Uncomfortable connections: How do we speak?
By Dr Muna Abdi
Sometimes, we sit, and we look around us and we think, ‘how can I possibly make a change?’ And in some situations, you can’t. But what you can always do is make sure wherever you go, people know where you stand.
Naming racism and talking about it, is never comfortable. That discomfort however does not change the fact we are all intimately connected in a system we have been socialized into. A system that relies on dynamics of power to hold you and I in place. A system that determines which of us can experience structural advantage, and which of us must endure vulnerability and dehumanization. It is a system that relies on one, in order to maintain the other. We are intimately connected.
And we come to know of this connection, in different ways and at different times.
Whether it was…
Social events- E.g., BLM, George Floyd’s killing, Covid19 etc.
Personal events- E.g., Friends or family facing abuse, self- education etc.
or
Profession pulls- E.g., Impact of poor representation, identifying the need for systems change etc.
There is something that brought you here.
We all come to make sense of this connection from different positions, with difference experiences and with different languages. So how do we speak?
Developing Shared Literacy
First, by ensuring we develop our shared racial literacy. This is our awareness of language and our application of critical thought. Only when we can together see racism for what it is, and make sense of the dynamics, can we do the work of disrupting and dismantling it, in order to build new connections.
This thing we call ‘race’ has no biological basis; it is a social construct, designed to categorise people based on physical appearance and assumed behavioural traits. A process of categorisation that works within a system designed to ensure that positions of hierarchy and power are maintained. This system of advantage based on race, is racism, and what sits at the top of that hierarchy is Whiteness.
Whiteness: A constantly shifting boundary separating those who are entitled to have certain privileges from those whose exploitation and vulnerability to violence is justified by their not being white.
Racism is a complex system and can be observed in every aspect of our social world. It is the result of an interplay of individual beliefs, shared values and ideologies, and institutional practices. Yes, it is expressed in the actions of individuals and institutions, but it is also promoted in the ideology of popular culture.
Though the concept of ‘race’ is socially constructed, the experience and impact of systemic racism is incredibly real.
The Impact of Racism
It affects the everyday dimensions of people’s lives and the impact is experienced physically, psychologically, emotionally, and spiritually.
There are many social or demographic gradients of disadvantage, including but not limited to social class, income level, educational achievement, and employment status. These forms of disadvantage are experienced differently by people of different social groups or identities. These structural disadvantages intersect with race to lead to different power relationships, and where a person’s group is especially affected by specific conditions, these combinations can lead to unequal and unfair outcomes and compound experiences of discrimination. There is a large and growing body of robust evidence demonstrating that racism leads to mental illnesses, especially depression and prolonged periods of adjustment, like prolonged grief or difficulty coping with and adapting to severe events.
Racism exists regardless of intent.
Racism does not require you to be a bad person to uphold it. It doesn’t even require you to be aware to uphold it. We all live and work within this system, and we all are affected by it…so there is no space of neutrality. You are either an agent of the system, actively working to uphold systems of oppression, or you allow the systems to remain as they are by being inactive and complicit in your silence, or you work to actively challenge and dismantle systems of oppression…the work of an anti-racist and an ally.
The Work of Anti-racism
Anti-racism work requires us to interrogate the spaces we are in. To not only ask questions of diversity and inclusion, but also ask questions of equity and justice.
Diversity asks “Who’s in the room?”, Equity asks “Who is trying to get in the room but can’t? Whose presence in the room is under threat of erasure?”
Inclusion asks “Has everyone’s ideas been heard?” , Justice asks “Whose ideas won’t be taken as seriously because they aren’t in the majority?”
And it is important to know that as we do this work of antiracism, we are clear on what anti-racism is not.
Anti-racism work is not diversity work.
Diversity is simply a focus on difference. It is about managing race rather than challenging racism (Ahmed 2012, 52–53; Mohanty 2003, 210–211). Anti-racism work does more than bring people with marked/ constructed differences into the same space. It asks us to question the space we are inviting people into.
Anti-racism is not being ‘not-racist’.
The focus on who is and is not racist, ONLY serves individuals. It is a focus on morals and values. It is saying, I can remove myself from this dynamic that is impacting people of colour in a negative way…as long as I am not engaging in explicitly racist behaviour, then I no longer have to think about it, feel guilt or do anything to dismantle a system that does not disadvantage me.
Though racism can be seen through the actions of individuals, racism is not individual, it is institutional and systemic– people work within institutions and are a part of those systems.
Anti-racism work is not easy, but it is a choice.
Anti-racism work is not easy, but it is a choice. A choice to understand and bear witness to the dynamics that we all live and work within. A choice to act with solidarity, knowledge and compassion. A choice to look inwards before you look out. A choice to sit with and understand those uncomfortable connections. A choice to be brave.
The importance of dialogue
Anti-racism work starts with dialogue. We have to talk. However uncomfortable those conversation may be… we have to have them.
Avoiding conversations about race and racism arise from our own fears of being vulnerable. It is not easy to sit with discomfort and there is always a risk in vulnerability. What is it we fear most about these conversations? Is it the fear of what we do not know, or the fear of acknowledge what we do know?
An important self-reflective question we must ask ourselves is:
What will a discussion about race and racism potentially expose about me?
When we CHOOSE to be antiracist, we acknowledge that racism is everyone’s problem, that it connects us all, and that we all have a role to play in dismantling it.
“To bring about change you must not be afraid to take the first step. We will fail when we fail to try”
- Rosa Parks
No substitute for doing the work
There is no substitute for doing the work.
Here are some tips on where you can start…
Accept that we have all been raised in a society that elevates those racialized as white over others. Being anti-racist will mean first challenging those notions inside yourself.
Learn the history of racism and anti-racism, to educate yourself about the complexities of the issues you'll be confronting.
*people of colour can benefit from similar study and introspection, with a particular focus on identifying and challenging any ideas that may breed colourism or internalised oppression*
Find local organisations involved in anti-racism efforts – preferably led by people of colour – and help uplift their voices and ideas & support financially if you can.
Assess your own power – where are the spheres where you can have the most influence in your everyday life?
E.g. At work, are you considering how procedures or strategies may advantage whiteness, and are you helping to challenge them?
Are you spending money with businesses that are owned by people of colour?
These are ways you can make a difference in your own environment, where you have power.
*Remember, anti-racism is about pushing past knowing better and instead actively doing better.*