This Book Is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on How to Wake Up, Take Action, and Do the Work

by Tiffany Jewell

Racism is personal prejudice and bias AND the systemic misuse and abuse of power by institutions.

Here’s an example: I’m meeting with a bunch of other teachers and hear someone say, “Well, I don’t see color. Race isn’t really an issue in my classroom.” I could just ignore them but, because I know that’s a microaggression AND because my superpower is interrupting, I can take action. I can go ahead and interject. I don’t need to wait for them to finish their monologue. I shouldn’t let them go on because other folx might start agreeing with them and they’ll all start congratulating one another on not seeing race. I can say, “THAT’S NOT OKAY!” You can start with simple and clear phrases like I often do, and then you can continue because folx will definitely be listening now! “IT IS IMPORTANT TO SEE AND ACKNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTAND THAT YOUR STUDENTS ARE DIFFERENT. BY WORKING TO ACTIVELY NOT SEE THE RACE/SKIN COLOR OF YOUR STUDENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES, YOU ARE DENYING THEM. YOU ARE DENYING THEM THEIR HISTORIES. YOU ARE DENYING THEM THEIR RACIAL AND ETHNIC BACKGROUND. YOU ARE BASICALLY SAYING YOU DON’T CARE ABOUT WHO THEY ARE. YOU ARE TRYING TO MAKE THEM THE SAME, AND FIT INTO THE IMAGINARY BOX. YOUR CLASSROOM ONLY TEACHES THE DOMINANT CULTURE OF WHITE SUPREMACY.”

Being racist against white people is not a thing. Remember, racism is personal prejudice AND the systemic misuse and abuse of power by institutions. So, I can have a prejudice against white people, but there is no system that has been put in place for centuries to keep white people oppressed. In our society, REVERSE RACISM IS NOT REAL. People will bring it up from time to time and you can remind them that personal prejudice is indeed real.

“BY NOT ALLOWING YOURSELF TO SEE SOMEONE’S RACE, YOU ARE NOT SEEING THEM AS A WHOLE PERSON. YOU ARE LOOKING AT THEM THROUGH A SKEWED LENS. YOU SEE THEM ONLY HOW YOU WANT TO SEE THEM. YOU ARE LOOKING AT THEM THROUGH YOUR LENS OF COMFORT. YOU ARE NOT SEEING YOUR STUDENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES HOW THEY WANT TO AND NEED TO BE SEEN.”

Speak up and out. When you hear microaggressions, question them. If you hear someone ask another person, “What are you?,” say something like, “Why do you need to know?” or “What are you really trying to ask?” or “Would you really want someone asking you what you are?” Call folx in.

Script.

If you hear someone say, “You’re pretty for a Black girl,” say something like, “You’re pretty racist. Just because your opinion of beauty is based on old Eurocentric beauty standards, doesn’t mean you need to impose them on the rest of us. Keep your racist words to yourself and do better.”

Script.

If you hear someone refer to people as “illegals,” you can tell them, “No one is illegal.”

Script.

If you hear someone say, “I’m not racist, but…” you can use your power of interruption to stop them from going any further, because they’re probably going to say something racist.

Possible script here?

Notice when you are appreciating the culture and work of Black, Indigenous, or other Folx of Color and when you are appropriating it (taking it for your own use).

Allyship is not about you. It’s not a performance or something you do to get more likes on social media. It’s something you are working toward for a more just society.

“IF YOU HAVE COME HERE TO HELP ME, YOU ARE WASTING YOUR TIME. BUT IF YOU HAVE COME BECAUSE YOUR LIBERATION IS BOUND UP WITH MINE, THEN LET US WORK TOGETHER.” —Lilla Watson, Indigenous Australian artist, activist, and academic

Our liberation is bound together. I cannot dismantle this structure alone. You cannot break it down on your own. We are in this together. Our ability to disrupt our own complicity and the comfort of others has already begun to create little cracks within the system of racism.