Combating Racism

What have you done today to combat racism and white supremacy?

Recently I was asked the question, “What have you done today to combat racism and white supremacy?”. Hearing this question in a social justice space was something that provoked a lot of further thought. We had just finished an ally training where we learned about different pitfalls of being an ally and what to do to combat those pitfalls. The ally training itself clearly wouldn’t be enough to combat racism and white supremacy, but this information would aid in moving justice forward. My main concern was that my daily life wasn’t enough.

I asked what was considered valid daily combat that we could do, and the facilitator made the point that showing up to the training was a form of combatting racism. That idea left a bad taste in my mouth. I felt that merely showing up to a weekly meeting was not doing enough to combat racism and white supremacy (especially when Richard Spencer is coming to campus).

Is my existence as a transgender Jewish person combating white supremacy? Is going to queer programming combating white supremacy? Is going to ally trainings and Women in Leadership and Learning meetings a way to dismantle racism?

I think the important thing here is the “yes, and” mentality. That I continue this idea of those things being a start, but there has to be a continuation that effects change in other people’s lives. As activists, we live our lives in positions of combatting racism and inequality and inequity. But our lives alone are not enough.

This sort of ability to engage in daily combat is relative depending on gender, race, religion, class, and any other kind of way of life. The Assistant Director of the Women’s Center made a point that her entire job can be considered fighting racism, because her daily programming and work dismantles the inequality in the world. But if our jobs as activists are to reject racism and white supremacy, is a university setting enough? She said she can’t just sit back and only do her daily job. She made the point that her influence here came from a significant place of privilege - towards people in higher education. The furthering of influence in her position is to make the same resources available to people in the community who do not have the opportunities of higher education.

Is it necessary to combat racism every single day of my life? There are times when my existence is tired of being hated, and tired of fighting back and days when I just want to exist and not fight. I recognize that my ability to do that shows my privilege of being white, but I’m no good to anyone without taking care of myself and making sure my mental health is taken care of.

But at the same time, isn’t it our personal decision to say what is valid forms of daily change?

I need to look through my own life and be introspective about what in my daily life feels like valid daily fighting of racism and white supremacy. I think this question is a good place to start. I think the next place is taking my trainings and applying them when I move forward planning events and actions. The harder part is where to go after this.