Microaggression Breakdown: “I’m not racist. I have several Black friends.”

“I’m not racist. I have several Black friends.”

I hear this most often when trying to bring up to someone that have been or are being racist. Before we unpack this one I need to call back to last week when we talked about how racism is structural and not personal.

Racism: race prejudice + institutional power (=misuse of institutional and social power). A system of oppression maintained by institutions and cultural “norms” that exploit, control, and oppress People of Color groups in order to maintain a position of social and material supremacy and privilege for white people, (particularly the powerful and wealthy elite.)

From Undoing Racism - The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond

This is so important - we can’t even begin this conversation if we believe racism is a personal choice. Bigotry and hatred towards certain groups are personal! As the definition above helps us see, racism is the misuse of institutional and social power to maintain a position of social and material supremacy and privilege for white people.

Put in even more simple terms - racism is the laws and institutions that keep the status quo, that keep us separate and experiencing life in this country very differently.

“One either allows racial inequities to persevere, as a racist, or confronts racial inequities, as an antiracist. There is no in-between safe space of “not racist.” The claim of “not racist” neutrality is a mask for racism.” 

__ Ibram X. Kendi, How to Be an Antiracist

Ok, so now back to “I’m not racist. I have several Black friends.”, can you see how this argument disappears once we take racism out of the personal and put it where it belongs, in the institutional.

Who you associate with has no relation to being racist or not. Many slaveowners had black children, this did not make them less bigoted or not racist! No one is immune to racism and this statement, “I’m not racist. I have several Black friends.” reaks of tokenization. Your friends are not pawns and can not be used to justify your views or validate you as an anti-racist.

This brings me to another point. Anti-racism is not something you are it is something you do. You can't just check a box or do one thing and say "I am an anti-racist”.

To be truly anti-racist is a lifelong commitment to fighting racism anywhere and everywhere you see it!

Next week, we’ll dig into a similar microaggression: “I don’t see color” or “I’m colorblind”. Till then send in any questions or comments and I’ll answer them, keeping you anonymous, but answering for the community to see.