I wouldn’t be surprised if some, if not most of you, have thought about the concepts of diversity and inclusion at some point over the past few years.
It was May 2020 when the Black Lives Matter movement swept across the United States and over three continents after various racially charged events including the killing of George Floyd, where four police officers have since been convicted with his murder.
In January 2021, we saw an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol carried out by many flashing various symbols of hate. One image sticks out in my mind. The confederate flag.
I was born in Mississippi and I still have family in Mississippi.
Now, while I was born in Mississippi, I grew up in Vancouver, here in Canada, and it wasn’t until I was 20 years old when I first went back to Mississippi. This too was about 20 years ago.
Now, at that time, about 20 years ago, I associated the confederate flag with pride for my Southern heritage along with fried chicken, grits, the gulf coast, southern hospitality, the blues, pecan pie, antebellum homes, magnolias, southern drawls, red beans and rice, catfish and hush puppies, southern belles and the list goes on.
I now know more than I did these 20 or so years ago, back when I was twenty. I now know that the confederate flag is a common white supremacist symbol. It is a hate symbol.
In the wake of George Floyd’s murder, the removal of confederate symbols such as flags and statues has accelerated. This is a very good thing. Yet many white Southerners continue to defend their allegiance to these confederate symbols.
I no longer associate the confederate flag with pride for my Southern heritage. Over many, many years, I have gone through a process to reckon with my white privilege and heal my white fragility. And I continue to do this to this day.
In June 2020, an elected official in Mississippi was quoted in USA Today as saying that black people were dependent on society because they were taken care of during slavery.
It was his opinion, that they were slaves, and because of that, they didn't have to go out and earn any money, they didn't have to do anything he said. He, he being a white man, continued to say, whoever owned them, took care of them, fed them, clothed them, worked them. And according to him, they became dependent, and he believes that that dependency is still there.
It’s awful, just awful what he said. Today (2022), he is still an elected official in Mississippi. He has yet to reckon with his white privilege and heal his white fragility. What he said is ignorant and racist. He’s got some work to do. Just like we all have some work to do.
It’s tough to call your family racist, but I just did. Now, while we are not blood relatives, this man is the uncle of my brother-in-law. I have never met him, but I did spend one fine afternoon having cocktails with his parents over twenty years ago.
At times I struggle with my Southern identity, embarrassed by the red neck stereotypes, but it is more than that. I am ashamed by the ignorant and racist worldviews held by many in the south, and here in Canada.
Now, I can’t force anyone to change. All I can do is change myself. Just like you can change yourself.
The work of anti-racism is about becoming a better human to other humans. These are the words of Austin Channing Brown. Who happens to be a speaker, writer and media producer providing inspired leadership on racial justice in America.
Let’s be better humans.
We are all surrounded by systemic racism here in Canada and our own unconscious bias. As white people, whether we think we are racist or not, we need to continue to understand and reckon with our white privilege and heal our white fragility. And we all need to learn about unconscious bias and systemic racism, and while we’re at it, let’s explore what micro aggressions are.
For some of you, these might be new terms that you are just hearing for the first time. For others, these terms might bring up defensiveness in you.
Wherever you are at, please, continue to be curious, keep learning, tell yourself the truth and dive deep into who you are and why you are here.
And remember this, racism and white supremacy no matter how overt or hidden, have no place in your worldview.
Let us etch the concepts of diversity and inclusion into our lives where they are no longer concepts but are a way of being.
SOURCE: http://austinchanning.com.
© Brooke Somers (2022)
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