I implore you to stop not because I am African or Asian or
Ojibway. But because I am white, I look white, I talk white. When I witness or hear about racism, the hair on my back
stands up, I begin to shake, my stomach aches, my heart sinks down into my
bowels. It keeps me awake at night, and if this hatred hurts me it must be far
worse for those who are targeted. and perhaps this is the idea – that the
masses self destruct in opposition to the other.
I am not saying YOU are racist. I don’t think we set out
on our life’s journey to hate. Just as all Moslems are not responsible for
9/11, YOU are not responsible for the woman who was
pushed in front of a train because she was wearing a headscarf, the murdered
and missing women, the holocaust, or the tone of the US elections. YOU are not responsible for the refugees
whose cities have been blown apart, the unarmed teenager who was shot by a
policeman, the overworked underpaid workers in Mexico, or increasing inequality
that threatens what little democratic opportunity remains.
But you and I are responsible for the words that come out of
our mouths, and for how we respond when we witness attacks. We are also responsible for knowing the cost of what we choose to purchase, where it comes from and who is oppressed by its manufacture.
We are responsible for understanding what happens when
racism stalks the commons. The first casualty is dialogue. (There is too much
pain both sides.) The second is observation. (We prefer not to look too closely
at the deep penetrating destruction of hate and the entitlement given to those
who assume superiority.) The third is acknowledgement of our own opportunity to
heal the small moments.
Racism makes us powerless echoes of our ancestors' fear and
pain. Problem solving is shut down like an iron gate when the narrative announces “it’s all their fault”. Racism
cripples democracy. Racism alienates us from our human capacity to inquire, to
feel empathy and to be compassionate. Racism locks our children into binaries
of fear. Racism chooses violence first and smears all privilege with blame and
spilled blood.
When we feel entitled to judge those we have never met, based
on generalizations spread in media and on the street, racism is the first
weapon of mass destruction. It begins as a tiny virus in the reptilian brain
and spreads all over the world. It is the greatest servant of the arms industry
and the psychopathic ruler. It is the door to war that keeps on spilling blood,
making life unbearable and the future into something to dread.
So please remember the images of Aleppo and Auschwitz before
you shout racial slurs on a bus or laugh at a friend’s jokes or click “like” in
the comments field.
Racism is the most destructive and disabling fantasy of
white supremacy.
