At first, I wanted to title this article: “Pro-Tips For How To Be An Antiracist.” But I am not a professional at being antiracist. It’s a new term for me. But one that I have accepted into my life and I have open ears to.
Next, I did include the words “How To Be An”…which I’m keeping simply for the SEO (search engine optimization) value, but really, “being an antiracist” still to me sounds like 2 different behaviors - it’s like: “How do I step into this role?” without living the role. Antiracism is a way of life. It’s a super aware consciousness of your brain as you encounter any people. Most notably Black people, since they have been systemically and systematically oppressed in this country and the world - stolen for free labor and pleasure. Like how hunters go on safari, or collectors collect things. Years of doing that, and then the years that follow making that illegal, still leave baggage that cannot be erased with a Civil War or new laws. It’s all in the behaviors.
To break this racist mindset - which is all around us in so many books, movies, comedic skits on TV, beliefs, etc. - one must be mindful and challenge what their loved ones around them think too.
Therefore, here is my starter-list of being antiracist:
Smile at Anyone:
While attending open-mic sessions held by Beacon4Black Lives in Beacon, NY, I heard more than one Black speaker acknowledging that white people were saying hi to them more, and how that felt good. White people may have gotten locked into a mentality of “I don’t want to offend someone, so I will ignore them.” This is a feeling you are going to need to buck.
Smile at Someone Who Stereotypically Scares You:
This is my favorite one. You see someone walking down the street, who might look like someone in a music video that Tipper Gore would have had banned and censored back when I was in 8th grade. Go ahead and give them a smile and a “Hello” from your vocal chords. You will love the sound of the “Hello” you receive in return.
Didn’t Get A Smile Or Answer? Try Again:
If someone walks right past you, and doesn’t smile back, that’s OK. Just keep trying with the next person. You’ll need to start building up some practice, and trust. In New York State, Governor Cuomo mandated that all municipalities reform their police departments. That requires communities to get together to do this work. One woman in Port Jarvis said that she reached out to a local Black church, but that they didn’t respond.
That’s OK. Trust doesn’t happen overnight, or after one phone call or email. You’ll need to keep reaching out. Gently. Letting all of your defensive instincts melt away.
“Not for nothing but…” - Yes, for Anything! Don’t Accept Underhanded Remarks
A neighbor or friend might say they are not racist, and that they support Black people, or Arab people, or Native people, and they might say: “Not for nothing but, I was on the airplane, and this group of (XYZ race of people) were so loud and drunk. So, ya know…”
Yeah, I do know. My family is loud and happy also when they are on an airplane together, and they drink a lot of wine. So what’s the difference? This is what you need to say to this person, instead of smiling and nodding.
The days of smiling and nodding are over.
Owning It If You Were Racist
You did racist behavior in the past, and you still will in the future. If it’s your business or your person you both of you - own it. Accept it in your mind that you thought a certain way, or shouted a certain thing, or called the police over a certain behavior. If you’re a business, and you tried to do something anti-racist, and a former customer or employee came forward to say: “Hey! You have been racist!” or “Hey! You are doing performance antiracism!” - learn from it. Hear them, and work with it. Don’t stop. Just don’t deny.
Rent Your Rental Property To Black People - Or Sell Your Home To A Black Family
This seems like an obvious one, but if you own rental property, yet tend to not rent it to Black people, you may want to take a step back at yourself and reconsider. If you own an apartment building, and you are not required to make a percentage of apartments “affordable units,” consider doing it anyway.
Not that all Black people are low-income. That’s a stereotype too! In fact, you could rent 2 of your units out: one to a Black family who needs the affordable lower price, and one to a Black family who is living in the medium or high.
As for selling your home - you’re the one who ultimately accepts the offer. I don’t know about real estate laws, but I do know about selling a home, getting offers, and then making a decision. If you price your house right - meaning - you price it so that other people in your community can buy it, rather than attracting city-people who are fleeing the city for the country - then you’ll attract regular people just like you who need or want what you have. If one of your offers is from a Black family, consider taking it! Rather than accepting the offer from a local builder who is going to do a great rehab, and then mark the home up again, for the even higher income.
Not that there’s anything wrong with house flipping. It’s fun. It’s creative. It’s entrepreneurial. But these are choices you need to be aware of. Maybe a Black family is approaching you, who has their own plans of flipping the home for themselves for a few years, or to resell. Go for it!
Believing People
You’ve heard a lot of stories. You’re going to continue hearing stories. Before 2020, you may not have believed them. You may have thought someone was having a victimized mindset. Start believing them now. Do your homework, of course, to double check something. But once you start digging, you may find silence on the other end, or a run-around answer. This tells you that you need to believe someone, and keep digging.
I’ve spoken with a mayor who prides himself in not being racist. That he has so many Black friends. And yet, right after that, he will tell a story that kills the believability of a story a Black person told him. He will tell the the same story, but from an experience of a white person, in order to negate the Black person’s experience, and declare there is no racism. Start listening. If you share a story of someone’s experience that seems racist, and the person you are telling the story to fills you with excuses of why that happened that had nothing to do with racism, give that person’s response a second thought, and know that you may be dealing with racism, which is hard to define legally and on paper.
But apply this to other races, like Arab or Native. Try not to sell to yourself as if you’re looking in the mirror. That’s how silent segregation happens.