Just got home from South Africa where as a part of the trip I met with leaders in the fight to end apartheid. Also had the opportunity to visit Robben Island where I listened to a former political prisoner talk about how people were unjustly treated because of their race and their pursuit of equality. The impact of apartheid can still be felt and seen in the lives of the people. Then I get home and the first thing I hear is the Grand Jurys failure to indict Darren Wilson and the protest that are taking place across the country. The end of segregation did not end racism just as the end of apartheid did not end racism. The election of a Black President in U.S. did not end racism just as the election of a Black President in South Africa did not end racism. Racism is a disease that infects people who in turn infect systems on every institutional level. Im sitting here wondering what is the cure? I think it takes many forms, inclusive of but not limited to the following. It requires people taking the power of their vote seriously and removing those with poisoned minds from elected office. It requires people of color freeing themselves from the psychological incarceration of thinking they have to act like, and go along to get along, in order to be embraced by those who dont look like them. It requires using our economic power to impact the lives of young men and women of color in positive ways. It requires White people doing more than simply trying to pacify Black people with words of empathy but still not seeking to build genuine, non exploitive, relationships so that they can actually see that all of us dont fit their stereotypes just like all of them dont fit our stereotypes of who we think they are. It requires leaders who are not interested in making a name for themselves by competing for media attention or trying to be the leader of the people. Competition amongst leaders becomes a dangerous placebo drug in the fight to end the disease of racism that makes people think something is being done to resolve the problem but in actuality the words have no impact on curing the disease. It requires holding the media accountable to telling the entire story not just what will get good ratings and fuel the fire. It requires White people addressing their ill informed opinions of people of color who dont fit their idea of a safe Black person based on how we dress, talk, or where we live. It requires that we do more than post messages and images on social media but actually go out and do something that impacts lives and systems within our own spheres of influence. It requires redefining our idea of success which is often driven by greed and selfish ambition, both of which also act as a placebo to make us think that we have defeated racism (because we fit in and have the things that White people have) when all we have really done is mask the symptoms for a while. It takes all of this and a lot more to cure racism and gain some level of equality. Curing the disease of racism will cost each of us something and until we are all willing to sacrifice and do things that make us uncomfortable or disrupt our comfort zones, the disease may go dormant for a season but the symptoms will eventually come back again to show us that we are still infected.
Posted on: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 03:12:06 +0000
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