So You Want to Talk About Race

by Ijeoma Oluo

It has been reading the magic of the words of Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, and Alice Walker and knowing that they are written for you.

defining forces in my life. But it is not something I always talked about, certainly not the way that I do now.

I started to question, I started to resist, I started to demand.

I wanted to know why it was considered a bad thing that I was “opinionated,” I

These last few years, the rise of voices of color, coupled with the widespread dissemination of video proof of brutality and injustice against people of color, has brought the urgency of racism in America to the forefront of all our consciousness.

Race is not something people can choose to ignore anymore.

These are very scary times for a lot of people who are just now realizing that America is not, and has never been, the melting-pot utopia that their parents and teachers told them it was.

every labor movement that managed to help white America so much more than everyone else. Those are the words that ‘move everybody forward’ but in the exact same place, with the exact same hierarchy, and the exact same oppressions. Those words are why the wealth gap between whites and blacks is just as bad as it was when Dr. King was leading marches. We’re still waiting. We’re still hoping. We’re still left behind.”

Racism in America exists to exclude people of color from opportunity and progress so that there is more profit

for others deemed superior.

This promise—you will get more because they exist to get less—is woven throughout our entire society.

1. It is about race if a person of color thinks it is about race. 2. It is about race if it disproportionately or differently affects people of color. 3. It is about race if it fits into a broader pattern of events that disproportionately or differently affect people of color.

fallible

Disadvantaged white people are not erased by discussions of disadvantages facing people of color, just as brain cancer is not erased by talking about breast cancer. They are two different issues with two different treatments, and they require two different conversations.

BLM vs ALM

Often, being a person of color in white-dominated society is like being in an abusive relationship with the world. Every day is a new little hurt, a new little dehumanization.

but maybe I needed to be “less angry,” because this was why people like me got a bad reputation.

“You can’t just go around calling anything racist. Save that word for the big stuff. You know, for Nazis

and cross burnings and lynchings. You’re just going to turn people off if you use such inflammatory language.”

a prejudice against someone based on race, when those prejudices are reinforced by systems of power.

What is racism?

If I call a white person a cracker, the worst I can do is ruin their day. If a white person thinks I’m a nigger, the worst they can do is get me fired, arrested, or even killed in a system that thinks the same—and has the resources to act

food deserts,

???

How do you change an education system tailored almost exclusively to the experiences, history, and goals of white families on an emotional basis?

What is this like in your schools?

The ultimate goal of racism was the profit and comfort of the white race, specifically, of rich white men. The oppression of people of color was an easy way to get this wealth and power, and racism was a good way to justify it. This

“Hey, that’s racist” but you can also add, “and it contributes to false beliefs about black

Responding to racist comments

you can also ask your company management what processes they have in place to minimize racial bias in their hiring process, you can ask for more diversity in management and cultural sensitivity training for staff, and you can ask what procedures they have in place to handle allegations of racial discrimination.

don’t challenge cops, don’t be surprised if you are followed at stores, some people will be mean to you because of your beautiful brown skin, no you can’t have the same hairstyle as your friends because your hair doesn’t do that. But

When my son’s school only has parent-teacher conferences during school hours, they are making race an issue by ignoring the fact that black and Latinx parents are more likely to work the type of hourly jobs that would cause them to lose much-needed pay, or even risk losing their employment altogether,

in order to stay involved in their child’s education. When I take my kids to movies and none of the

It is important to learn how to fail, to learn how to be wrong in a way that minimizes pain to you and others and maximizes what you can learn from the experience. Here

Learn to fail

And if you are white, and you don’t want to feel any of that pain by having these conversations, then you are asking people of color to continue to bear the entire burden of racism alone.

But we forgot the luck and wore our status as a symbol of pride—creating a hierarchy in a group in desperate need of solidarity.

Privilege, in the social justice context, is an advantage or a set of advantages that you have that others do not.

set me higher up in a socioeconomic hierarchy than others, and place other people below.

The concept of privilege violates everything we’ve been told about fairness and everything we’ve been told about the American Dream of hard work paying off and good things happening to good people. We

Privileges

a privilege has to come with somebody else’s disadvantage—otherwise, it’s not a privilege. As a light-skinned black woman, I’m viewed by many in society as more intelligent and less threatening than darker-skinned black people. This is a privilege, because in order to be viewed as “more intelligent” others have to be viewed as “less intelligent.”

shadeism (a byproduct of racism creating a hierarchy within minority races based on skin tone) doesn’t exist,

Where I benefit most from being able-bodied is where I have the most power and access to change a system that disadvantages disabled people.

When we identify where our privilege intersects with somebody else’s oppression, we’ll find our opportunities to make real change.

Take some time to really dig deep through all of the advantages that you have that others may not. Write them down.

First days of school

start thinking about how this privilege might have influenced not only your status in society, but your experience with and understanding of the world at large.

How might your privilege have impacted your ideas on racism, on education, on the environment?

Get used to that uncomfortable feeling that arises when you discover that perhaps your privilege is hindering your ability to truly understand or address an issue.

Intersectionality, the belief that our social justice movements must consider all of the intersections of identity, privilege, and oppression that people face in order to be just and effective,

If I’m harassed on the street, I don’t know if it is because I’m black, if it’s because I’m a woman, or if it’s because I’m queer. In fact, it may be all three reasons at once. But many of our social justice movements would fail to consider the ways in which our multiple identities interact, or intersect (for example, when feminist groups are discussing how to fight the street harassment of women). As a black, queer, middle-class woman, my queer identity may often be overlooked by anti-racist or feminist movements; my female identity may be overlooked by anti-racist or queer movements; my black identity may be overlooked by feminist or queer movements; and my middle-class identity may well cause me to overlook poor people in all movements.

Because of how rarely our privilege is examined, even our social justice movements will tend to focus on the most privileged and most well represented people within those groups.

experiences in both race and gender intertwine to uniquely impact the lives of black women and women of color.

Intersectionality forces people to interact with, listen to, and consider people they don’t usually interact with, listen to, or consider. People like to form groups with people they consider “similar” to themselves.

Am I shifting some focus and power away from the most privileged in the conversation? Am I letting those we don’t hear from very often speak first? Am I making conversation accessible to everyone who wants to participate? Am I prioritizing the opinions of those who are often overlooked?

Privilege has been used to silence people for so long, that you will need to put out the effort to let people know that you will value and respect their input.

officer “I’m reaching into the glove compartment now” and waiting for the officer’s nod before moving.