Individualism Is An Enemy To Antiracism

It’s never helpful when white people say, “It’s not all white people. That’s not me. Some of us are different.” These are individual mindsets that continue systemic racism.

If you’re white, you automatically benefit from these systems. It’s like standing still on an elevator going up.

As black, indigenous, and other people of color (BIPOC), are telling their stories or teaching about racism, white folks must resist the temptation to disassociate themselves from whiteness and the harm that it causes.

So when white folks respond in a way seeking to separate themselves from these systems of racism and white supremacy, they are prioritizing their own feelings and reputation. And they are also shedding responsibility for dismantling those harmful systems.

Your effectiveness as an antiracist will be compromised if you see this as an external problem that’s perpetrated by those “bad white folks over there”.

White folks today might not have built the house of racism, but they still live in it. They still get benefits from it, and they must take ownership and responsibility for it.