{"id":21500,"date":"2022-02-19T13:37:56","date_gmt":"2022-02-19T21:37:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=21500"},"modified":"2022-02-19T13:37:57","modified_gmt":"2022-02-19T21:37:57","slug":"6-ways-a-black-person-can-tell-a-white-person-isnt-racist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2022\/02\/19\/6-ways-a-black-person-can-tell-a-white-person-isnt-racist\/","title":{"rendered":"6 WAYS A BLACK PERSON CAN TELL A WHITE PERSON ISN\u2019T RACIST"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rebecca Stevens A.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jan 23, 2022 (Medium.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not that complicated<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\/
Photo by Wadi Lissa<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Black people can detect racists from a mile off. It\u2019s the way they look at us \u2014 it\u2019s often a look of disgust, deep hatred, or fear, and it shows. The minute we approach you, we can feel it \u2014 call it our sixth sense or survival instinct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because we can feel that racism, we know we have to keep our guard up lest you try to harm us. There are of course some white people that have perfected the art of hiding their racism: closet racists. Sometimes we don\u2019t spot those soon, but it\u2019s a matter of time\u200a\u2014\u200awhen and not if\u200a\u2014\u200athey\u2019ll make a crucial mistake that will lay bare their ugly, racist, selves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m no expert in sniffing out racists\u2014 I\u2019ll admit it here, I\u2019ve been tricked many a time. But one thing I\u2019ve learned is that they will always, always show their true selves at one point. Sometimes maybe even years after you\u2019ve met them and actually consider them your friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was the case with a white lady I worked with for many years. I was shocked at the derogatory comments she made about an Asian girl that I hired. It blew me away. This white lady went out of her way to spread the crassest rumors about my direct report based on sex-related stereotypes about Asian women. It was appalling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

White people that are not racist have these 6 characteristics:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. When they meet a Black person, they don\u2019t start staring or examining you like a specimen under a microscope. They make eye contact and speak to you like they would any other human being. You can feel that they are relaxed and don\u2019t feel intimidated by you. They don\u2019t start fixating your nose or your mouth or your Black skin. So many white people do that. Don\u2019t they realize how awkward and strange it is to stare? White people that aren\u2019t racist don\u2019t say stuff like: \u201cIt\u2019s the first time I\u2019ve met a Black person or there are not many Black people here\u201d<\/em>. They don\u2019t make race the topic of discussion when they don\u2019t even know you, only racists do that because they feel so self-conscious and are worried that their racism is showing.<\/li>
  2. You immediately feel like the person considers you like their equal. They don\u2019t try to act as though they are superior to you. They are not patronizing or condescending. They don\u2019t infantilize you either. They don\u2019t say stuff like, \u201cYou\u2019re not like other Black people\u201d<\/em>. They are respectful and don\u2019t speak over you. You feel that they are actively listening to you when you engage with them.<\/li>
  3. If you report a racist incident to them, they\u2019ll listen to you and believe you. They won\u2019t try to gaslight you or question what you\u2019ve said. White people that aren\u2019t racist know that racism exists in the world and that Black people suffer from it. They aren\u2019t naive. They won\u2019t say stuff like \u201cAre you sure it was racism or racism is a thing of the past\u201d.<\/em><\/li>
  4. White people that aren\u2019t racist won\u2019t repeat dumb stereotypes about Black people. They won\u2019t assume that you can run fast, eat chicken, or sing well just because you are Black. They don\u2019t make stupid racist jokes. They won\u2019t immediately assume that the Black person is guilty if there is an altercation. They are aware of how pernicious stereotypes can ruin Black peoples\u2019 lives.<\/li>
  5. White people that aren\u2019t racist act. They don\u2019t sit on their backsides all day saying that Black Lives Matter without doing a single thing to show that they do. They go out and find a Black talent to mentor, they hire Black talent, they donate to organizations and individuals leading the fight against racism. These people are not performative individuals, they are authentic and they do real things to drive the fight against racism.<\/li>
  6. White people that aren\u2019t racist educate themselves about racism and anti-racism. They want to know where their \u201cblind spots\u201d are. They want to understand. These people do that hard work even if it means questioning everything that they have ever been taught. They understand when it\u2019s time to put aside their white fragility to comprehend why for example, George Floyd and so many others didn\u2019t stand a chance. These white people can become some of the strongest allies of antiracism.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    In conclusion, if we are ever to get rid of racism one day, we imperatively need to have more white people that aren\u2019t racists speaking up when they witness racial injustices \u2014 in their personal lives and in the workplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In the wake of George Floyd\u2019s death, we were able to see what happens when everyone \u2014 globally says \u201cno\u201d to racism. I know many will say that not much has happened since, but I would argue that there is a lot happening, the world has changed since the global racial reckoning in 2020. It might not be visible to everyone, but trust me when I say, that things are no longer the same. I\u2019m an optimist and I\u2019m already dreaming about a post-racial society. I know it is within our reach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Thank you for reading my perspective.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Rebecca Stevens A. Jan 23, 2022 (Medium.com) It\u2019s not that complicated Black people can detect racists from a mile off. It\u2019s the way they look at us \u2014 it\u2019s often a look of disgust, deep hatred, or fear, and it shows. The minute we approach you, we can feel it… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21500"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21500"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21500\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21501,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21500\/revisions\/21501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}