I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness

by Austin Channing Brown

White supremacy is a tradition that must be named and a religion that must be renounced. When this work has not been done, those who live in whiteness become oppressive, whether intentional or not.

Our only chance at dismantling racial injustice is being more curious about its origins than we are worried about our comfort.

But dialogue is productive toward reconciliation only when it leads to action—when it inverts power and pursues justice for those who are most marginalized.

Rather than making white people’s reactions the linchpin that holds racial justice together, I am free to link arms with those who are already being transformed. Because at no point in America’s history did all white people come together to correct racial injustice. At no point did all white people decide chattel slavery should end. At no point did all white people decide we should listen to the freedom fighters, end segregation, and enact the right of Black Americans to vote. At no point have all white people gotten together and agreed to the equitable treatment of Black people. And yet there has been change, over time, over generations, over history.

How dare I consider surrender simply because I want the warmth of the sun?

When the sun happens to shine, I bask in the rays. But I know I cannot stay there. That is not my place to stand. So I abide in the shadows, and let hope have its day and its death. It is my duty to live anyway.