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Educate yourself

Fighting racism and privilege: what can you do to help?
Current affairs | 3 June 2020

Above image: still, ’13th’ 2016 dir. Ava DuVernay

The murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis last week sparked a global movement of activism, learning and introspection. White police officers brutalising and killing unarmed black people with impunity is nothing new, but the reaction can be. By investing in causes that support people of colour, educating ourselves on insidious and everyday forms of racism and examining how we benefit from privilege, the systems of oppression that led to Floyd’s death and countless others before him can be dismantled.

Below are a list of resources that contribute directly to this cause. From petitions, donation pages, essays and books, these represent the proactive choices that are now more urgent than ever.

Sign the George Floyd Petition
The George Floyd Petition has already become the biggest Change.org petition in US history with well over 13 million signatures at the time of writing. The aim of the petition is to bring the officers responsible for George Floyd’s death to justice.

Donate towards the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust
Systemic racial violence in the US is an opportunity to look at the same entrenched racism in the UK. The Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust was set up following the racially motivated murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993, the response to which highlighted the level of institutional racism in this country. Today the Trust contributes towards supporting young people fight racial discrimination and continued activism to ensure the lessons from Stephen’s murder are acted upon.

Read what white privilege really means
Learn about the way white privilege negatively impacts the world by reading Peggy McIntosh’s essay White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack. McIntosh is an anti-racism campaigner who pioneered the idea of white privilege when she published this piece in 1989. Read about the unearned privileges she experienced in her life and consider your own.

Learn the consequences of slavery throughout American history
Started in August last year, the New York Times’ ongoing 1619 Project looks to correct the record by reframing America’s history – placing contributions of black Americans and the consequences of slavery at the forefront of national narrative.

Readdress your own behavior in order to have a positive impact
In terms of addressing how white people can modify their behavior and have a more positive impact, Craig Elliott’s essay Tips for Creating Effective White Caucus Groups is a great resource. Calling for reflective practice and action, Elliot proposes, “We explore how to recognize whiteness and white privilege, identify and interrupt our internalized dominance, and collectively develop strategies for liberation and change.”

Listen to the Code Switch podcast 
The Code Switch podcast is an excellent resource for educated and up-to-date discussions on black injustice and current events. Launched in 2016 by US public radio network NPR, the podcast also encompasses written text from a diverse range of contributors. Listen and read to one of their recent podcasts A Decade of Watching Black People Die.

https://twitter.com/NPRCodeSwitch/status/1266605088853897216

Read about the devastating effect of gentrification in Detroit
In Marsha Music’s Just Say Hi!, the daughter of legendary pre-Motown producer Joe Von Battle talks about the effect of gentrification on the black community in Detroit. Ms. Music has devoted herself to a life of activism since the 60s, fighting the effects of Detroit’s rapidly changing landscape and preserving the city’s integral black identity.

Discover white fragility
Robin DiAngleo is a lecturer and academic at the University of Washington who specialises in whiteness studies – the studies of structures that produce white privilege. Her landmark book White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism is an excellent introduction to the conditioning effects of living in racially insular societies. 

End police violence
Campaign Zero is a platform calling for immediate data-driven policy reform on police brutality in America. Over 1,000 people are killed by police every year in the country and Campaign Zero are  at the forefront of pushing legislative change that has so far seen policy change in 41 states from 2014-2019. Read through their excellent compilation of research and donate.

Acknowledge and understand the path of black women throughout history
First published in 1985 and winner of the Martin Luther King Memorial Prize that year, Heart of the Race by Beverley Bryan, Stella Dadzie, and Suzanne Scafe is a powerful reframing of British history from which black women have long been excluded. Reclaiming black women’s place in the country’s history thoughout its long history of slavery, empire and colonialism, the text has recently been republished by Verso and is an essential resource.

How to report racism in the UK 
Stop Hate UK began in 1995 in response to Stephen Lawrence’s murder. Since then, they have led efforts to support people affected by racism and their Stop Hate Line has been crucial in improving police access for victims to report incidents of racist abuse. Read their guidelines on how to identify, challenge and report online abuse.

Promote policing alternatives
Reclaim The Block is a grass-roots organisation based in Minneapolis aiming to move state funding away from policing and towards community-led safety. From affordable housing to mental health services, youth programs and violence prevention measures, this organisation is helping reduce the need for police in black communities. Donate here.

Support community reform
Black Visions Collective helped establish Reclaim The Block in 2018 after only setting up themselves a year previous. They are a community driven organisation looking to foster emerging black leadership in Minneapolis and lead powerful campaigns. Donate here.

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