How to be an ally in fight against racism
The day after his big brother George was laid to rest in Houston in an emotional homegoing, Philonise Floyd went to Capitol Hill and implored members of Congress:
“I’m tired of the pain I’m feeling now and I’m tired of the pain I feel every time another black person is killed for no reason,” he said Wednesday in a voice ragged with anguish. “I’m here today to ask you to make it stop. Stop the pain. Stop us from being tired.”
His words were directed at the House Judiciary Committee considering police reform bills. They also serve as a call to action for white and other non-black Americans.
A call to continue the momentum of the past two weeks, when a rainbow coalition turned out by the thousands at vigils, marches and demonstrations in every state across the country to demand justice.
A call for non-black allies to go beyond kneeling and posting Black Lives Matter hashtags, and start taking serious, sustained steps to stamp out the racism embedded in our institutions, laws, culture, beliefs and lodged deeply in our very subconscious.
We must not let that clarion call for change — so loud and impassioned right now in the wake of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis police custody — fade without real progress, as it has so many times in the past.
“We’re tired of words. We’re tired of pleasantries and platitudes,” Tony N. Brown, a Rice University sociology professor and director of the Racism and Racial Experiences (RARE) work group, told the editorial board. “We want an action plan that makes us feel like our lives matter.”
Systemic racism won’t be wiped out overnight, but if you see yourself as an ally, someone committed to working alongside the black community to end racism and repair the legacy of America’s original sin, there are meaningful things you can do.
Here are a few suggestions: Stop asking what you can do —
and just do it. Educate yourself on this country’s racial history and how racism infiltrates every part of society, rather than asking black friends and acquaintances to fill in the blanks for you. It’s heartening to see that nine of the top 10 books on The New York Times nonfiction best seller list, including “So You Want to Talk About Race” by Ijeoma Oluo and “White Fragility” by Robin DiAngelo, tackle the issue of race. Read those selections and others from the rich canon of black authors. A quick Google search turns up essays, suggested reading, antiracist allyship resources and action steps.
Examine your own biases. In his book “How to be an Antiracist,” Ibram X. Kendi notes “racist ideas have defined our society since its beginning and can feel so natural and obvious as to be banal.” Recognize the privileges and benefits afforded by light skin and the cost paid by black people. Identify the times you may have bought into a stereotype or racist thinking. Listen and accept feedback, without becoming defensive or dismissive, when a black person calls you on your prejudice. Accept responsibility for the impact of your words and actions, rather than arguing about your intent. Stop minimizing anti-blackness. This moment is centered on police violence against black people and the insidiousness of antiblack racism. Allies must be careful not to make it about other causes such as women’s rights or workers’ rights. “People in the black community have been saying it's really tough to be black for so long and no one was listening,” Brown said. “Now everybody wants to listen, but when they listen, they want to make it about themselves. And that is a level of symbolic and emotional violence that's hard to live with.”
Be an active ally. Staying silent in the face of inequity or accepting racist policies because they don’t directly harm you gives racism and bigotry the space to flourish.
There is power in joining together to speak out — in our daily lives as well as marches. At work, if top management is dominated by white people, ask why. Back up black colleagues when they confront discrimination and bias. At your child’s school, ask to make black history and black literature an integral part of the curriculum and include black historical sites and museums on field trips. Use white privilege to find a way to safely intercede when you see a police officer using excessive force on a black person or believe someone is needlessly calling 911 on a black person because of the color of their skin.
Move beyond symbolic gestures and work for long-term
change. Take a minute to assess your resources, skills, influence, connections and time. Make a commitment to allocate some of your financial and social capital toward advocating for real reform for black Americans. Pick an area of focus: police departments, the legal system, equal access to voting and registration. You can urge elected officials to improve school equity, close health care gaps, repeal felon disenfranchisement laws that disproportionately impact the black community. Lobby Congress to fund historically black colleges and universities or call for reparations.
Brown puts it this way: “What could you do right now or start doing right now that will still be active and important and meaningful and make people feel like their lives matter a year from now?”
Whatever you choose to do, do it for the right reasons — not to play savior or win favor. Black Americans have reason to question motives and true commitment after years of disinterest and support that proved ephemeral from wellmeaning whites. While the antiracism movement could use your help, it’s not about you. Stand behind black Americans in this struggle, and follow their lead.
The black community has too long borne the burden of dismantling a system of racism they did not create, from the struggle for freedom by enslaved people to the beatings and abasement endured by black demonstrators on the front lines of the civil rights movement, to the tireless activism of a young generation that had the audacity to declare: Black Lives Matter.
It’s time for others to step up and become part of the fight to make those words a reality in America.