What is anti-racism?

Have you noticed people talking about this concept called “anti-racism”?

It means moving away from a binary labeling of someone as racist or not racist. The binary system has several problems. The number one problem is that it puts people into boxes of being racist and hence bad or being not racist and hence good.  That is very limiting and not helpful if we want to see real change.  We have to look at individual and systemic racism and take an active stance against this which is anti-racism. We first have to understand history and center those who have been oppressed in our telling of history.

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I see everyone as a racial being. Do you see yourself as a racial being from the day you were born? How have you been socialized as a racial being? What is the story of your ancestors? What is their relationship to being oppressed or being part of a group who oppressed others based on race? Where did you grow up? Who did you go to school with? Where do you live now? Who do you have intimate relationships with? What kinds of meaningful conversations about race and racism do you have on a regular basis?

The reality is that the United States is a post genocidal nation.  We have a lot of work to do heal from racial harm.  Check out Anneliese Singh's racial healing circle.  Where are you on the journey? Are you working on multiple elements of racial healing? 

photo credit to Anneliese Singh from her book "Racial Healing Handbook"

​If you notice some strong feelings or body sensations as you are reading the phrase white supremacy below, know that is part of the journey.  It is referring to collective whiteness/whiteness as a culture.  Defensiveness tends to be present in any unexamined area of privilege or domination. What might you need to soothe your activated nervous system as we continue this dialogue?

Some Core Elements of Anti-Racism

Here are a few things to consider that supports the idea that we are all indoctrinated into a racist society that has white supremacy (or anti-blackness) as its foundation:

1. The United States was founded on white supremacy.  The forefathers of this land came to a land inhabited by indigenous people and colonized and enslaved black people for a couple of hundred years to build the country’s wealth.  White supremacy is based on the notion that the white body is superior.  It not only refers to whiteness but also captures other privileges identified by our first leaders (white, cis male, heterosexual, Christian, able-bodied, educated, upper class, neurotypical). 
2. The enslavement of black people for hundreds of years led to racist policies and ideas being created. If one is to enslave a group of people simply because of the color of their skin one starts to believe that group of people deserves that kind of treatment.  Some things that have been said about black people: they are not smart; lazy; don’t need as much sleep; like a monkey or other animal; they are not civilized; they are 3/5ths of a person which is coded language for 3/5ths of a white person.
3. Early police departments in 1800s were called “slave patrols” as they were designed to police runaway slaves.
4. Civil War was less about ending slavery and more about uniting the country. 
5. Once slavery was abolished the 13th amendment was created which said that black people could be enslaved again if they created criminal acts.  Black people were freed without equal access to land, education, jobs and voting. Minimal reparations were given for the hundreds of years they were enslaved. The Freedmen’s bureau which would have been a form of reparation did not last long (1865-1872).   
6. Public lynching, putting up of confederate statues, and black codes began after the end of slavery to intimidate and terrorize black people. 
7. Jim Crow laws persisted for decades making it clear that black people were not equal.
8. Over time the social construction of whiteness evolved to include other ethnic groups such as Irish, Italian Jewish people, etc. These were groups of people who were once persecuted when they first arrived in the United States.
9. In the 1900s we see redlining, hiring discrimination, unequal lending, denial of voting in various states, unequal access to benefits of GI bill. All of these things allow white families to build wealth across generations while deepening the wealth gap between white households and black and latinx households.
10. The Civil Rights movement brought more equal rights and yet hundreds of years of oppression and beliefs that black people were inferior was not addressed. 
11. It became politically correct to be colorblind.  Racist ideas and its associated implicit bias becomes invisible as does the transgenerational transmission of racist beliefs and segregation. 
12. Laws related to use and distribution start to appear to promote mass incarceration over the next forty years starting with Richard Nixon and continuing with Reagan, both Bush presidents and ultimately Bill Clinton who put in the harshest sentencing laws.  These laws as a collective criminalized use of drugs rather than promoting treatment. These laws gave harsher sentences for use of crack (found primarily in communities of color) then cocaine (found primarily in white communities)
13. Over-policing in communities of color continues.  There are huge gaps in wealth, healthcare access, education across the country.  Communities of color are seeing higher deaths due to COVID due to long history of institutionalized racism that leads them to live in urban areas where they live in closer quarters and they are more likely to have jobs that cannot be worked remotely.  We blame individuals rather than looking at systems, socialization, patterns that influence those being oppressed and those doing the oppressing.
14. Racism has targeted other people of color over the centuries through the Chinese Exclusion Act, Japanese internment camps during World War II, immigration policies targeting spanish speaking countries, and Muslim Bans.

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We are NOT taught anti-racism or racial justice history in school

Is some of our history surprising? Was it what you were taught in school? Did you think of white supremacy as a small group of people with extreme views wearing white hoods?  I did for a long time.  My eyes were opened when I started seeing it a system.  A system that makes whiteness as the norm and superior. From white supremacy comes white privilege. White privilege is a series of advantages that makes life a little easier even if you don’t have other privileges.  What have you learned about critical race theory? Check out this blog and video learn more. ​

Being "Not Racist" Isn't the Same as Being Anti-Racist

It is easy to say you are “not racist” but often that means you are neutral in discussions about racist policies and ideas.  We can assume that we all have internalized racist ideas if we have spent any time in the United States.  If you agree with some of the history described above it makes sense how we got to today’s Black Lives Matter movement and a cry for some radical change across economics, education, policing, and healthcare access. You can now decide what you want to do going forward.  How important is true equality and equity.

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"Antiracism is the commitment to fight racism..."

I like Ibram Kendi’s definition of anti-racism which is someone who supports an antiracist policy through their actions or expresses an idea based in antiracism.  What do you think and do on a daily basis that supports or dismantles white supremacy and supports or challenges anti-racist policies? What if it is really indifference of most individuals on a daily basis that maintains white supremacy rather than extremists that are explicitly racist.

Ready to Learn More About Anti-Racism Resources and Racial Justice?

Do you want to dive deeper into these topics?  Start to unpack your racial conditioning and start to commit to anti-racism in your daily life.  Check out some of the videos created by Dr. Nathalie Edmond and the anti-racism resource page. Sign up for one of the upcoming anti-racism workshops. Finally, set up a consultation for your therapy staff, yoga instruction, educational team and more.
In the meantime, check out this video of Dr. Edmond reading the untold story of racism by Ruth King. Perhaps, you might even adapt this resource to talk to your children or teams about racism!

Want to connect to other resources and Dr. Edmond on social media click here 

Join the Antiracism revolution membership community

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