I’m back BENCHES! 

Small Acts of Racism

Act 31:

#smallactsofracism

SMALL ACTS OF RACISM ACT 31: BUT, MY BFF IS BLACK!

I have gotten such positive feedback in person regarding my previous posts, that I decided to revisit this topic. Since Act 30, I have returned to work. My existence at my schools is mostly solitary, in an office, writing report…after report…after report…did I mention I write A LOT OF REPORTS? Um, sorry. I had a moment. 

Having a solitary existence in an office means that I am not often subjected to the personal indignities of racism on a daily basis. This means I can go back and revisit some of the topics I missed the first time around. Today we are going to talk about The Myth of “My Best Friend is Black, so I can’t be racist!”

As I have stated before, the way I define racism for the purposes of these posts is: Race Prejudice + Power = Racism.  Being  racist has nothing to do with who you like, who you choose to sleep with or who you choose to marry. It has to do with your ready participation in an economic, health, education and justice system that presumes the standard for participation in American Society is White, Anglo-Saxon middle-class norms or that which is considered normal. It goes from something as simple as demanding that people take turns when they talk to thin White females being considered the standard of beauty and health by which all other females are judged to carrying tiki torches across a campus screaming “Jews will not replace us!” They all have one thing in common: White middle class norms are the expectation and anyone who falls short of that is an “other.” An “other” who does not deserve equal opportunities in education, under the law or at the makeup counter. What lies in the murky depths beneath is the same: code switch or suffer the consequences, whatever those may be. Those consequences can be as benign as walking into a major retailer and not being able to find a foundation that matches your skin color to something as serious as being shot to death while watching tv and eating ice cream on your own living room couch. What belies both is the same. It is the belief that the cultures and/ or biological traits of people of color are to be overlooked sometimes leading to deadly consequences. 

Take, for instance, police brutality. When a Black man has a deadly encounter with an officer, oftentimes the first question from White people is “well what was he doing?” even if he’s been shot in the back seven times in front of his children. Forgetting that shooting someone in the back is seen as yellow-bellied cowardice in most settings. 

In addition, this overlooks several key factors in the policing of Black people, but Black men and boys in particular. First, as established in previous posts, Black men and boys are over-policed. Secondly, Black men and boys are presumed guilty. And, finally Black skin, in and of itself,  is designated a threat, if not a weapon. Therefore, a Black man or boy doesn’t have to be doing anything to get stopped, frisked, searched and accused of a crime. He can be behaving in the same as a White person, but all an officer has to say is, “I smelled a strong odor of marijuana.” Or, “he fit the description.” Or, “I was afraid for my life.” Or, “I was afraid he was going to kill me.” Most importantly, however, is police violence is the sixth leading cause of death for Black men and boys. So, if a Black man takes off running, he may just be hedging his bets between staying and being killed or running with the possibility of escape. I am not condoning running, but I can see a person’s point of view if they choose to. It is a logical, albeit dangerous choice. 

Back to my original posit: you don’t have to dislike people of color to be racist or involved in racism. Hell, Mitch McConnell is racist AF and his wife is Chinese-American. Although, he is an extreme example due to the level of power he personally wields. One doesn’t have to carry a tiki torch or be a Senator to have power. Power exists in the Small Acts of Racism engaged in on a daily basis, no matter how subtle. That is where racism lives in this country: In the great depths of the unconscious. It bubbles below the surface and presents as logical, reasonable assertions in everyday acts, thoughts and conversations. It takes no more than that to upend someone’s educational opportunities or end someone’s life.