Racism In US: a white guy’s message to white people

We’ve all heard the occasional, probably-actually-racist opinion or joke rattled off by a coworker, friend, family member, or neighbor (Hint: it usually starts with, “I’m not racist, but…”).  It’s possible we’ve even said these types of things ourselves without really thinking about it.

Nobody wants to think of themselves as racist, because this term conjures up images of people in white hoods who are intentionally pushing for white people to have more power than anyone else, with the notion that white people are somehow “superior.”  I know that’s not me, and I’m guessing it’s not you, either.  

However, we need to recognize that racism isn’t simply an all-or-nothing topic.  It’s not as simple as “you’re either racist or you’re not.”  People can have different degrees of awareness as to how their words and actions may affect people of other races.  Therefore, racist actions and words can range from the blatant—such as a violent attack against someone because of their race—all the way to some less-obvious and unintentional forms of racism—like using a word or old saying that you didn’t realize has racist origins.

Both are examples of racism, but one is intentionally harmful, while the other does not intend any harm.  At the same time, many of these unintentionally harmful words and actions do continue to perpetuate a climate of subtle hostility, ignorance, and disrespect towards people of other races—even if we didn’t realize it and didn’t mean to do this.