend is a POC or an ally, you have just spoken volumes with your silence. Also remember, simply speaking up is not just good enough. Stay informed enough to know what you’re speaking on and deliver it with confidence. Otherwise, wait until the time is right and speak once you’re at that point. But the worst thing you can do is stay silent throughout the entire ordeal. Your friends, family, children, and the world will notice.
3. Avoid romanticizing MLK and the events of the 1960s.
Martin Luther King Jr. was the most hated man in America during the time of his leadership. He received hundreds of death threats, was arrested 30 times, wiretapped by the FBI, nearly died from injuries to his head during a stay in prison, and was ultimately assassinated in a very suspicious set of circumstances. Whatever you do, don’t find a kum-by-ya photo of MLK marching, arm and arm, smiling and singing and post it as the penultimate story of the Civil Rights Era, while thumbing your nose at protesters who are angry and want to be heard. Tell the whole story.
Talk about how the police released German Shepherds and fire hoses on men, women, and children. Talk about the unlawful arrests of peaceful protesters, how MLK condemned these, and how he questioned whether his strategy was effective. Even his fellow civil rights leaders criticized King for being so passive. And don’t make King out to be a martyr, either. If you think for one minute this man who loved his family would not want to live past age 39 to raise his four children, you’d likely be wrong.
4. Avoid condemning riots when possible.
The Fall of Man has proven that humans will take every opportunity to sin against their fellow man; this we know. What happens when you take a cheap shot at well-meaning protesters who have no control over those who take advantage to loot and cause destruction, you lump them all into the same category and invalidate their experience. This thinking is dangerous and it’s what causes police to pepper spray unarmed protesters who pose no threat. Public vandalism and looting ARE terrible, but are you using the same energy to laud the peaceful protests? Remember, individuals riot and organizations protest, for the most part. Use that energy to find out what you can do to support your local BLM or NAACP chapters. Just because you can say offer a half-baked opinion about what you see on the news, doesn’t mean you should.
5. Avoid What About-isms
During times like this, human nature causes us to fall back into what we’re familiar with. Unfortunately a by product of this is that we make the situation about ourselves and other situations we deem to be similar. For example, yes George Floyd was killed but what about when whites are shot by the police. What about black on black crime? What about me? My advice: keep the main thing about the main thing. If you have a true concern for those other issues, don’t wait until a tragedy befalls a community to bring it up.
