Top 3 Perspectives on Racism
Black, white, and brown.
It’s been a while since I have posted anything on here. We’ve all been overwhelmed by the aftermath of the many unsettling events in a brief period.
As if the pandemic wasn’t enough, we got hit by the ugliness of racism that we’ve been trying to sweep under the proverbial rug for way too long.
It is no longer something that black people are screaming about. People have had enough of the denials from a system that was designed to protect us that we need protection from.
It has started a conversation like one we NEVER had before.
Whenever we start a new conversation, everyone needs to know and understand the rules, and that can be tricky because the rules of the old conversation don’t apply anymore.
Additionally, people have to come to an agreement concerning the topic of the conversation. It requires a paradigm shift in this case. Everyone needs to look at things objectively where the object itself needs redefinition.
Black
Catherine Pugh, Esq., argues about the fallacy of the term White Ally — not just a misnomer, but a misdirected concept. She argues that while black people are the ones suffering because of racism; they didn’t create it, therefore they cannot end it. She is civil and docile but doesn’t pull any punches.
White
As a librarian and a former historian with a master's degree in history, Eric Johnson talks about history as a living landscape. He skillfully tackles the issue of Confederate monuments and their place in our history, where history is a fluid landscape. He asks, how do we decide where in the arc do we freeze and call it history, and why? He argues that the conversation about the removal of statues and the ultimate decision, one way or another, in itself is history in the making.
Brown
Finally, there is the piece by Vincent Garcia, where he talks about the elephant in the room no one wants to see. The microaggression of “where are you from?” Even though most blacks don’t have to deal with it, brown folks like myself are too familiar with it. Just another form of racism that says we decide what is normal and acceptable and have the undeniable right to demand an explanation of your difference.
Conclusion
We are in the beginning stages of a conversation towards lasting change that will demand a paradigm shift from everyone of us. For me, the shift happened when I realized that I don’t have to answer just because some asks a question. These days, when someone asks me, “where are you from?”, I either ignore the question or respond with “who wants to know?”
It is amusing to watch a bully realize that they cannot intimidate someone they thought they could.
As always, thank you for reading and responding.
Rasheed Hooda is a published author and a regular contributor to ILLUMINATION, a writers’ community on Medium where writers support each other.
He is a self-proclaimed weirdo who lives a Freedom Lifestyle and writes about related topics — Travel (a top writer), Personal Growth, Freedom, and entrepreneurship. (Get the Newsletter)
More about me:
An interview by Dr. M Yildiz for ILLUMINATION
