“Anti-Racism Shouldn’t Be This Hard”

Hello friends,

A while back, I saw someone comment on social media that “antiracism shouldn’t be this hard”. This was a white person, and it made me stop and think.

It’s true that if you’re a member of the dominating culture (a term used in multiple academic articles on racism) who is benefiting from the unearned advantage of white skin, anti-racism may indeed be hard for you. After all:

• You have to give up a bunch of ideas and concepts you have taken for granted.

• You have to look at your ancestors’ actions, and the benefits you still derive from them. That may not make for a great reflection when you look in your personal mirror.

• You have literally reprogramme your brain away from the taken-for-grantedness of whiteness.

• You have to start listening to people you’ve never listened to or thought about before.

• And you have to realise just how much you’ve been missing and how different the experience of Global Majority people is from your own, AND likely feel bad about having been oblivious to this.

It’s a total mindf*ck, right?

Having said all that, I’m still not sure that members of the dominating classes have the right to complain about how hard anti-racism is. If that’s you, know that as difficult as you find it, as much as you cry over it, your discomfort doesn’t compare with the ACTUAL pain of experiencing racism, or even with the difficulties Global Majority people experience when they step up as anti-racists. Let me elaborate…

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