Instant virtue is acquired by reciting a catechism built of these binary pronouncements: The only remedy to racist discrimination is antiracist discrimination. The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination.” If you are not an antiracist you are a racist. […] All disparities in social outcomes are necessarily explained by racism.
Will is criticizing the Identity Politics movement.
I'm someone very interested in diversity, equity, social justice, and getting rid of white supremacy.
Antiracism is direct opposition to any idea that supposes one race is better than any other in any respect.
Does political correctness have a good side? Yes, it does, for it makes us re-examine attitudes, and that is always useful. The trouble is that, with all popular movements, the lunatic fringe so quickly ceases to be a fringe; the tail begins to wag the dog. For every woman or man who is quietly and sensibly using the idea to examine our assumptions, there are twenty rabble-rousers whose real motive is desire for power over others. The fact that they see themselves as antiracists or feminists or whatever does not make them any less rabble-rousers.
Antiracism is not "my" campaign. I have been doing antiracism organizing, activism, educating and writing for 20 years, in one form or another, but it's not a personal crusade. My work is part of a larger tradition, and larger effort, involving mostly people of color, and of course some white allies as well.
We cannot just be nonracist. We really do need to be antiracist.
You can't organize people if you don't love them. And however hard it can be to love the racist you come in contact with; doing so is the first obligation of a white antiracist.
People of color have to do this work as a mater of everyday survival. And so long as they have to, who am I to act as if I have a choice in the matter? Especially when my future and that of my children in large part depends on the eradication of racism? There is no choice.
It's a totally different spiel when I talk at Morehouse. But when I'm talking at MIT? At the University of Cincinnati? I'm telling white people, in order to stop systemic racism, you must first befriend, become a colleague of, get to know intimately, put yourself culturally in the framework of someone who doesn't look like you.
The antidote to white fragility is ongoing and lifelong and includes sustained engagement, humility, and education.
If kids have the oportunity to come together to get to know one another, they can judge for themselves who they want their friends to be. All children should have that choice. We, as adults, shouldn't make those choices for children. That's how racism starts.
I hope I stand for antibigotry, anti-Semitism, antiracism. This is what drives me.
We need to dismantle the systems that were built on racism, that were built on the backs of black people.
Just having people saying no to racism on a commercial changes nothing.
As part of my work, I teach, lead and participate in affinity groups, facilitate workshops, and mentor other whites on recognizing and interrupting racism in our lives.
I don't think the job of the antiracist is to convert the far-out heathen racist, or give them their 'come to Jesus' moment, as it's called. They'll either have those or they won't, and usually, when they have them, it's not because of something someone said per se; it's because of some life crisis that makes them rethink.
I think racial justice - and addressing the sick and enduring legacy of structural racism - remains one of the greatest challenges of our time, and one that's particularly important for more and more white people to speak up about.
You don't fight racism with racism, the best way to fight racism is with solidarity.
I think for folks of color the key to combatting racism period is a) trusting their instincts and b) solidarity with one another.
A lot of different races and nationalities play football, so it is a good way to try and stop racism.
My message is really that racism has no place in the hearts and minds of our children.
Antiracists must acknowledge that patriarchy has long been a weapon of racism and cannot sit comfortably in any politic of racial transformation.