Racism, at its most basic, is the belief that one group is superior to another simply because of the color of your skin and other physical features. However, at its worst, racism causes one to deny the humanity and/or the right to live of those who look or believe differently than another. America in general and the Inland Empire in particular must declare a state of emergency, because racism is on the rise and continues to gain momentum. Those who are students of history know the stages of racism and that it continues to repeat itself over the last four hundred years.
Step 1 - Demonize a group of people who look or believe differently than you
Step 2 - Make people think that they are a threat
Step 3 - Begin to marginalize and discriminate against them
Step 4 - Begin social, political, and physical oppression
Step 5 - Justify their extermination or enslavement
Step 6 - Continue for at least three or four generations so that the oppression becomes normalized.
Every act of racism is avoidable. However, too often the majority of people in society either give in to their dark passions or remain silent. Both are equally guilty. Many argue that those who remain silent are worse than those committing the acts. But what does racism look like?
Racism is …
Denying the dignity and humanity of immigrants by locking them up in cages
Allowing laws to protect police officers that kill black people
Attacking synagogues in the name of Christianity
Supporting a Muslim ban into the country
Protecting your identity for fear of losing your job for telling the truth about racism
Spoiler Alert:
Just because you don’t think it's racist doesn’t mean it's not racist!
Just because you belong to the same ethnic group you’re commenting about doesn’t mean it's not racist.
It is everyone’s responsibility to fight racism. Sitting on the sideline allows racism to spread.
Pushing Humanity and Dignity Forward,
Corey Jackson & Jernine Williams, and S.R. (Because of Racism) ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
