Race to the top
Hello you heartbeat of a nation.
Like every week over the past few months, it's been a week.... but this week feels different. There seems to (finally) be a major shift brewing in our collective relationship to race and racism. And it is gaining steam in a major way. As Abe wrote about last week, the impetus for this outrage and calls for change started in the United States, but this week things have shifted, and the movement has turned into a major reckoning with individual and collective racism that has crossed borders and boundaries.
There are many reasons why this may become a potential major pivot point for race relations in the US and around the world-- and most important of those is that the present moment is built on decades and centuries of racial violence in the US and the tireless efforts of thousands of anti-racism advocates. In addition, it may not a coincidence that this momentum comes in the midst of a global pandemic; in a small way the virus may have primed us for this moment too. As we have discussed in previous dispatches, COVID-19 has forced us to think about how interconnected we all are. For example, take this article written in response to the pandemic, but I feel like it also captures our racism reckoning: "Never in my life have I been so brutally aware of interdependence. I imagine I’m not alone in this. All day I think about my body in relation to other bodies… We are all in an elaborate, complicated ballet with everyone else, and the only thing more astonishing than this new reality is that it isn’t new at all. Only our awareness of it is. Still … There’s something starkly moving about a global hurt. We are so driven and primed to think of ourselves as nations and individuals; we are fed so much messaging about borders. But what happens when we are devastatingly, unequivocally, reminded of our alikeness?"
And so as the global pandemic forces us to reckon with our interconnectedness and alikeness, it also forces us to start taking seriously what it means to honor that interconnection we have tapped into in a more ethical, equitable and human way. For the white folks out there (which are the majority of my readers), buckle up: we have a LOT of work to do to start living as anti-racists. Because "it's not White versus Black. It's everybody versus racists"-- the racist systems around us and the racism within us.
Taking a step back for a moment, I am conscious of virtue signaling with this post, and don't for a second want to imply I have any answers or insights to share. I am just beginning this work in a serious way, and it is a life-long effort to be better and do better. And as Ahmed Ali recently tweeted: "It's a privilege to learn about racism instead of experiencing it your whole life." This dispatch is meant recognize this global moment of reckoning with race, to acknowledge and be accountable for my own complicity in our racist culture, and to share a few initial resources I have found useful this week as I begin my own long process of being better and doing better.
This may be the wrong approach, and I will learn from that too. But it's what I have for now to contribute to the effort. By doing the work of trying to better understand the truth of both my systemic white privilege and my internal racism, and making different choices about how I live and move in the world, I can start to be a better person and ally to others, and hopefully to do my small part to bring more fairness and equality into the world.
Because this is a major moment for all of us, including Canadians.
We love to look to our neighbours to the South and scoff, but before you declare Canada is not a racist country, do your homework. Because Canada is far from immune to black racism. In terms of my own Canadian experience, I grew up in a tiny town in rural New Brunswick in the 1980s. There was one black family in town, and the rest of my experience of race came from a pretty problematic time for TV and movies when it comes to race. Despite efforts to expose myself to the wider world as I got older, these socio-cultural antecedents run deep.
Systemically, there is a myriad of ways in which I have and continue to benefit from the privilege of my whiteness, both in Canada as a well-off, educated white women, and when I lived and worked internationally (don't get me started on my awakening to problematic "expat" culture). I used to think I had done a lot to expand and expose myself to a broader and more inclusive world; I would tell myself (and others) "I'm not racist". But I am questioning all of that, embracing my inner Hanlon's Razor, and beginning to confront my role in perpetuating and profiting from my whiteness.
To that end, I wanted to share a few resources that I have encountered this week that have been helpful as I start confronting these truths and charting my course towards being a better anti-racist. I am sure you have also been doing your own work this week as well. If you have resources to suggest, please send them along!
As a start, Canadians seem to have a tough time talking about race, and indeed Canada's narrative around multiculturalism can stifle meaningful conversations around racism. To that end, I think this collection of resources on talking about race from the National Museum of African American History and Culture is a simple and helpful place to start.
I have found digging into my own racism can bring up feelings of defensiveness. Canadian Larissa Crawford does a great job in this longer-form video to take people through the process of understanding and overcoming this defensiveness
We white people all want to be doing better right now. But wanting to be a good ally to Black people and communities versus actually being a good ally are two different things. And given how broken the systems are/we are when it comes to race, our instincts can sometimes lead us to create more problems than we solve. I liked these 10 steps to non-optiocal allyship by Mireille Casandra Harper to help focus on what is actually helpful for me to do in this moment as an ally
For some Canada-specific resources, I thought this "Welcome to Black Canada" guide from Sharon Okeno was helpful, and here is an article listing some Black organizations and anti-racist groups Canadians can support now.
We are all donating to different causes in this moment. I am sure you are finding your own. However, some people are struggling financially right now (oh yes... the economic collapse... I forgot). If you want a simple, easy way to financially support efforts in the States, this video project was created to offer people a way to donate and financially contribute to #blacklivesmatter without having any actual money or going out to protest themselves. 100% of the advertisement revenue this video makes through AdSense will be donated to the associations that offer protester bail funds, help pay for family funerals, and advocacy listed in the beginning of the video. Make sure to leave the ads running, repeat the video, and let people know about this easy way to help. In addition to watching this video, the box underneath has some petitions to sign in relation to these tragic losses and other ways to help
I would highly recommend watching the documentary "13th" on Netflix. It very powerfully outlines the different threads in US history and policy that have led to this moment. It is a dizzying account of US policy, prisons and policing. I learned a lot. And if you are into films, you can also check out this list of 10 documentaries to watch instead of asking a person of color to explain things to you
In terms of redistributing power, there is no easier way to do so than through our spending habits. I appreciated this thread of black-owned businesses to support in the States. And for Canadians, ByBlacks.com is a magazine by and for Black Canadians but is also a great resource to seek out black-owned businesses in Canada to start buying from them (instead of Amazon... please)
Finally, I couldn't help sharing this off-topic/ on-topic gem in case you are feeling a little petty: in a wildly misguided move on the part of Trump supporters, you can upload a video to Trump for his birthday on June 14
"Truth is love" --- and in this moment, I and all white people are being challenged to embrace and integrate this wisdom in some challenging but essential and transformative ways-- in ourselves and in the systems that have propped up white privilege for so long. The work is just beginning and it is going to be a messy, chaotic time. But we are creating the future in every moment, and if we get this moment right, we all have the potential to really transform the future into one with more equality, respect, prosperity and love.
But wait! Perhaps all of this talk of grappling with your own racism is feeling a bit too intense on a sunny Sunday morning? Then before you start your work, please feel free to check out this video of a lithophone, which is a musical instrument similar to a xylophone but made out of natural rocks. This may or may not be my new YouTube rabbit hole.
Still too much realness? Then right before you start your work, please enjoy this video reveling in the vagaries of French pronunciation.
From one learning-to-be-anti-racist person to another, I am glad that we can create a better future together. I hope you enjoyed this dispatch, and have a confrontation-filled week!
Until next Sunday,
The Earnest Platypus
