Staying Quiet is Quite Unacceptable
Never trade your authenticity for your approval.
As a white person, let alone a white man, I have benefited in ways that I will never be able to comprehend.
It’s impossible to comprehend your privilege, because it’s impossible to experience life without it.
Rewind back to the day I was born, change my skin pigment to black and fast-forward back to this moment — the person sitting here now would be someone that has experienced happiness, love, family, hope and dreams but all in the shadow of an ominous state of fear and anxiety. There’s also the reality I may not even be sitting here at all.
For the past 72 hours, nothing but sirens, helicopters and explosions are heard not far in the distance. Filling the background ambience, change is in the air. Hearing this from the comfort of my apartment has brought on many feelings but,
I have finally realized that I am part of the problem. It’s a me problem.
Of course, there’s the guilt that comes from feeling like you could be doing more, or at the least, doing something. But for me, there’s another layer of guilt on top of that.
Australia. I love you. But there is so much systemic-racism within our small country and yet you play innocent and you fail to see it. You don’t see it because we’ve suppressed the indigenous population and community to the point where we’ve rejected them from our western society away from our day-to-day.
Australian friends — How many indigenous kids attended school with you? How many indigenous colleagues do you have in your workplace (specifically corporate workplaces)? In my experience, you’re lucky to see one, if that.
Did you know the indigenous population makes up for roughly 3% of Australia’s total population… That’s 800,000 people… Yes, that’s a small percentage, but do we take the time to wonder why that number is so low? Why is their ‘presence’ in our society so disproportionate to the white population?
Australia is a racist country. I hate to say it, but it’s true.
As Actor Meyne Wyatt put it, “it’s not the ‘in your face racist shit’ it’s the ‘ooh we can’t be seen to be racist shit’“ — please go watch this!
Silence is violence
That extra layer of guilt, for me, is the silence. Silence is violence. The video from ABC Q&A I linked above, is so accurate. He says,
“Be crazy, take a risk, be different, offend your family, call them out! Silence is violence!”.
I have heard people make racist comments but I have remained silent. Despite the cringe feeling, especially when it’s coming from a family member, you choose to remain silent to avoid awkwardness.
“Avoid awkwardness” — that’s my white privilege speaking.
But it’s exactly our silence in those seemingly off-hand day-to-day moments, that is a big contributor to this problem. The days of sweeping it under the rug are over, remaining silent for sake of avoiding an awkward moment, causing conflict or damaging a relationship. This problem is so much bigger than any of those things.
It’s a me problem,
it’s a you problem,
It’s all our problem.
Racism in all forms is absolutely unacceptable.
I’m not tolerating it anymore, fuck that! Wyatt said it perfectly,
“Never trade your authenticity for your approval!”.
Going forward, my immediate step is to call out racism when I see it, no matter who it is or how awkward it could be. I will hold people accountable, I will hold myself accountable. If I call you out, I will contain my inner rage and use it as an opportunity to educate you from a place of care, but, if you fight back, play dumb, or deny, then I am absolutely more than happy to make a situation awkward.
Also, prefixing a statement with “I’m not a racist but…” and then proceeding to make a racist statement, does not make your comment OK. You are literally making a statement that is racist. Ohhhhh, “casual racism”! All good then, you’re excused…
Ok, this was definitely a hard one to write. I feel uncomfortable writing about this subject having never written about it before. But that’s the common complex of white people regarding discussion of this issue; you feel like it’s not your place to say anything, but that’s the whole point of this article; you have to speak, you have to break the silence.
If we’re not comfortable talking about it, how then can we expect to be helpful? Ideas need to be shared in all areas of life; school, work, communities, social gatherings, and especially federal and state government. White people who are in a position of influence/power absolutely need to be comfortable talking about this.
It is all our place to talk about it.
Some resources I’m currently reading/listening to:
Thanks for reading.
