MADELINE- I've posted about the nature of racism and how it displays itself in various ways, but a topic I have left a certain topic untouched. How does one actually reverse the racism inside themselves? One can claim they're not racist, discuss the characteristics of racism often with their peers, and support movements about racial equality and still say incredibly racist things and hold racist beliefs. If doing all of those things doesn't necessarily "undo" racism, then what does?
In order to answer this question, I think we need to remember that racial prejudice is a phenomenon that is caused not by big things, but by the accumulation of little things. People are not generally racist because their mother told them "Asian people are inherently inferior to white people" while they tucked them in at night. People are racist because of the occasional racist joke that their uncle told them, the racial stereotyping on the television shows the person watched as a child, and the lack of models of color in the magazine the person read. And while seeing one racist joke go unchecked may not make a person racist, such little events may build up over time in that person's brain. In time, they can slip under the person's conscious mind and wire their brain to be more prone to holding racist beliefs.
How does one reverse such a process? I maintain the belief that to fight against the racism in your mind, you must do two things. First, you must constantly evaluate yourself. People often say and think racist things without even realizing that they are racist. However, if the person is genuinely concerned about being racist, they will realize their racism if it is pointed out, and work to stop saying or doing the racist thing they were called out for. If the person is never called out, they will continue to say or do the racist thing. Thus, it is important that a person carefully evaluates certain thoughts they have or things they say and conclude whether they are racist or not.
The second thing you must do is make yourself experience little things that "undo" the little things that made you be prone to prejudice in the first place. If racism is caused by a buildup of small racist events, then it makes sense that the racism can be "undone" by accumulating small events that portray people of color in a positive light. One must actively seek out small things that portray people of color positively and expose themselves to it often to reverse the effects of the small racist events that occurred earlier in one's life.
What does carrying out these steps look like? Since racism creeps into several aspects of your life, the process of reversing your prejudice will most likely do the same. Below is a list of the facets of people's lives that are often affected the most by racism, and how one can work to undo the racism in these facets.
In order to answer this question, I think we need to remember that racial prejudice is a phenomenon that is caused not by big things, but by the accumulation of little things. People are not generally racist because their mother told them "Asian people are inherently inferior to white people" while they tucked them in at night. People are racist because of the occasional racist joke that their uncle told them, the racial stereotyping on the television shows the person watched as a child, and the lack of models of color in the magazine the person read. And while seeing one racist joke go unchecked may not make a person racist, such little events may build up over time in that person's brain. In time, they can slip under the person's conscious mind and wire their brain to be more prone to holding racist beliefs.
How does one reverse such a process? I maintain the belief that to fight against the racism in your mind, you must do two things. First, you must constantly evaluate yourself. People often say and think racist things without even realizing that they are racist. However, if the person is genuinely concerned about being racist, they will realize their racism if it is pointed out, and work to stop saying or doing the racist thing they were called out for. If the person is never called out, they will continue to say or do the racist thing. Thus, it is important that a person carefully evaluates certain thoughts they have or things they say and conclude whether they are racist or not.
The second thing you must do is make yourself experience little things that "undo" the little things that made you be prone to prejudice in the first place. If racism is caused by a buildup of small racist events, then it makes sense that the racism can be "undone" by accumulating small events that portray people of color in a positive light. One must actively seek out small things that portray people of color positively and expose themselves to it often to reverse the effects of the small racist events that occurred earlier in one's life.
What does carrying out these steps look like? Since racism creeps into several aspects of your life, the process of reversing your prejudice will most likely do the same. Below is a list of the facets of people's lives that are often affected the most by racism, and how one can work to undo the racism in these facets.
- Your sense of humor: The kinds of jokes you make and hear can deeply affect how you view people of color. Jokes about race often involve a stereotype of one or several races, and even if you theoretically know that the stereotype does not apply to everyone of that race, if you hear or make the joke often enough, you begin to unknowingly associate the stereotype with everyone of that race that you come into contact with, which is extremely harmful. In my experience, the best way to reverse the effect is to actively stop yourself from making jokes about other races at all. Every time you feel the urge to make such a joke, pause and ponder whether the joke employs a harmful stereotype. If it does (and this is almost always the case), simply do not say the joke out loud. This is an example of the first step of the anti-racism process, which is to constantly evaluate yourself.
- Your ideas about beauty: Racism can wreak havoc on your ideas about what you consider to be beautiful. For example, exposure to very few models of color due to the racism of the fashion industry can lead to skewed beauty ideals. One might, for instance, come to associate traditionally black features, like bigger lips or dreadlocks, with ugliness, and traditionally white features, like pale skin (obviously) and thinner lips, with beauty. These associations are detrimental to people of color, and so you must be careful to erase the associations. You can do this by exposing yourself to beautiful people of color often. You can watch television shows and movies that feature beautiful protagonists of color, follow blogs that post artwork of beautiful people of color, and the like.
- Your political beliefs: Racial prejudice can display itself in political beliefs. Analyze any political belief of yours that might involve race, such as your opinions on terrorism or police brutality, and think about how your racial prejudice might be affecting these opinions. Research, ponder and discuss these topics with others, and change your opinion if you realize that your beliefs are racist.
