Only White People Can End Racism -- Blacks Should Not Be Held Accountable for Racism

This is what white people can do to end racism

Study what your forefathers did, then do the opposite

SOURCE: THEUNDEFEATED.COM

AUTHOR:  Brando Simeo Starkey

Four hundred years later, America’s congenital demon still bedevils it. A nation built for white people, though reliant upon Black sweat, remains unable to exorcise the paradoxical evil inherent in its birth. Time after time, this country reproduces its sins rather than atone for them. Yet, with protesters capturing the streets amid a global pandemic and coercing public opinion to swing in their favor, one hopes the day of reckoning has finally come.

The video-captured killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers jolted not just America, but the world. Black Lives Matter, a movement conceived in the blood of unarmed Black men, convinced the masses of its central thesis — America devalues Black life. Change of some sort appears imminent.

But to really complete the unfinished business of Reconstruction and the civil rights movement, white people must fight it out with each other over what being a respectable white person means. The victors need to allow only the anti-racist to be considered worthy of inclusion in the group. White folk must create an environment that compels other white folk to learn lest they incur the social wrath that accompanies not behaving like a respectable white person.

Many white folk continue to pose the question: “What can I do?” 

The answer is simple. Study what your forefathers did. Then do the opposite.

MY RESPONSE...

While I am sure that the above author is serious and at the risk of my comment being considered sarcastic, if I did the opposite of what my forefathers did, then I would have:

1.  Not written the Declaration of Independence

2.  Not written the US Constitution or the Bill of Rights

3.  Not freed the slaves

4.  Not fought the Civil War

5.  Not kept the Southern States from wanting to leave the Union 

Now, I am sure that the above author would say that my response should have been not had slaves at all...  but, it was not my forefathers that brought slaves to these shores because my forefathers were not my forefathers until they won the war of Independence from Great Britain...  Before that they were just a bunch of immigrants looking for a new place to live.

Thomas Jefferson was, not only a President, but he was extremely intelligent and created all sorts of inventions that benefitted the human race...  should I just forget all of that because he owned slaves?  And, what about the University of Virginia and the Serpentine Wall that is so famous...  should I just forget those as well?

Of course, there is Abraham Lincoln who was also our President and freed the slaves, and while he did not believe in owning slaves, he did not stop his wife from owning them...   so, to me, he seems a little hypocritical...

THEREFORE...

I will not nor will I EVER do the opposite of what my forefathers did just because they might have own slaves in my family...  nor will I do the opposite of what our other forefathers did because in spite of SLAVERY they were all brilliant men...  who laid the foundation for the USA to become the greatest country in WORLD HISTORY...  at least so far...

Can White People Stop Being White?

So, what is racism? One helpful definition comes from Matthew Clair and Jeffrey S. Denis’s “Sociology on Racism.” They define racism as “individual- and group-level processes and structures that are implicated in the reproduction of racial inequality.” Systemic racism happens when these structures or processes are carried out by groups with power, such as governments, businesses or schools. Racism differs from bias, which is a conscious or unconscious prejudice against an individual or group based on their identity.

Basically, racial bias is a belief. Racism is what happens when that belief translates into action. For example, a person might unconsciously or consciously believe that people of color are more likely to commit crime or be dangerous. That’s a bias. A person might become anxious if they perceive a black person is angry. That stems from a bias. These biases can become racism through a number of actions ranging in severity, and ranging from individual- to group-level responses...  SOURCE:  Tolerance.org, author Cory Collins

SO...

according to Cory Collins, it is ok for a white person to be biased...  as long as this white person does not put that bias into action like walking to the other side of the street avoid a group of black people because this white person has a bias that black people are dangerous...

BUT...

Cory Collins does not take into consideration the circumstances that caused this white person to exercise his bias...  such as the white person being retired or handicapped and that this same action would have been taken if there was a group of people were white.  It also does not take into consideration, the time of day or if this group of black people are young, old, or middle aged or how they might have been dressed...  it also does not take into consideration if this white person crossing the street is male or female...  nor does it take into consideration their religious beliefs or any previous encounters like this where the outcomes were less than positive...

THEREFORE...

all biased action is not necessarily an indication of racism...  and yet...  the BLACKS think that it is...

HOWEVER,

this still does not explain to me how to get rid of my whiteness or what whiteness is exactly...  I am assuming that whiteness is another word for white privilege.  And, I can assure you that not all white person were born into the ranks of white privilege...  for that guarantee, you need to check out the students who are attending the IVY LEAGUE colleges and universities.

The average white person, male or female, typically works for someone else and is considered labor not management.  And if, this average white person is labor, then the odds are that they were raised no where near the concepts of white privilege.  Even those in management are not always from the ranks of white privilege, even though they have ended up as managers of retail stores, manufacturing plants, restaurants, hotels, motels, and resorts...  I would suspect that they, over the years, worked their way up through the ranks.

ALSO...

and I remember this quite vividly that when my Dad worked for the Federal Government in the Department of Agriculture, he was FORCED to hire a certain PERCENTAGE of BLACKS whether they were qualified or not and the employment security of his position was dependent upon how well these unqualified employees performed...

White privilege or not...  that was not fair to him...  but, the government thought it was fair to the BLACKS...

Is this how the government is going to help us REMOVE OUR WHITENESS....

How do you suppose that our government is going to help the Blacks remove their BLACKNESS and the chip on their shoulders because of slavery that was perpetrated on their ancestors over 200 years ago?

If WHITENESS needs to go so too does BLACKNESS need to go...

I mean we are talking about EQUALITY...  right?