Racism is real


Hey,


Yesterday, I was playing soccer with a group of my classmates during our sports time. It wasn't a really serious game and there was a lot more laughter than actual playing. I remember going to defend when the opposite team was taking a corner kick and getting whacked in the face by the ball. It was painful, to say the least. My teammates were saying sorry through their laughs (not that I can blame them, it was probably really funny:)) and I was just trying to get off the field. After a few seconds of trying to find a safe spot away from the game (without succeeding), I decided to go back on the field. I'd hardly been back on 3 minutes when everyone was laughing again. I wasn't sure if they were still laughing at the hit to my face or if something new was happening. It was about me, that much I was sure of. They were laughing and looking at me and saying 'that's not okay','that's not right' to the guy who had apparently said something racist. I can't begin to explain the discomfort and just embarrassment of the situation. Someone was apologising to me for what he said and the other guys were laughing their butts off, face down on the grass. I asked the only other girl present what had happened (at this point, I had told her I didn't hear what was said and she relayed the message to everyone else present) and she said a joke about slavery had been made. That was truly the icing on the cake. I think the worst feeling was not even knowing... just standing there. Later on, I was told what the joke actually was and it turns out it was not about slavery, which is good. But it does not change what that moment felt like or the biases that are clearly present.

This is what I learnt. At no point will racism ever be okay or funny. It's not enough to not be the person that makes the joke or the comment. Sitting by and laughing is just as racist. It's not enough to have black friends or to have grown up around black people or to have 'African heritage'. It means absolutely nothing. Laughing at slavery jokes or making them shows a complete lack of respect, understanding or compassion for a long and painful history of instutionalised slavery, while minimising that history. I appreciate that this was not my particular situation and wish I had heard what was said, but there is nothing amusing about being or looking black in the same way that being white is not amusing. It's a fact. Period.

That's really what I have to say. In addition though, doing the right thing will not always be popular or comfortable. It may involve you calling out your friends, or distancing yourself from people that do not respect your boundaries or decisions. It may involve you questioning yourself and facing your biases head-on instead of prematurely denying their existence. It may involve you speaking out when normally you would have kept quiet or being more intentional about your words when you may have been so careless. It may involve a complete transformation in the way you think and see people. But it's a necessary transformation. Nothing will change if people don't change.

'Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful' - Margaret J. Wheatley.

We cannot achieve anything useful unless we reflect on ourselves and our biases. Saying you're not racist means nothing if you do not respect the culture and history that racism minimises. Choose to reflect today.


God bless.

Dera

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