It’s not my job to educate anti-racists . . . it’s my very voluntary labor of love, maybe obligation is a better word for it, because nonetheless, I get no compensation or reward for it. Someone has to do it and I would rather it be me than no one at all. Black people, in our efforts to deal with racistsm AND well-meaning anti-racists, get frustrated and exhausted when white people expect us to take you by the hand and guide you down the road of anti-racism. We defensively say, “It’s not our job to teach you, go do the research yourself.” Then we send you off to go watch a Tim Wise video or read Jane Elliot and then expect you to be as to be as sensitive and articulate as we they are when battling racists. It’s almost like another slap in the face when we have to deal with virulent racists and then we are expected to coddle and hand-hold white people who’s hearts are in the right place but you are still in the infant stages of dismantling the fallacy of white supremacy and expect us to give you personalized lessons in anti-racism.
White people who are learning to be anti-racist eventually and inevitably end up screwing up, saying the wrong thing, being defensive, and falling back on to offensive, racist habits. If racism is going to end, it’s going to be white people who do that shit. Black people can talk until we are blue in the face, we can kneel, march, protest, carry signs, we can intellectually and academically destroy racist’s arguments and white people racists will still say, “I’m not racist, you’re the racist,” without the tiniest bit of irony. They willand feel arrogantly assured that they are right with no angst or desire to be less racist whatsoever at the end of the exchange. Trolling and taunting Black people, seeking us out to diminish our pain with their arrogance is amusing for them, the feed off of the emotional toll is takes on us defending our very existence as valid in a system designed to oppress us. Racists will never hear us, never consider what we are saying as valid because the system is set up for them to deny that racism, white privilege, and the fallacy of white supremacy even exists. The only people voices they are going to listen to are the ones sitting across from them at the Thanksgiving dinner table, in the cubicle across from them at work, on the barstool next to them, not a screen name on a device. White people are born into a system where you all hold all the cards, you are the ones who will create the shift in consciousness. You can’t teach yourselves to be anti-racists so the responsibility falls on me.
If absolute anti-racism is the goal and we assign a value of 100 to it, white people who identify as anti-racist are collectively at a 3. Tim Wise is at 90 given that even he says there are times when he catches himself harboring racist thoughts. and he’s been doing the work for THIRTY years or more. I’ve never watched a minute of Jane Elliot although I’m assured that bitch is bad. I’ve only seen one Jane Elliot video. I don’t need to watch her, she’s not speaking to me, I don’t need to learn her lessons. For every Jane Elliott, there are 100 more Black scholars who are more articulate and informed about racism. Jane Elliot is not speaking to me. Her voice is directed at white people, for you to unlearn your racism. You have been woke for a total of a year, your understanding of racism is infantile. Black people’s experience of racism didn’t begin when we took our first breath in this lifetime, it began when our ancestors were enslaved and the white man beat a new name, a new religion, and the consciousness of inferiority into them. That pain has been passed down for generations.
· The first step in fighting racism is saying, “I’m racist.” Calling a white person a racist is the most offensive thing a Black person can call a white person. There is no greater insult for white people. You have to take the stigma and the sting from the word racist because that’s what gives them power. The most virulent, vile, evil, hateful racist will say, “I’m not racist,” and follow with repugnant filth with no other purpose than to diminish blackness and the suffering of Black people. More importantly, calling a white person a racist signals hoards of other whites to come to their collective defense, it’s their rallying cry, their call to arms. No white person is ever racist according to racists and they will defend that tooth and nail because you’ve insulted their whiteness, you might as well shit on the flag if you question the fallacy of white supremacy to racists. You are offending their identity. When you learn to say, “I’m a racist,” with ease and conviction, you diffuse their power. You show that the world doesn’t stop turning to admit to racism. Being a racist doesn’t mean you are inherently evil (even though inherently evil people are racists) but the power structure has led you to believe viscerally react to being called a racist. Diffuse the power of word by owning your participation in it.
· Black people do not want or need to hear how empathetic you are to our experience, how you understand that you can never know what we feel, or for you to repeat back to us how insidious racism is. We know better than you how bad racism is. We know that unless you have Black skin, you can never truly understand the true scope of racism. You telling us what we already know is patronizing and it’s like rubbing salt in our gaping, open, infected gunshot wounds. It’s like a 5th grader watching an episode of Dr. Who and trying to explain the intricacies of quantum physics to a college professor. I know you want to express your frustration and show your empathy. Find another way. Seriously, I empathize with the fact that this is all new to you and you want and deserve a place to express your very new feelings but for right now, it’s annoying to Black people so maybe you can express your “I know that I will never understand the what it means to be Black in a racist society,” sentiments to other whites and shield us from it for a while because it feels dismissive and petty when we have been saying the same things to you for our entire lives.
· Say, “I’m sorry.” Everyone in this society, not just white people but everyone, is programmed to be defensive when someone calls them out on something they are legitimately wrong about. Being wrong has no bearing on how arrogant and defensive people are when defending their beliefs. White people are particularly prone to defend their shit when they’re wrong because . . . that is exactly how the entire system was built, to perpetuate the belief that anything you said was right and anything Blacks said was wrong. When you fuck up, and you will, and when a Black person calls you out on it, even if they curse you out and tell you off, FIGHT whatever urge you have to defend yourself and just say, “I’m sorry.” Don’t offer an excuse. Don’t explain, don’t try to diminish what you said. Don’t offer your promises to do better. The most powerful thing you can do is say, “I’m sorry.” That’s it. Not, “I’m sorry, I was raised to believe . . . and I’m trying to be a better human being . . . I didn’t mean it because . . . what I was trying to say was . . .” If you are really trying to be a better human being, we don’t need to hear excuses, we need peace and reconciliation. We’ve heard all the excuses. We’ve never heard, “I’m sorry.” Those two words have more power than any explanation or disqualifier you add on to diminish your guilt. “I’m sorry.” Nothing more. I’m sorry.
· Debate racists, don’t validate Black people. Anti-racists think their contribution to discussions of racism is to say, “Crumbs,” and think that’s doing the work. It’s not. If you aren’t actively taking the heat away from Black people who are the victim of racist attacks by white, racist trolls, you are doing noting but fanning the flames of racisms. We don’t need likes or followers for validation. We need white people to stop being racist. If you aren’t saying, “Hey, douche bag, you’re racist because . . .” you are merely stroking your own ego. I need to hear you speak up. I get it. You’re afraid of saying the wrong thing so you say nothing. And that benefits the structure of racism. Make mistakes, learn, but speak up. Silence is complacency. I will offer help and guidance to any anti-racist who is trying to find their voice. I’m in awe of anti-racists because I never thought I would ever encounter any in real life and her I am faced with an entire growing movement. Even when I reprimand you, it’s from a place of love.
· Don’t believe their lies/learn their tactics. Racist will say, “I’m half Black.” “I’m Latino.” “My spouse is Black.” They make that shit up to say, “See, I’m a person of color and I say that the original poster is racist so that means I’m right.” Racist lie to suit their agenda. They gaslight, they do all the typical racist shit and it’s not at all beyond racists to make up profiles to agree with themselves. If you delete a racists comments, they will attack you as if you are somehow denying them their 1st amendment rights. First of all know that the 1st amendment affords people the right to say whatever the hell they want without fear of prosecution FROM THE GOVERNMENT. Deleting a comment on the internet is not a violation of anyone’s rights. Racists will say, “I’m not racist, I am submissive to Blacks.” Their implication is that if they are sexually submissive to Blacks, they’ve done the work of being anti-racists. Spot the patterns.
· Come prepared to the fight. Anti-racists LOVE to say, “You’re not listening to the OP, go do the research and educate yourself.” That doesn’t work. Racists are invested in believing they are superior to Blacks. The only research that racists will do is research the lies that they have been told that they believe. They will say with no hesitation whatsoever, “It was Africans who sold Africans into slavery.” Where did they learn that? From the ethos apparently, it’s bred into white consciousness from the collective brainwashing. Have your links in a document so you can say, “That’s not accurate, here is the evidence to educate you.” Will they read it? Hell no they won’t. Trolls are manifestations of arrogance, they get off on agitation. They aren’t there to learn, they are they to emotionally manipulate Black people and get attention. But who will read the links are the people who are reading and not commenting. When racists say, “Nice, what would Martin Luther King say about you?” follow up with actual quotes from Martin Luther King that show his true sentiments, not the half a misquoted line racists love to throw around. Have your link to the dozens of massacres that were committed against people of color in this country that were erased from history. Have your list of racist legislation passed to oppress people of color built into our political process.
· Debate the motivation, NOT the facts. Racist make up fact, they make up their own realities where everything they say is right. They have hundreds of years of “science” to validate their worldview, right? Science has been whitewashed and engineered to deny our contributions so they will always be able to find “facts” that validate what they are arguing. That’s the trap. They are quite convinced that they can prove that whites are superior by stating fac
· Don’t debate racist on my terms. You aren’t Black, you will never understand my experience. What you do understand is your experience, however. You know what it means to be racist. You were racist. And as much as you want to say, “I never did or said anything overtly racist, I was a passive racist,” that’s bullshit. You were a racist in the nastiest sense of the word. That’s the way system works. You’ve thought of Black people as niggers, you’ve defended racism. You’ve looked down on impoverished Blacks and blamed us for being ghetto and stupid. You know good and god damn well that you trolled Black people to tell us that racism wasn’t as bad as we say. You defended George Zimmerman. You donated to a racist cop when he was accused of killing an unarmed Black person. Maybe you didn’t donate, maybe you just ignored the news when racist events were playing out on TV because you didn’t care about our lives. You have defended the flag, you have said “All Lives Matter,” you have been racist. Own it. It’s not enough to say that you are racist, speak truth to power and meet racists where they are. If they see themselves through your eyes, in your eyes, that is how you beat them.
· Debate the motivation, NOT the facts. Racist make up fact, they make up their own realities where everything they say is right. They have hundreds of years of “science” to validate their worldview, right? Science has been whitewashed and engineered to deny Black contributions so they will always be able to find “facts” that validate what they are arguing. That’s the trap. They are quite convinced that they can prove that whites are superior by stating facts. Debate their motivation, not the facts, call them out on their core belief. What are they really trying to say? If they say, “Well the Jews . . . The Holocaust . . The Irish were slaves, too.” They are saying that Blacks are inherently inferior and that’s why they are poor, that’s why those cops have to shoot those criminal niggers. Look to what is their motivation and attack that. It takes work and it’s not easy until you figure out how to do it. I’ll help you. If you need me to help you figure out a response to a racist troll, hit me up. I don’t mind you asking for help. You can’t ask every Black person but I’m offering my assistance. I’ll even post more about it so you can see examples.
· Have empathy and compassion for the Black experience. Very few Black people are comfortable confronting racists. We have been bred to fear confrontation with whites, telling them about their shit because we could have been lynched, fired, beaten. We have generations of abuse built into our DNA. Our forefathers only knew violence and brutality as a means to control their children because that was the lesson of slavery. Have empathy and compassion for those of us not afforded the benefit of education. Maybe we might always use perfect English or be as articulate as the more educated of us but that’s not an indication of our value or contribution as Black people in the struggle for our liberation. Show a little extra compassion for the most disadvantaged of our society in our efforts to rage against machine.
· You are in the unique position of not being triggered by racists. Racists play off the fact that they can push our buttons and get us to an emotional state, they feed off our anger and our frustration. It’s like a drug to them, they get high from pissing us off. You don’t have a connection to Blackness so you can debate them from a place of reason. You can calmly, collectively dismantle their bullshit. Use that against them. You aren’t Black, they aren’t attacking you, your family, your friends, the people who look like you. You can take the heat off of Black people and you should.
· Learn how to debate differently. You’re white and you have been educated and socialized in the thick of whiteness where logic and reason and facts and history are set in stone and linear. You can’t expect to lay out linear, rationed arguments to racists and have it make an impact. You have to debate from your soul. You have to call a spade a spade, you have to cut off the bullshit when you see it and call it as bullshit. You have to put racists in their place. Racists fight dirty. You have to be dirtier. This is war. You can’t win by being polite and following the rules because racists shit on the rules. Saying learn to debate from you soul is like saying, “Debate in Mandarin Chinese.” You have call on the things that society has told you that you have to deny, that rage that they told you was wrong, that confrontational and argumentative fire inside you. That spirit is in you, it’s been intentionally suppressed but you can access it. It’s the truth inside you. Call on it.
· Form a coalition of other anti-racists to call up for support. We is stronger than me.
· Don’t give up. This shit is hard. Don’t quit. I can’t take off my Black skin and take a break from racism on some days. You can walk away at any time. We can win this war, together, united, but it’s going to take dedication and perseverance on your part because this is voluntary to you.
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