Racism Is Taught

I have quite a few drafts about racism and how it is still very real today (which these past few days have shown that). They have stayed hidden. I don’t know why exactly. I just know that this one can’t stay hidden.

I’m not going to act like I haven’t spent the majority of my life in predominantly white areas. I’m not gonna act like I didn’t live in the rich white area of Baltimore County instead of where the gunshots and riots are.

I am thankful I had the chance of being in the surrounding areas where I was the minority. I am thankful that my first friend was black. I am thankful for being aware.

I’ve vented to my friend, who is black, about things that I’ve witnessed about how ignorant people are of racism today. She said, “You should speak up when you do feel these things because the attitudes that people can have aren’t okay.” This made me realize that just watching and not speaking up can be just as bad.

I went to predominately white schools my entire life. In the later years of my college days, I spent a good amount of time with my black friends. In a lot of ways, they were surprised how aware I was of their culture. Even being aware during those years I was able to witness a lot of things I wasn’t aware of. A lot of the things if not all of the things I learned was by interacting with them. The key is to listen.

It’s on us as white people to change, not those of color.

I encourage anyone to put themselves somewhere that they are the minority. It doesn’t have to be something big. It could even be a weekend trip somewhere. There may be uncomfortable feelings, especially when you aren’t used to it. When you put yourself in different cultures, you are shown or reminded that there are people other than you.

EDUCATE YOURSELF. There are many ways to do so. There are books. One book by Robin DiAngelo is White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism. I haven’t read it myself yet but I have heard it is an eyeopener. There are podcasts. One of my favorites is “Black & Highly Dangerous.”

Here is the link to their website, https://www.blackandhighlydangerous.com

Racism is taught. No one comes out of the womb thinking one’s skin color is better than someone else’s. There are generational cycles of racism. Generational cycles are hard to break, and that is something to understand. That is also not an excuse to let people say or do things that are racist whether they’re aware or not. A lot of people aren’t aware that some of the things they say or do are offensive.

Don’t be afraid to tell someone that they just did or said something racist. Don’t get offended if someone tells you the same. Learn from it.