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