If You're White, You Need To Read This
TRIGGER WARNING: RACISM, RACIAL VIOLENCE & POLICE BRUTALITY
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For those who naively believe that racism doesn’t exist in our modern world, I’d like to think that this week has been a rude awakening.
At the beginning of the week, a video went viral online, showing white woman Amy Cooper (now dubbed Central Park Karen) calling the police on birdwatcher Christian Cooper (no relation), a black man after he asked her to put her dog on a lead. They were in a part of the New York City park known as the Ramble, where signs clearly state that dogs must be kept on a lead at all times. Mr Cooper approached the woman after seeing her dog “tearing through the plantings”; she refused to restrain her dog after being calmly asked to, and grew increasingly aggressive before she said she would phone the police and tell them “there’s an African-American man threatening my life”. She went on to call 911, and repeated, “He’s African-American” as she begged for an officer to be dispatched. Christian Cooper’s sister shared the video on Twitter, and after tens of millions of views, the conversation around the treatment of black men by both society in general and the police began to grow. Central Park Karen has since been fired by her employer and had her dog removed from her care, and even in her apology insisted that she wasn’t racist.
On the same day in Minneapolis, 46 year old George Floyd was arrested on suspicion of forgery (after a shop clerk thought he had written a bad cheque). Whilst being restrained, police officer Derek Chauvin was filmed kneeling on Floyd’s neck for at least seven minutes, whilst the shirtless man begged for him to get off as he struggled to breathe. The video shows Floyd saying, “Please, please, please, I can’t breath. Please, man.” Chauvin says, “Well get up and get in the car then” whilst continuing to pin Floyd down. Floyd even responded with “I will,” but Chauvin continued to kneel on the man’s neck. At this point now audibly gasping for breath, he says he needs water and tells the officers, “My stomach hurts, my neck hurts, everything hurts.” Several minutes later, the officers tell Floyd to “relax,” to which he says “Man, I can’t breathe,” before passing out. He died later that day. Since the incident, all four arresting officers were formally identified, and on Wednesday were fired by the police department, according to city officials. Minneapolis Mayor, Jacob Frey, has joined the public call for police to arrest and charge Chauvin for the role that he played in Floyd’s death. Protests have erupted in Minneapolis and beyond, demanding justice.
Back in February, 25 year old Ahmaud Arbery was jogging in his neighbourhood when he was chased down and killed by Travis and Greg McMichael, after they claimed they’d witnessed him taking part in an alleged burglary. They said that Arbery was shot after Greg saw him attack Travis. It took 6 weeks for footage – filmed by William “Roddie” Bryan – to leak, showing a very different story to what McMichael had claimed. All three men are now charged with felony murder and aggravated assault, whilst the FBI look into charging the incident as a hate crime also. In March, 26 year old Breonna Taylor was shot and killed after a divison of the Louisville Police Department performed an illegal drug raid on her home. Unannounced, the group of officers rammed down her door, firing 22 shots, with 8 of those hitting Breonna. The police had not only entered unlawfully, but they also raided the wrong house, killing a completely innocent civilian.
These are not one-off incidents; these are just a handful that have gone viral, therefore getting more coverage. People of colour – black men in particular – are killed by white people day in, day out – the difference is we just don’t always hear about it. As white people, it is our duty to stand in solidarity and fight against racism, against senseless murders, against violence against people of colour, against police brutality, against the criminalisation of dark skin. Police brutality is actually now a leading cause of death amongst young black men in the United States. We have to fight against all of it. How do you do that? I don’t have all the answers, but these are just some of the things that you have to recognise, remember, learn, or act on as a white person.
White silence is deafening.
When a person of colour dies at the hands of a white person – whether that be directly or systemically – we should be everything but silent. Silence is often the path chosen by white people because race in itself, and recognition of white privilege or white supremacy, can cause extreme discomfort and white guilt. Silence, or averting their eyes from discomfort is not something that people of colour have the privilege of doing – their existence is continuously under threat as a result of a system that is built against them. They don’t have the ability to opt out – and neither should we. Merely claiming that you’re not a racist, but failing to speak up or ignoring clear acts of racism is not a job well done. Racism is more than slurs: it’s about power. As Angela Davis once said, “In a racist society, it is not enough to be non-racist. We must be anti-racist.” Being silent is being complicit.
Being “colourblind” is dangerous.
If you’re an adult human being living in this world who uses phrases like, “I don’t see colour”, or says that “we’re all one big human family” – stop. You have to see it. You can’t help but see it. Why? Because as long as racism and white supremacy exist in any capacity in our society, colour and race will always be visible, and it will always matter. To see how people of colour are disproportinately impacted by multiple aspects of our society – education, housing, poverty, violence, incarceration… (the list goes on) – is clear-as-day proof that there is no such thing as colourblindness, and claiming such is, in itself, a covert ideal that stems from white supremacy. You only have to take protests as an example: when white people protest, armed with guns, getting in the faces of police officers and causing danger to others, they can do so with very minimal risk of arrest, if any at all. They can do it during a pandemic, with no protection, claiming that they want their freedom because they’re asked to stay indoors to save lives. When black people march, demonstrating against abuses of power – like police brutality, and the unneccesary murders of black men – they’re met with riot police, brutalised, tear-gassed, arrested and labelled as thugs and criminals. You can’t be blind to colour.
Stop sharing videos of racial violence.
It’s pretty simple really. Whilst these videos surfacing are the reason that the truth is out there and people are fighting for justice for victims like George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery, they should absolutely not be shared, especially amongst white communities. It’s triggering and traumatic for people of colour to see on their social media timelines. There are other ways you can voice your outrage than sharing a graphic video of a black person being brutalised. Akilah Hughes (@AkilahObviously) on Twitter hit the nail on the head: “Please don’t put a video of a black person being killed on my timeline if you wouldn’t also post a video of a white person being brutally murdered. And you wouldn’t. And that’s also oppression. Showing us what can be done to us isn’t journalism, it’s signaling.” Be mindful, use trigger warnings if you're discussing traumatising topics. You don’t need to repost violent content in order to show solidarity or empathy.
Stop calling the police.
As it’s been horrifically demonstrated time and time again, police involvement can be a death sentence for people of colour, especially black men. Amy Cooper knew what she was doing when she threatened Christian Cooper with a call to the police; you can literally hear her voice change from the aggressor towards Mr Cooper and the victim to the emergency operator. Amy Cooper knew that by telling 911 that a black man was threatening her life, she was, in fact, threatening his. Black men have been arrested, tortured, killed for no reason, as a result of the weaponisation of whiteness. The same incident brings up similarities to the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, a 14 year old boy from Mississippi who was falsely accused of assaulting a white woman working in a grocery store. He was tracked down, violently beaten, tortured, mutilated, and lynched.
Listen and learn (and, ultimately, unlearn).
Educating ourselves as white people is one of the most vital things that you can do in order to show solidarity towards people of colour. Regularly, people say that they find it easier to say nothing in case they say something wrong, so the best way to nip that in the bud is through education. Take it upon yourself to seek the resources, the books, the information that will help you to understand the lived experiences of non-white people, to better unlearn and confront your own internalised racism. Do not expect people of colour to do the hard work and emotional labour on your behalf. Put yourself out there, and instead of asking a black figure on social media to explain something, recognise that it’s not their job to endlessly educate you. It’s not their job to inform you about the trauma that they encounter on a daily basis. Google works a treat. We featured a piece in our digital issue about books, podcasts, TV shows and films that you can get stuck in with to learn more and become more open to discussions about race – we’ve reformatted the article for free for you to access here. Put the work in.
Sign and donate.
Online petitions take a matter of seconds to sign, and is probably the smallest and easiest way for you to help add to the impact that these fights for justice or legislation changes, and against abuses of power. If you can, you can often contribute monetarily to the cause, too. Donating to organisations is an easy way to help support and uplift those fighting the good fight, as well as donating to funds and families who have been directly impacted by racial violence or white supremacy. Monetary compensation is also a great way to help activists continue the work that they’re doing, so if you find that you’re looking to black activists and their resources to learn more about race and checking your privilege, consider signing up to their paid content instead. Platforms like Patreon and Buy Me A Coffee are often used by activists to offer bonus content to followers. If there’s someone who you’ve found you’ve learnt a great deal from, but they don’t have a subscription platform or system in place, reach out to them and ask for their PayPal, Venmo or other means of payment that you can compensate them for their resources and time that has in turn helped you. If you’re not in a position to donate, share, share, share. Help amplify the voices that too often go unheard.
Talk about race with other white people.
This is easy, and so damn important. It’s exceptionally rare for a white person to know absolutely nobody who makes racist remarks or exerts their white privilege. We know that white silence is dangerous, and amongst your fellow white family and peers, you shouldn’t be hiding behind silence and letting people say whatever they want to say. Call out people when they make racist comments, no matter how “minor” they may seem. Refuse and reject any acts of white privilege. Continue to correct, contest, and confront people. Challenge them. Talk to your kids or the young children in your family; the idea that they’re not mature enough to understand race is bullshit. Meanwhile, children of colour have no option but to understand racism from a young age, and are more often than not tried as adults for even the most minor of brushes with the law. Start conversations with white people that will make them think about racism, their own white privilege, and the microagressions that they may express in their daily lives. I regularly bring up the topic of race with my family, and we’ve had some great discussions about it, with some older relatives looking at race and the impact of white supremacy from an angle that they perhaps never had before. I’m not saying it has to be the topic of discussion over your Christmas dinner, but I’m not saying it can’t be… Don’t be afraid to stand up to a racist uncle in case you upset them. Explain to a white person why we should be focusing on #BlackLivesMatter, rather than #AllLivesMatter. The more you talk, the more impact you have, and you might just help others unpack, unlearn and do better.
We, as white people, need to come together and force systemic change. If reading this has made you feel like you’ve been personally attacked, I’d recommend taking some time to think about why you feel that way. Being anti-racist is more important than protecting white privilege or your own comfort. So get angry, stay angry – not just every time you see a new video emerge – and do what you can, because we need to get to work. Right. Now. #SayTheirNames
Donate to help support Ahmaud Arbery’s family
Donate to the official George Floyd memorial fund
Petition: Justice for Breonna Taylor
