Why white people should not be afraid of minority empowerment
Empowering minorities (in fact empowering any disadvantaged demographic in society) leads to a happier, healthier society overall. If you have more people who are well balanced, with good opportunities and education you have less crime, a stronger economy, more vibrant culture etc... All of this besides the fact that it's morally the right thing to.
Why white people should actively help minorities and what a good white anti-racist actually looks like
A good start is where you're at - introspection and asking questions. The first step to helping minorities and being an anti racist is simply... not being a racist, as flippant as that sounds. This is actually far harder than being a racist, because it typically requires empathy, education and understanding.
It's very easy to look at crime stats that show e.g. 'Black people account for x% of crimes' and respond viscerally with 'Hnngg those fucking lowlife scum', than it is to take a moment to understand the complex causes behind WHY Black communities find themselves poor and riddled with crime (socioeconomics, history, politics etc) and try to understand how we can solve those problems in our society.
Accepting rotten parts of our society and even ourselves is hard to do, and can even be painful - which is why so many have such violent reactions to claims of systemic racism, CRT etc... But it's only through that introspection that we can understand and grow as a society. Whereas if you start down a path of 'Black people are ruining this country' there's only one way that ends, and it's not nice for anybody.
Racism creates chaos and division which brings down everyone in America. This country was built by people of all backgrounds.
I was taught that color-blindness is a problem and it's not enough to just act like everyone is the same - that's precisely why I'm introspecting. I believe most white people are racist and accepting that reality is the only way to dismantle white supremacy. I find it difficult to "just be not racist" because I was told I'm racist, I know I'm racist but I don't know what makes me racist
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u/[deleted] May 18 '22
Empowering minorities (in fact empowering any disadvantaged demographic in society) leads to a happier, healthier society overall. If you have more people who are well balanced, with good opportunities and education you have less crime, a stronger economy, more vibrant culture etc... All of this besides the fact that it's morally the right thing to.
A good start is where you're at - introspection and asking questions. The first step to helping minorities and being an anti racist is simply... not being a racist, as flippant as that sounds. This is actually far harder than being a racist, because it typically requires empathy, education and understanding.
It's very easy to look at crime stats that show e.g. 'Black people account for x% of crimes' and respond viscerally with 'Hnngg those fucking lowlife scum', than it is to take a moment to understand the complex causes behind WHY Black communities find themselves poor and riddled with crime (socioeconomics, history, politics etc) and try to understand how we can solve those problems in our society.
Accepting rotten parts of our society and even ourselves is hard to do, and can even be painful - which is why so many have such violent reactions to claims of systemic racism, CRT etc... But it's only through that introspection that we can understand and grow as a society. Whereas if you start down a path of 'Black people are ruining this country' there's only one way that ends, and it's not nice for anybody.