Racism fueled incidents have become far too common on America’s news stations lately. Anyone can see that race is a hot issue right now, with many opinions fighting for attention. How then can we begin to put an end to racism?
Because of the long, generational history of racism there is no immediate cure for America’s disease. The only way to begin to eventually rid this country of racism is to have conversations.
Talk about differences and similarities. Find someone who has a different background than you and discuss.
A graduate student from Lynn University, Jocelyn Margarette, shared her opinion with me that there is no one-size-fits-all solution.
“Racism is a deeply ingrained problem in our culture that has been learned and passed down,” she said. “But I definitely think the first step in the right direction is to talk about it, but people also have to be willing to listen.”
Racism stems from a need to be comfortable as well as an unwillingness to add anything outside of our own comfort zone to our mental list of “acceptable.”
Halle Pittman, a senior at Eastern New Mexico University, shared with me that racism is the result of ignorance.
“People are uneducated about race and make assumptions, and next thing you know opinions become facts,” she said.
You see, the problem we see so much lately is that everyone is afraid to talk about it. Society has a collective desire to hide behind the mask of political correctness. What they call a solution is actually a cop-out.
Najja Plowden, co-founder of a NYC charitable organization called Lead By One, equated racism with a disease such as cancer.
“Take cancer for instance, if I had it, yet never wanted to talk about it, address it, go seek help for it…would I some how just get better? No. So it is with THIS ‘cancer’; as long as it goes unaddressed, untaught, and in the dark, society will get sicker and sicker until the inevitable happens – death.”
Instead of digging into the roots of racism we’ve put a bandage over our hate. Much of society has effectively sidestepped raw, genuine, transparent and vulnerable conversations.
In the words of Macklemore, “It seems like we’re more concerned with being called racist, than we actually are with racism.”
So, stop. Stop pretending like you feel a certain way or know about a certain culture. Actually learn about another culture. Stop letting your love or hate of any group of people be based off of perceptions or opinions and go learn the facts.
If you step outside of your bias and form genuine relationships with others the hate begins to fall by the way side to make room for love and understanding. Talk to someone from a culture different than yours. This is where real respect comes from.
All it takes is an intentional open conversation to plant a seed of understanding in your life. Before you know it, that seed will grow into a flourishing respect for all people.
