Helpful Perspectives on Race and Racism
1. WE ARE MORE ALIKE THAN DIFFERENT
As human beings we are all more alike than we are different, regardless of the color of our skin. (What do you notice that you have in common with someone from a different racial background than yours?)
2. "RACES" DON'T EXIST
Classifying people by skin color and some minor facial features and calling the categories “races” is an idea that was made up a few hundred years ago. (“Races” do not exist as distinct biological groups with significant genetic differences among them. Skin color is biologically a trivial difference.) The idea of race, as we know it now, was invented by white people to justify their mistreatment of people of color (especially the enslaving of Africans and the colonizing of many groups) and/or to assert the superiority of white people. (Can you think of other ways that we could sort people into groups?)
3. STILL ... PAY ATTENTION TO "RACE"
Although “race” is an artificial idea that serves to separate people, we need still need to pay attention to “race” because of the ways it continues to be used to advantage white people and to oppress people of color, and to affect the experiences that people tend to have in our society. (How has being the "race" you are affected you?)
4. WE ARE ALL BORN GOOD
All people, including both people of color and white people, are born good. As people get mistreated, hurt, isolated, don’t have their needs met, and are taught harmful ideas, they come to behave in ways that are harmful to others. No one is born “racist”. (When have you been able to notice the goodness of someone of a different “race”?)
5. CONNECT WITH PEOPLE OF ALL RACES
It makes sense for people of all races to be connected to each other. Life is richer and more interesting if you have friends and acquaintances from many racial backgrounds. We can all become aware that racial differences need not cut us off from other people. (When have you enjoyed being with someone who was different from you in some way?)
6. BEING COLORBLIND IS NOT THE GOAL
Being “colorblind” is not the goal. It is one of our goals that people not be judged on the basis of their skin color or have stereotyped assumptions made about them. This is different from not noticing, or pretending not to notice, someone’s skin color or “race”. We need to notice skin color and “race” because it can help us understand people’s identities and cultures, and may help us understand something about their experiences. As one African-American woman said, “If you only see that I’m black, you don’t see me. If you don’t see that I’m black, you also don’t see me.” (Has it sometimes felt that you needed to pretend skin color differences didn’t exist to be friends with someone of a racial background different from yours?)
7. RACISM EXISTS TODAY
Racism still exists today in all parts of the United States and beyond. People of color are disadvantaged, excluded, limited, and mistreated systematically. (What example of recent racism have you experienced, seen, read about, heard about, etc.?)
8. PERSONAL RACISM
Some racism, both today and in the past, is personal racism - ideas and feelings held in the minds of individuals, and individual behavior. These include feeling superior to another race, stereotyped views of one or more races, fear of people because of their skin color, hatred of a race, etc. Personal racism also includes individual behaviors that mistreat people of color. (Can you think of an historical figure or group of people who showed their personal racism in some way?)
9. SYSTEMIC RACISM
Much racism today is systemic racism - the way many advantages in the society are set up systematically, or built into the structure of society or how we do things, to benefit one racial group (white people) and disadvantage others. For example, public schools are financed primarily on property taxes (based on the value of people’s houses) and this results in students in poor urban areas (where many students of color live) going to schools that don't have as much money to pay teachers, buy books, etc. as the schools that many white students go to. If we financed schools differently, we could provide equally good schools for all students, regardless of their “race”. (How would you feel about schools being changed so that your school wasn’t any better, or worse, than anyone else’s?)
10. APPEARANCE OF RACISM
Racism in the U.S. today often takes on a different appearance than it did in the past. Much racism is cloaked in “coded” or “race-neutral” language such as “crime in the streets”, the “war on drugs”, and “un-American”. Users of such language can claim to be “colorblind” while intentionally (or unintentionally) triggering racist feelings or fears in many listeners. Systematic attempts to portray people of color and leaders of color as “other” are also expressions of racism. Actions that further disadvantage large numbers of people of color are part of racism whether some white people are also disadvantaged or not. (What do you think of recent efforts to make it more difficult to register to vote? Are these an expression of racism?)
11. EFFECT, RATHER THAN INTENT
If a comment, action, or policy is hurtful to people of color, it is racism even if it was not intended to be. Such actions are part of the overall system of racism. Every expression of racism should be interrupted, whether it was intentional or not. This is just as true in situations where only white people are present. The passing on of racism from white person to white person is part of the system of racism that must be dismantled. (How would you talk with someone about how local financing of schools is racist, even if no one intends it to be?)
12. SELF RESPECT FOR ALL
People of all racial identities deserve to feel pleased with who they are and deserve respect, including self-respect. This is true for African Americans, Latinos, Asians, Native Americans, Whites and all people of mixed heritages. (What are you pleased about when you think about your “race” or other people of your “race”?)
13. ALL WHITE PEOPLE ARE CONDITIONED TO RACISM
Every white person growing up in this society has been trained to feel some superiority, fear, and/or separation from various people of color. These attitudes and the behaviors and lack of awareness that come from them are personal racism. This does not mean that the person is a racist. He or she is still a good human being, but they have attitudes and behaviors that they need to take responsibility for changing. This will be necessary for ending racism. (If you are white, have you ever felt scared of people of color? Have you ever felt “better than” people of color? If you are a person of color, have you noticed these feelings or attitudes in white people?)
14. SYSTEMIC ADVANTAGES TO WHITES
Every white person is also born into a system that advantages white people and disadvantages people of color in many ways. This is not the fault of any individual white person, but it is important that white people learn about how this occurs in society and work to eliminate this systemic racism. (What’s one of the advantages that white people tend to have in this society?)
15. RACISM HURTS WHITE PEOPLE TOO
Despite the advantages that accrue to white people as a result of racism, white people are hurt by racism too. Racism, both personal and systemic, tends to leave white people more disconnected from the majority of the world's population; with more fear, powerlessness and alienation; and with some of their full humanity obstructed. (If you are white, how has racism, or facing the existence of racism, been painful to you, limited your sense of your goodness, interfered with your connections with people, or frustrated your dreams of justice?)
16. INTERNALIZED RACISM
Every person of color growing up in this society has been subjected to attitudes and behaviors that imply that he or she is somehow inferior and deserves disadvantages. To the extent that people of color have inadvertently internalized any of these attitudes about themselves, other members of their own “race” or other people of color, they carry what is called “internalized racism”. In order for racism to end it will be necessary to root out internalized racism as well as the racism carried by white people. (If you are a person of color, what challenges do you face, if any, in trying to feel pleased with yourself consistently?)
17. RESPONSIBILITY, NOT BLAME
No one is to blame for harmful attitudes that have been instilled in them or for lack of awareness. Everyone is responsible for changing those attitudes, developing awareness, and committing themselves to treating all people with respect. Feeling guilty generally gets in the way of effective action to eliminate racism. It is appropriate to take responsibility for correcting and repairing mistakes, both personal and historical. (What’s a mistake you have made with a person of another “race”? What did you do, or would you like to do to repair the results of that mistake?)
18. HEALING FROM RACISM - WHITE PEOPLE
The attitudes, feelings, and false ideas that make up individual racism in white people are connected to experiences that involve painful feelings, vulnerability, and insecurity. Although getting accurate information is important, it is not sufficient for removing racism. Healing from personal racism requires that people be listened to while they talk thoroughly about their experiences that are related to race and racism. They also need to feel and release the emotions that accompanied those experiences, through crying, trembling, raging, laughing, etc. Building relationships with people of different racial backgrounds; learning more about race, racism and the experiences of other groups; and taking action to help end racism, all assist in the process of eliminating personal racism. (If you are a white person, what feelings do you have about race, about issues of racism, and about experiences you have had with people of other races?)
19. HEALING FROM RACISM - PEOPLE OF COLOR
Similarly, for people of color experiences of racism and internalized racism have painful emotion connected to them. Healing from those experiences requires that people be listened to extensively while they talk about their experiences and feel and release the emotions connected with them. (If you are a person of color, what feelings do you have about race, about racism, and about experiences you have had related to race and racism?)
20. YOUR VIEWS
What are other perspectives and ideas that you have found helpful?
