What is racism really And how do we end it

[Music]

i’m driving along the road less traveled

and suddenly

a truck covered in mud comes barreling

down on me

i look to my right see a burly white guy

he’s dressed in camouflage and he’s

peering at me

like a predator about to pounce on its

prey

my low fuel light begins to flash

as i’m stuck between fight and flight he

smiles

throws up a peace sign and speeds away

amongst the rubble and the dust i see

his back bumper

and there’s a sticker that reads

a racism erasism

i know what you’re thinking is this yet

another talk on race

yes but this talk will proceed

where others end i founded brother

jeff’s cultural center in 1995

it’s located in historic five points in

denver colorado

i have facilitated countless talks and

workshops on race

i’m going to share with you how to

arrive at that noble destination

erasism in four steps

awareness observation conversation

and action

the first step is awareness

and i have a question what

is racism

ask 100 people that question and you’ll

get 200

answers some use race and racism

synonymously but they’re different

for example most people in the united

states

identify in terms of race that’s not a

problem

the problem is racism

i define racism as the evil

twin of race or the shadow side of race

race is a relatively new concept and was

conceived in 1795

by johann friedrich blumenbach

blumenbach was a german physician

and he had the notion to collect skulls

and

rank them in order of beauty

skulls like his he termed caucasian or

white

skulls like mine ethiopian or black

he had mongolian yellow malayan

brown and american red

referring to the indigenous people of

this land

at this point in my talk someone’s

invariably going to say

aha race

is a social construct and it is but

before i sign off on your continuing

education

credits i have another question

aren’t most if not all human

social interactions social constructs

time and money come to mind in fact

building social constructs is what

humans do

it’s like our gig awareness is important

but it won’t lead us to our goal of

erasism

the second step is observation

close your eyes

and observe when race first

came online for you

did race show up alone

or was race accompanied by its evil twin

racism now open your eyes

and think about what you observed

for me ray showed up alone i was raised

in the wake of the black power movement

where james brown said say it loud

i’m black and unproud cassius clay

became muhammad ali and negros

turned black my blackness has always

been the source

of deep pride sadly for

others blackness is a badge of

inferiority

and shame the latter is due to racism

when did you first observe racism i

first observed racism

in 1977 while watching roots

it was a television miniseries that

aired for an entire

week i’ll never forget seeing kunta

kente being strung up a tree

and brutally whipped until he

accepted the name toby i would later

learn that names and naming are very

important but that’s a different talk

i also observed racism when i traveled

to ferguson missouri

this was in the wake of a black man by

the name of michael brown being shot and

killed by a white police officer

the city went up in flames

literally state senator rhonda fields

asked me to facilitate conversations

based on deteriorating relationships

between the black community

and law enforcement in heated situations

like this

there’s a natural inclination to make

conversation

the first step but that never works

never what works is

time space and pre-established

relationships as you can imagine

those early sessions were filled with

venting

and little conversation that’s normal

when the venting subsided and the

conversations

began i was struck by the focus on guns

growing up in an inner city

guns have always been negative

and attached to hurt naming

and killing through conversation i

learned

that there are those who have positive

relationships with guns

i remember a sheriff talking about guns

used in sport

and him bonding with his father while

hunting as a child

that never crossed my mind

in fact my opening story is based on

that conversation from one perspective

you see a burly white guy in camouflage

as a racist

from another perspective a sportsman

in the moment of celebration after

sacking a deer

conversations in the right order

can lead to positive outcomes

as is the case with the black community

law enforcement and legislators we were

able to agree on bipartisan legislation

that was signed into law that’s an

example of the last step

action while traveling to the united

states

from ethiopia on ethiopian airlines

passengers included ethiopians

sudanese congolese kenyans

there were germans french spanish and

others

we even had a layover in ireland and

many

irish boarded the plane the moment we

landed in washington dc

and those passengers no matter how

complex their identity

exited the front door they were reduced

to white

black or a person of color

that’s how race works in the united

states

that’s not how race works in other

countries

while i was studying in south africa i

was shocked to learn

that blacks and coloreds are not the

same

the apartheid government would

arbitrarily

determine race by seeing if a pencil

would remain stuck in your hair or fall

through

strange but true

i remember talking with the man who grew

up white

he showed me his identification card was

changed to black

after he married a black woman

in the united states i was looking for

some windows

and raul from south america was my

salesman

when i introduced myself as brother jeff

he got real

solemn and

asked the same question that many of you

have

are you a minister

no i said brother means

black raul replied

why is racism such a big deal in the

united states

racism is a big deal in the united

states

but it doesn’t have to be at the start

of this talk

i promise to offer you four steps

to erasism awareness

observation conversation

and action remember the passengers

that landed in washington d.c

if you want to eat racism

do not exit through the metaphorical

front door there’s another exit

the one with the added leg room and the

extra responsibility

it’s the door where you’re in charge

the side door but before you take action

and swing it open

ask yourself what benefits

and costs are associated with the door

you choose

this talk may seem like an

oversimplification

and it is because race

and its evil twin racism are simple

prior to race people identified

by nation prior to nation religion

before religion i would imagine

who stored the most grain

erasism is simple

in fact we can follow the lead

of the very first anti-racist

his name is johann friedrich

blumenbach blumenbach would later

discover that his theories on race were

unfounded

and exited

through the side door if he can do it

so can you which

door will you choose

thank you or as my friend raoul would

say

muchas gracias

you