Racism: A Call to Action to Confront & Dismantle Racial Biases

Christine Burney Student Contributor, Savannah College of Art and Design Atlanta

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at SCAD ATL chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

A great way to end this week’s Black Lives Matter campaign is with a call to action. Mine: confront and overcome your biases.

In this article, I would like to briefly discuss the issue of racism, in the form of a few stories from my life, a few questions to ask ourselves and then some steps we can take to move past our biases. All summer long the issue of race has been like a siren all around sounding out. Anger, frustration, confusion has swirled air marked by violence. Racism still exists we have realized. Much of the issue is simply a lack of respect and/or value for the human life around us. We have reduced multi-faceted, dynamic people to single color descriptors, making everyone the same. These last days of this campaign I would like to challenge us to confront this, and move forward from it. I hope that our future will be one of friendship and not harshness.

Illustration by Christine Burney

Storytime — setting, Union City, Georgia, just south of Atlanta:

So, a white girl walks into an IHOP in Union City, Georgia…

That was the end of the joke, because if you have ever been to Union City, you know that white girls do not often walk into IHOP, without looking like aliens; or at least this was my recent experience. I was that girl — heading to IHOP to meet a few friends after a night at my church. I was a little late, but as I walked in, I saw something that made the rest of the evening unfortunate for me. I watched, unnoticed, as the waiting staff argued over who would serve the table that my friends were at, the white girls. No one wanted to serve them. My heart sank because although I have have an idealistic view of life and how things will turn out eventually, I was slapped in the face with the reality that this issue of race is actually in reality and it is on both sides. When I was finally noticed, the waiters pointed me to exactly where I was supposed to sit before I even told them who I was meeting. I was white, clearly I was with the only other white girls. Though my waiter was pretty kind, our service was unfortunate. All I could think of the whole night were the “white stereotypes” I had been hearing about all summer — you know, things white girls do. I felt like such a white girl and that I had to be ashamed of what I do because of it. It was really difficult that night to enjoy my time with my friends. All I can say is that I left there that angry and frustrated at this whole situation. I knew I had to write about it.

Another story — set in Borger, Texas, where I am from:

Our Neighbor — the White Supremecist

A few new friends of my sister and I invited us over to meet their parents (normal). One of whom turned out to be a descendent of one of the founders of the KKK (not normal — but, true story). Shockingly intrigued, we sat and listened as this man explained to us how the Bible backs up white supremecy (oh, gosh); halfway into the instruction, we kindly disagreed. And after arguing briefly over the lack of Biblical evidence supporting this extremist theory, we were angrily asked to leave. What a weird day that was because when we reached our apartment (right across the street), we realized we were locked out. Tensions mounted, words were shrieked — pretty sure “ni99er-lover” was one of them. What did we do? Well, we prayed until our dad, a locksmith, could get there. The climax of the story, though, came when a young black neighbor, in all the horrific timing, came out to skate board (lovely day to skateboard…) Oh, no. We told him that he should probably head inside right about now because it wasn’t safe. But the beast had been awoken and of course our neighbors did not miss this boy. It took only moments for one of them, filled with rage, to come hurling after him with a branch from a tree! My sister and I headed out into the street to meet him at that moment, saying he wouldn’t touch him. At which point I saw something I had never seen before (outside of Dune, that is) — black eyes. This was not our friend who had brought us to meet his parents, this was someone else entirely. This was crazy. As he raged on, unimpeded by our intervention, he attempted to then come after my sister who was ready to stop him, until I said that he would not touch her. Oddly enough, when I said that, he stopped in his tracks, dropped the branch and went home.

That day, I realized that we have authority to protect one other and to say no. We are supporters and protectors of eachother. Much more, I realized that racism is a force that is manifested from ignorance and allowance. If it is allowed, it will perpetuate.

Racism is not something that only certain races experience or practice, it is an improper mindset of superiority or inferiority — it is a two-way street, that can only continue as part of our culture if we allow it to. I would like to assert a challenge for us to say no. To do that, we have to confront our own racial biases.

How do we know if we operate under a racially biased mentality?

So, how do we know if we operate under a racially biased mentality? And, ore importantly, how do we overcome it and move forward? I have prepared 15 questions we can ask ourselves to generally determine the level of racism we may be operating under and a few suggestions for overcoming it. Just know that, regardless of what you find, you are not evil just because you have a level of racism; it is simply ignorance — the key is gaining understanding, moving out of it and becoming free from this limiting perspective. Some of these questions will not pertain to you (good!), the ones that do, I just encourage you to journal or process through confronting.

Do I allow people in my life who are different from me? (Do I have friends who do not look like me?)
Do I judge people, including myself, by what they look like, especially, the color of their skin, hair or accent, rather than by how I have gotten to know their character? Do I give certain favors to people who look like me?
Do I think I am superior (better) to/than anyone? Do I think I am inferior to (less than) anyone?
Do I hate or have strong feelings toward an entire group of people, even though I do not know them all? Why?
Do I think someone is inherently dangerous or evil based on their race/what they look like? Or do I think they inherently don’t matter?
Do I listen to propaganda that demonizes other races or types of people? Propaganda is “information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view.” (This election is riddled with it)
Do I make or laugh at racially stereotypical or aggressive jokes?
Do I associate people of certain races with certain tasks, like service industry vs. business, janitorial work vs. leadership roles, etc.
Do I think any who does not look similar to me is ugly or weird?
Do I blame people or demonize other ethnicities for societal problems without calling them out and allowing repentance? (Maybe behind their back)
Do I limit myself based on my background?
Do I think I could become a great leader, mentor, mover, shaker? If no, ask yourself why. If yes, why? Is your ability to be great or not dependent on your race?
Do I regularly use us vs. them language when speaking about other cultures/ethnicities?
Do I allow injustice, disproportionality or racism in my workplace or place of regular attendance because I am afraid of losing my job, feel powerless or am benefitting from it?
Do I profit off/benefit from injustice, the punishment of others or agree with it because of a certain race involved? (Ex: Doing business with a company benefiting from unjust practices (past and present) in other countries or even in our country, like incarcerated labor, sweat shops, etc.)

Do I reduce a multi-faceted person to a single color descriptor?

Racism is a cyclic system that is reinforced through ignorance, apathy and benefit. Do we want it to continue in our future? I say no. I call us out to confront ourselves, get in gear and to say no to racism for the sake of our future. If we want a culture that is based in respect, there are some things that need to change.

Here are a few ways we can overcome racist tendencies and cultural biases, with the help of Wiki How’s article, “How to Stop Being Racist”:

Self-Assess: Pay attention to how you think about people who are not like you. Take the Implicit Association Test (IAT) to see your unconscious biases. Confront your bias. Consider which groups you are prejudice against, where that came from (growing up in a racist environment, etc.), take stock and monitor your thinking. Try putting someone you care about in their place and to see the humanity.
Research the topic: “start informing yourself about the scientific realities of race, the minority experience in your nation, and the struggles confronted by people who are victims of prejudice.”
Stop using racial slurs, racist jokes: even if you learned them by example through growing up; terms such as “Indian giver” and joking about racial stereo types is offensive and perpetuates the thought-process of racism.
Avoid cultural appropriation: don’t dress up as another culture or race for Halloween for fun. I have to admit that once I was dared to dress up as Black Jesus for Halloween and I did it a few years ago and even though it felt wrong in my gut, I did it anyway to be “fun.” It was inappropriate.
Be vigilant about systemic and invisible racism: i.e. not sitting by someone of color, etc.
Ways you can positively engage the topic in public is to not shy away from talking about race, seeking out culturally diverse experiences, attending a conference or joining an anti-racism group, and further challenging racism in the world.