Racism Is Alive and Well
There are those who would like not to continue to talk about race and racism. These are the people who are in denial and some who are a part of the problem. A person who is a racist today will not normally admit to it. The subtle way that people who are racist address the issue is by acting as though it does not exist, knowing fully well that it does. I have always said that the gay people came out of the closet and the racist got in, not that being gay means you cannot be one of the racist in the closet. What I see today is that as long as we don't discuss it then it does not matter or have credence. By not talking about it we can continue to pretend that there are not more Black men in jail than anglo men. AS long as we don't discuss it we don't have to face the fact that people of color are less likely to be hired for any particular job. We can ignore racism because the act of racism is so underground still today. What we cannot ignore is the fact that there are a large group of people who happen to be "white" that are still forming supremacy groups and colleges that are chanting racial commentary as if it were 1954 still. That there are college students in sororities stating that they won't accept Blacks into their little group. Every time we try to ignore the issue of race something comes to the surface to remind us and show us that it's very much alive. What are we to do about racism and the actions behind it?
The very first thing to resolving racial issue is by being honest about it and admitting that it exists. We must simply admit that there remains an issue of race in our country and that we must institute laws that have consequences for people or groups who act out their racial hatred or who do things that impede people of color from their rights in any shape or form. We must be completely open about what is going on and what is needing to be done about it. We may not be able to cure racial sickness all at once but we can take some steps to demonstrate to inappropriate racist people that it won't be tolerated. We must being to let racist know that freedom of speech does not give them a license to hate and to demonstrate that kind of hatred openly. We must not sit back and tolerate it as individuals or as a race who has the same rights as everyone else.
Racism is alive and well. Yes it is. It may be that others might think me or people like me "over sensitive" but that will not stop me from speaking my truth. I see racism clearly living and flourishing each day. Movies like Selma only touch on the tip of what it was like to be Black in a world where they were treated like second class citizens and denied the same rights as others. In a way we are still living Selma over and over again. We are still looking at white supremacy expressed in open and hidden agendas. We have a long way to go to become equal and having the same rights as everyone else. We are still fighting for our lives and that of our children. We are still fighting to keep our language and our culture in a world with too many people trying to shame us and force us to speak only English because they view any other language as an affront to their power.
We may never kill off racism. It may be here to stay forever and the day. It is likely that their will always be people who hate people of color. There might always be discrimination and hate for people who are not white. There may be a battle we will need to fight all our lives. But the difference is that we decide not to accept it as truth and not to tolerate it as though we have to.
There are Anglos who see the issue of racism and who admit there remains an issue. Those sincere people are part of the solution and are the ones who help our cause as people of color. The more whites protest against the racist people in America and who support us the better. We will not be able to completely solve this horrible problem but we can become the majority in holding the space for equality and the fight for every person to live as joyfully as everyone else, not matter what their race or beliefs.
The very first thing to resolving racial issue is by being honest about it and admitting that it exists. We must simply admit that there remains an issue of race in our country and that we must institute laws that have consequences for people or groups who act out their racial hatred or who do things that impede people of color from their rights in any shape or form. We must be completely open about what is going on and what is needing to be done about it. We may not be able to cure racial sickness all at once but we can take some steps to demonstrate to inappropriate racist people that it won't be tolerated. We must being to let racist know that freedom of speech does not give them a license to hate and to demonstrate that kind of hatred openly. We must not sit back and tolerate it as individuals or as a race who has the same rights as everyone else.
Racism is alive and well. Yes it is. It may be that others might think me or people like me "over sensitive" but that will not stop me from speaking my truth. I see racism clearly living and flourishing each day. Movies like Selma only touch on the tip of what it was like to be Black in a world where they were treated like second class citizens and denied the same rights as others. In a way we are still living Selma over and over again. We are still looking at white supremacy expressed in open and hidden agendas. We have a long way to go to become equal and having the same rights as everyone else. We are still fighting for our lives and that of our children. We are still fighting to keep our language and our culture in a world with too many people trying to shame us and force us to speak only English because they view any other language as an affront to their power.
We may never kill off racism. It may be here to stay forever and the day. It is likely that their will always be people who hate people of color. There might always be discrimination and hate for people who are not white. There may be a battle we will need to fight all our lives. But the difference is that we decide not to accept it as truth and not to tolerate it as though we have to.
There are Anglos who see the issue of racism and who admit there remains an issue. Those sincere people are part of the solution and are the ones who help our cause as people of color. The more whites protest against the racist people in America and who support us the better. We will not be able to completely solve this horrible problem but we can become the majority in holding the space for equality and the fight for every person to live as joyfully as everyone else, not matter what their race or beliefs.
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