Black Lives Matter: Why We Have To Do Better

Watching and reading news stories over the last few months regarding George Floyd, Christian Cooper, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmed Aubrey (just to name a few), it has become clear that not speaking up and using my voice to discuss the horrible crimes that have been committed has enabled me as part of the problem.

Throughout my time in university, I have taken a number of courses that discuss social movements and inequalities within groups of people in society. I must, however, acknowledge my privilege that I have been able to do such a thing. That I have been given the opportunity to choose to take those courses. I must acknowledge that I have privilege, understand what it means to be privileged, and what it means to those who are not in the same situation. I hope you do the same.

While I’ve always been a supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement, I’ve never been vocal outside of my family and close friends about the movement and its importance. I worried that the language I would use would offend and not come across the way I had intended it to, or that I didn’t have enough knowledge on the subject to truly speak up. But I have an issue with this. How could I stand aside and not publically speak up about the horrible discrimination the black community has experienced and has been living with for hundreds of years because of the colour of their skin? And quite frankly, how dare I?

When you look around your own community, it’s not hard to find racism. Racism exists everywhere and it comes in various forms. Many people grow angry and resentful when the conversation of race and racism is brought up, which is a clear indication of how racism has been normalized. While many of these acts of violence, hate, and anger occur south of our border, it is ignorant of us to believe that it doesn’t exist here in Canada. Canada has a long history of racism — we just have a better way of hiding it by not teaching it to our children in school. Systemic and institutional racism runs deep within our society and this is something that many people don’t understand. These are the same individuals who benefit from the way society is and cannot imagine that world differently. These racist tendencies are embedded within social and political institutions such as wealth, employment, and education.

I found this diagram on Instagram this week and it stuck with me. Below you will see a large list of ways that you can be considered racist even if that wasn’t your intention. Please take a moment to read through the list and acknowledge if you have ever said or thought or done any of the things listed. If you have, you are part of the problem.

I’ve reached out to my black friends and explored how I can better educate myself and those around me to become better allies. I’m currently taking a course about the ways in which we as individuals understand the content we view online, and how specifically our own intersectional identities play a large role in that understanding. My professor encouraged a discussion about our thoughts and feelings on the representation of the recent events through the media and there are some stark differences in the ways these events have been reported depending on the news source you're interacting with. I encourage you to engage in critical media literacy when interacting with the news media or any social media service.

My professor also provided us with a document he found by Sarah Sophie Flicker and Alyssa Klein which highlights a list of resources intended for white people as an educational tool on how we can be better allies and help the fight against racism. This document has been posted and shared quite a bit over the last few days but in the case you haven't had the opportunity to look through, please use this opportunity now.

Here are a few of their recommendations on reading material that they suggest, and a few I have found on my own:

• Me and White Supremacy by Layla Saad

• White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard For White People To Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo, PHD

• This Book Is Anti-Racist by Tiffany Jewell

• The Hate U Give and On The Come Up by Angie Thomas

If you don't like to read or don't have the time, here are a few videos that I encourage you to watch:

• Author, comedian, and The Daily Show host Trevor Noah's IGTV video where he speaks on recent events

• Systemic Racism Explained (explained through cartoons)

• Activist Jane Elliott - A World of Difference - 2020 Interview - Blue Eyes Brown Eyes

• Institutional racism in US explained through a Michael Jackson song (below)

I also strongly suggest that parents and teachers should include books within their personal libraries that will help raise anti-racist children. I believe you are not born racist, however, children are exposed to that type of hateful negativity through the people that raise and interact with them and then use that learned racism in the future. It starts with parents and teachers, and how they want those children to grow with the language they use at home and in school. Here is a list of children’s books that I would implore you to explore with your children and students.

While it is important to educate yourself and further your own knowledge, white people must be willing to call out racism, regardless of the form it comes in. It is our responsibility to put an end to this hate. And please remember that your silence is compliance.

One thing I cannot possibly stress enough, responding to “Black Lives Matter” with “All Lives Matter” is not, in any means, calling for an end to racism against any group of people. By saying “All Lives Matter” you are undermining the oppression black individuals face and erase their stories just to insert yourself into the narrative. You cannot chant “all lives matter” as a way of rebutting against the Black Lives Matter movement because the way black people have been treated for centuries is a clear indication that all lives do not matter. All lives will not matter until black lives do!

Here is a link to learn more about ways you can help and educate yourself on the current situation in the United States and Canada. This link includes ways you can donate and petitions you can sign to make a real change.

In the comments below or please, feel free to reach out to me on Instagram or Twitter, I would love to hear more ways that I can become a better ally.

Listen to those who live this every day and learn from their stories and experiences.

Please. Do better.

xx Lex