I recently came across a Facebook Post where a young woman was sharing the experiences that she had faced as a black woman growing up surrounded by white women. She spoke of being called the n-word regularly, of people she considered friends using racial slurs in her presence, of people she had grown up with trying to make the excuse of, "Oh, but you're not that kind of black". The point of her post was to share her experiences of racial prejudice. She wanted to point out that even people who are friends with and regularly interacting with black people have racist ideas and prejudices. Her point was that every white person is guilty of some form of racism, even when we don't realize or think much of it.

I was deeply moved by her testimony (she has received some awful backlash for her post, which just goes to show how horrible people can be. For the sake of her privacy, I will not name her here). I began to think to myself, 'Goodness, there really is a lot of racism still about, isn't there?' Having lived at Emory for the majority of the year, I had forgotten much of the racism that I was exposed to in growing up in a small, southern, mostly white community. Living in a place like Emory is often like living in a bubble, and I often fail to remember that the majority of my home state is not liberal, is not supportive of LGBTQ, or feminism, or even bodily autonomy. I forget, in the bubble of relative openness and safety that Emory seems to encourage, that we are all still at least a little racist.

I'm not sure where I first heard the phrase "Everyone is racist." SNL, maybe? In any case, I have found the phrase to be painfully true. Everyone, most especially and undoubtedly white people like myself, has racist ideas, prejudices, tendencies.... Everyone is racist. And for those of you getting offended in reading this, understand that I am not saying it is your fault that we are racist. We have, as a species, perpetuated racism since the first time one group of people realized that they look a little different than that group of people. It is a mindset that you have been exposed to simply because you have existed in a society where Race as a concept exists, and we have absorbed a part of that concept. Whether it was a decision to absorb and believe it or whether the absorption of that idea was unconscious and against your will, it happened. So please do not try to delude yourself into thinking that you are the exception, that you are the one angelic being that has avoided the ingraining of racist ideas into your mindset, however subconscious they may be.

One of the biggest issues surrounding race is the fact that so many people, mostly white people, believe that because there have been laws put in place prohibiting discrimination in the workplace and providing basic human rights to a group of people (and how messed up is it that we had to make laws ensuring that people were treated like people?), that racism is no longer a problem and we don't have to concern ourselves with it. But the truth of the matter is that racism is still an issue, and it is our responsibility to help put an end to it in our lives. I know that I have racist thoughts flash through my head. I know that they are there, and I have to remind myself to examine them, understand where they come from, and do my best to eradicate them from my mind, words, and actions, no matter how small or inconsequential they may be. I know that I am responsible for my own thoughts and ideas, and I am responsible for fixing the issues that I have.

It is no excuse when we say that our racism is because of how we are raised, or if we say it is from experience. There is no excuse. There is no good reason. There is nothing that can make any form of racism okay. It is our duty as people to be aware of our own faults and mistakes and work on fixing them and improving the corrupt society that we have contributed to. It is our duty as white people to hold other white people accountable for their racism, and be aware of our own.

Rather than simply apologizing only if someone of a race we have insulted is nearby, and never changing, instead we must work through every thought to change our ideas and change the world we live in. To the girl who originally wrote the post that inspired this article, thank you for sharing your experiences and helping to make us all more aware. I wish people would respond better than they have, and stop persecuting you for the truth that you have brought to light. I will do my best to move forward in a productive manner, and improve the life I live so that others can have their lives improved as well.