It's Time For Anti-Racism!

It's Time For Anti-Racism:

Why it is not enough for white people to be nonracist. 

Lorrayya Williams

I cannot count how many times I have heard white people respond with I am not racist when it comes to a discussion in regards to race and racism.  If I ask them how, they may say 'well I think all people are equal.' Within our society, it is pretty common for most to consider themselves not racist. The fact is the vast majority of people are not explicitly racist. Most people don't wake up in the morning thinking about the ways they can oppress people of different races or dehumanize them. Despite this, the issue of race still remains pervasive and widespread in our society. Even as there is a pandemic in the United States, there are large racial inequities in the death toll and spread of the virus in communities of color. (Aubrey, 2020) This highlights an ongoing problem of racial inequity and disparities within healthcare. The reality is that these things only persist due to a lack of action. It is not enough to be not a racist one must be anti-racist.
Throughout the history of the United States, white people have insulated themselves from the ugliest parts of racism. While many white people from both the north and south did not own slaves, they were implicit in allowing slavery to persist as long as it did. Additionally, the same founding fathers that demanded their own freedom owned slaves such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Some might argue that this was simply what people did and it was just the way things were. This bolsters my initial argument of the complicity of white people. They did not challenge the egregious injustice of slavery as they should. This is not to fail to recognize the many white abolitionists who fought for the freedom of enslaved Africans. The reality is the majority of white people were complicit in this horrendous human rights violation not by actually owning slaves but due to inaction.
One can bring this conversation to the present day. The reality is that many fail to act in order to halt the widespread inequalities. Looking back to the recent past we can take the time to analyze the 2016 election, possibly one of the most heated and polarizing elections. Anecdotally, I noticed throughout the primaries the discussion of race by Republicans simply did not exist. Racial inequities just were not considered important enough to discuss during the debates. It was a conversation that did come up during the Democratic primary debates in both 2016 and more recently in 2020. A poll done by the Pew Research Forum highlights the difference of importance by voters of racial issues. 82 % of black voters and 72 % of Hispanic voters considered treatment of minorities an important voting issue. Meanwhile only 56% of white voters did and that number dropped to 40% if white voters were Republican and spiked to 78% if voters were Democrats relatively on par with voters of color. 41 % of whites believed that too much attention was spent on race and that increased to 59 % if Republican and dropped to 21% if Democrat. While 58% of black voters believed race wasn't talked about enough. (Pew Research Center, 2016) These stats have a few implication Republican and Independent white people do not see race as an important issue for voting. Generally, there is a significant lack of interest in discussing racism as a voting issue. I believe this is part of the reason one of the most explicitly racist candidates in recent history was elected president. Many white people simply can look past racism as an issue that needs to be addressed at even so much as a basic level as voting
If no one is a racist, why all the racial inequity? The answer is simply. Non-racism is not sufficient. Anti-racism is imperative. Racial injustice must be a voting issues. It must become a discussion that is had on more than just one side of the aisle. The reality is it must begin with recognizing that lack of action makes one complicit in racism. That inaction simply is not enough. Without the actions of the people who have fought and are still fighting for racial equity we would not be where we are today. This was accomplished not simply by people being not racist or not holding slaves or not lynching black folks. This happened due to people standing up and saying enough is enough. It happened due to making anti-racism a voting issue. It happened due the thousands upon thousands of actions big and small done by millions. For white folks, maybe it started with listening to the experiences of the people of color around them and opening their eyes to injustice. That is what needs to begin to happen in our nation. People must open their eyes and see and not simply gawk frozen in place. They must take what they learn and fight racism in the polls, on the streets, in the schools,  in the houses of worship, and anywhere there feet take them. It is not enough to just be nonracist. We must fight to abolish racism both personal and institutional. We must work to overcome our own implicit biases educate ourselves on the issues then stand up and fight back. Black and brown bodies are not disposable. It is now or never. I think it is more than about time for Anti-Racism.

Works Cited
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/07/13/partisan-racial-divides-exist-over-how-important-treatment-of-minorities-is-as-a-voting-issue/
https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/08/830030932/cdc-hospital-data-point-to-racial-disparity-in-covid-19-cases
https://www.history.com/news/5-myths-about-slavery