Race Card
Black people can be racist – even against other Black people. It’s a scenario and response we see play out over and over again.
Likewise, white people – who marry, adopt, or hire a Black person – can be racist despite a personal, intimate, or consensual relationship with a Black person.
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Scene: A Black human is killed, deprived of human or civil rights, or otherwise grievously injured or accused of perpetrating a heinous act. Response: despite non-Black citizens enjoying overwhelmingly the lead positions of authority, decision making, and power, a Black person comes to the podium. Situational elevation of Black humans during catastrophic and severe events to ward off potential discussions regarding race, racism, and the lack of Black individuals in position of power in a ‘could have prevented this tragedy’ review of what went wrong, is a common defensive and offensive tactic employed by those who wish to avoid the actual work of solving obvious inequities.
It’s so obvious, yet this doesn’t stop overwhelmingly non-Black governments, companies, individuals and entities from continuing to perpetrate this sham. And yes – we really need to grapple with why so many Black humans allow themselves to be used in this inhumane way. (Yes, we have some theories about why this is which we explore further over Bella Caveat communication channels.)
Let’s be clear: it is wrong to do this, and no amount of apologizing, good intentions or obvious avoidance of the underlying issue (i.e. racism, and a refusal to address racism) can or will spare you from the criticism or loss of reputation for engaging in obvious racism. A critical ally of extending this misconduct is the often touted ‘we need to a have study, discussion, or meeting to understand how to redress and solve the problem’ – because, quite obviously, we do not need another discussion, study, or meeting in lieu of or to delay action (we have those in abundance). We need concrete, actual, measurable, quantifiable, sustainable, action, redress and recompense for racism. Period.
The persistent unjustifiably long-delayed, studied and discussed to death tactic of avoiding the resolution is no longer an option.