Changing how we think about race
Perhaps the deepest roots systemic racism and racial discrimination in our society today is the insidious existence of individual racism: racist beliefs, assumptions, and actions at the personal level. Individual racism is the racist stereotypes that we (implicitly) hold, and the racist actions that we carry out in our daily lives (e.g. microaggressions, racist jokes). The racist beliefs that we hold serve as the bedrock for our actions, motivations and constitute the underlying ideology that determines how our social organizations and institutions work. Individual racism that the forces that influences our implicit racial bias (i.e. unconscious bias) that for example, shape the hiring policies and decision make in businesses and firms, mortgage and loaning policies for black renters and homeowners, and how black patients are treated by their providers and other healthcare staff.
Nearly everyone these days will say that they are not racist, it is socially discouraged to be openly racist yet this does not mean that racist ideas disappear. Racism is alive in the stereotypes that commonly get invoked about black people (i.e. black men are violent), the microaggressions that get carried out daily against POCs, and the internalized racism suffered by non-whites. There is still much to many people who say “I’m not a racist person” but are defending punitive policing practices that unjustly harm black neighborhoods and justifying the impoverishment of black communities. We must aim to be proactively anti-racist in thoughts and actions; we must not only say that we are not racist but also back up our words with concrete actions and protests. We need our politicians, our doctors, our police officers, and every member of society to understood the harmful effects of racism, or racist institutions and actively seek to reverse and reform manifestations of racism in all levels of society to truly achieve social, and in extension, health equity for all.
Instilling a sense of racial consciousness in everybody is vital to fighting against individual racism. Educating ourselves on the racist history country, of historical trauma experienced by non-whites, and the systems of privileges and oppressions that all affect us differently based on the color of our skin. This entails a critical and reflexive learning process that involves plenty of reading, writing, hearing, and reflecting on the history and legacy of racism, especially from BIPOC authors and speakers. It also involves taking proactive measures to fight against racism in our lives, such as pushing back and condemning racist actions around us, fighting to change the policies and guidelines of our schools and workplace for a more inclusive space, and attending protests and engaging in political activism to strive for policy reforms that the macrolevel. Through all of this process we need to build and maintain interracial relationships and cooperation to generate a strong collective base. Only with a change in mindset can we accelerate systemic reforms that are needed to achieve health equity for all.
