The Anti-Racism Center’s Tips & Resources
The tips and resources on this page are intended to help people move from non-racist to anti-racist. They come from over 25 years of learning, training, lecturing, teaching, and talking with people from many ethnic, cultural, racial and socially economical groups. No one knows all there is to know about racism and anti-racism. Therefore, sometimes I will be the source of the tips and resources. Sometimes I will share information from other anti-racist warriors.
10 Beliefs to Becoming an Anti-Racist
1.) Recognize who you are and how your life experiences have colored the lens through which you view society. To accomplish this you must be honest about who you are and what you think and believe.
Question for discussion: What would you have to do to incorporate the above statement in your life?
2.) You must learn and know what an anti-racist is.
Question for discussion: How do you or, how will you incorporate the anti-racism mindset in your life?
3.) You must believe that all people are created equally. This includes doing more than just saying it. It includes living it.
Question for discussion: What do you think the statement “living it and not just saying it” means?
4.) You must be brave and be willing to be seen as a social outcast.
Question for discussion: Why do you think being brave and willing to be a social outcast is part of fighting racism and being an anti-racist warrior?
5.) You must be willing to think out of the box.
Question for discussion: What is an example of thinking out of the box verses conventional thinking in regards to fighting a racist situation?
6.) You must have knowledge of the true history of how this country came to be. Knowledge is a tool. If history is wrong or distorted it becomes a weapon used by the dominate group of people, whose goals are to disseminate wrong or distorted information about American history, for their own purpose.
Question for discussion: What affect does the dominate group of people inaccurate, wrong or distorted history have on America’s society?
7.) You must understand that racism cannot be perpetrated without power.
Question for discussion: Can you name the different kinds of power it takes for racism to work in America?
8.) You must understand the difference between covert racism and overt racism and the affects each has on the American society.
Question for discussion: Can you explain covert and / or overt racism you’ve witnessed in your personal or work environment?
9.) Recognize the talkers, from the walkers. These people put-up anti-racism posters and drink coffee from mugs with anti-racism slogans printed on them.
Question for discussion: What are things you can do in your life that will make you a walker, not a talker?
10.) Do not personally try to cure the entire world of racism. Use your anti-racism skills to conquer your own personal environments and then spiral outwards.
Question for discussion: Why do you think trying to conquer the entire world will burn you out?
Defining an Anti-Racist Mindset:
An anti-racist mindset does not hate people based on the color of a person’s skin or their race. An anti-racist person does not use his or her race-based powers to control and/or destroy the lives of people who are not the same color or race he or she is. An anti-racist person does not believe that their own race is superior to all other races. An anti-racist mindset does not believe the hateful things that people with a racist mindset believe. Anti-racist people take actions to try to un-do a racist situation, in order to actually stop that racist situation from happening.
Tip of the Day #1 for Becoming an Anti-Racist:
The Whorfian Hypothesis basically says, our realities extend only as far as we can converse about what we see, experience and understand. Our vocabulary is the tool we use to explain our reality. Therefore, it is important when having conversation with people, we are on the same page. It is important when it comes to the words and ideas we use in discussing race, we are also on the same page. When talking about racism, we cannot assume we know what a person means. We must ask the person we’re talking with, “What do you mean?” Exactitude of meaning will prevent unintended misunderstandings. This is especially important when we communicate across cultural or racial lines, the topic of racism.
A true story and example of a positive action by an Anti-Racist
Living as a Black man, there are racist things that happen in which you never forget. On this day the weather was nice. In my opinion, there should be a law which states racist things are not allowed to happen on nice sunny days. Well, regardless of the weather, life was about to add another racist situation to my collection. It was a little after five o’clock. Most people were trying their best to deal with five o’clock going home traffic. I stopped to pick up something at the drugstore. As I walked through the doors I noticed that there were not very many customers. I greeted the lady behind the counter. She did not greet me back. I did not think much of the fact she ignored me. I thought maybe she was having a bad day. I walked down the aisle to get what I came into the drugstore to get. I smiled and said hello to a very pleasant looking White woman. She said hello back and smiled. I then walked towards the counter to pay for my merchandise. The woman at the counter saw me, but for some reason turned her back to me. I stood there waiting for her to come to the cash register. Meanwhile the pleasant looking White woman I’d spoken to before walked up and stood beside me. The lady behind the counter immediately addressed her. The pleasant looking White woman gave the lady behind the counter a stern look. Then to my surprise, the pleasant looking White woman looked the woman behind the counter straight in the face and said, “He was here first.”
The actions the pleasant looking woman took put a stop to that racist situation. This is the type of action needed to help stop racism. One of the main reasons racism continues in this country today has more to do with the lack of action by the non-racists, than it does by the negative actions of racists. There are more people who claim to be non-racist than there are people who claim to be racists. However, in order to rid this country of racism we need the positive actions of anti-racists. To rid this country of racism faster, we need more people to move from non-racists to anti-racists. The movement for an equality-based society must include anti-racists who are willing to discover their battle zones and fight with all their might. Non-racist sympathizers, their well-meaning feelings, and their no action mentalities, do nothing to help eliminate racism. While it is better for society that a person is non-racists, rather than racist, it takes the action of anti-racists to make positive change. Give the fight against racism your time, your talents and your money. Whatever you give, make sure it is more than just your feelings. As I have said several times before, racism was done on purpose. Therefore, racism must be undone on purpose. So, which are you non-racist or anti-racist and what will you do?