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Disclaimer: this post is “controversial” and has some derogatory language, proceed with caution. Any mean spirited comments will be deleted and reported. Thank You and read on!

“In today’s world you don’t say “I lack empathy and basic critical thinking skills,” you say, “I’m just not political,” which means, “I am so privileged that politics has never been personal for me so I’m not engaged and I think it makes me smarter than people who are.”

𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕚𝕤 ℝ𝕒𝕔𝕚𝕤𝕞?

Racism is often thought of as an individual’s personal prejudices against any race, and the actions they take based on those prejudices. This is not nearly the whole story. This definition in itself serves to promote racism because the contextual understanding obscures what is most harmful about racism.

In reality, racism is a centuries-old cultivated system of white supremacy, which gives advantages to people who have the typical features of colonizer countries, and disadvantages to the people with the features of colonized countries. It’s built into the structure of our society. Understanding how racism is systemic rather than just interpersonal is one of the first steps you can take towards becoming a person who does not actively perpetuate that system.

𝔹𝕦𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕕𝕚𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕣𝕪 𝕤𝕒𝕪𝕤!

Dictionaries are especially inadequate at representing politicised words. We seem to view dictionary definitions as objective, like the writers don’t have a stake in what they’re describing. Dictionaries express a point of view, nothing more. Definitions of terms for oppressive systems like “racism” are more valuable when they’re written by the groups they oppress, not the groups in power.

ℝ𝕒𝕔𝕚𝕤𝕞 𝕚𝕤 𝕟𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖

Racism is normative. Racism does the work of ‘normalizing’ whiteness. It sets whiteness up as the standard for humanness. This makes whiteness invisible to most whites but punishes those insofar as they deviate from that standard. This can be seen in the beauty industry with the various “skin lightening products or Doves very famous tanning lotion with the racial slogan which read “from normal skin to dark skin”. Excuse Me but what exactly does “normal” skin look like. It can be seen in how languages are used in the world, a mother-tongue English speaker can get away with never learning another language.

𝕎𝕙𝕚𝕥𝕖 𝕊𝕦𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕞𝕒𝕔𝕪 𝕒𝕟𝕕 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕖 ℝ𝕒𝕔𝕚𝕤𝕞

White supremacy is a power structure; it’s about who has money, who has access to land, education, housing, food and other basic needs, it’s about who gets what opportunities. A structure exists that maintains white people in positions of power and with relative access to opportunities at the expense of people of colour. Once you’ve grasped that, it should be clear:

Reverse-racism doesn’t exist!

The whole idea of reverse racism doesn’t respond to the reality of structural oppression. For words to be racist and not prejudiced, they need to be accompanied with an oppressive system that targets that specific group of people. Without the systemic oppression, it’s just prejudices which are still bad, but not as dehumanizing. That is why there is a difference between calling a black person a monkey/n**** and calling a white person any other offensive term. Words like n**** and monkey come from a long history of systemic oppression, when black people were kept as slaves and in zoos.

As a white person, just don’t say the word n****, it’s not that hard. When you use those words, it becomes racism because you are reinforcing an oppressive and racist system which should have never existed. But when it’s the other way around there is no system that is being reinforced, therefore it is just prejudice which is STILL extremely bad and unacceptable.

𝔹𝕦𝕥 𝕀’𝕞 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕚𝕤𝕥, 𝕚𝕤𝕟’𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕖𝕟𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙?

Since racism is structural, and not just about your individual beliefs and actions, it’s not enough just to think that having good personal relationships with people of colour means you are not perpetuating racism. Since there is this system of advantages and disadvantages, and since white people benefit from it at the expense of people of colour, insofar as we allow it to exist and perpetuate it, we are contributing to racism.

“In a racist society, it is not enough to be non-racist—we must be anti-racist.” – Angela Davis

The truth is, I don’t have definite answers or solutions. We are constantly learning, unlearning and trying to figure out what to do. I’m asking you to do the same. We know that the reality of racism is huge and overwhelming. But, informing yourself and acting on that information is a good way to start. Each person needs to be aware of the differences within their individual contexts.

We’re asking you to take this conversation forward to your family and friends. And, importantly, with yourself. We’re asking you to be brave: take up the conversation with the institutions you’re a part of, like your school, and push for change.