To be Complacent is to be Complicit.

As a white person it is easy to sit back and remain silent on the topic of racism, because if you live out your existence safe in the knowledge that you have never committed an act of racism with your own two hands then you live without fear of ever being termed ‘racist’. 

A person of colour will never live a life of indifference towards racism, because there is no option to be indifferent. You cannot sit back and turn a blind eye towards a bull that is primed and ready to run directly towards you at all times. There is no option to be indifferent because to be a person of colour in a systemically racist society is to live with a constant threat to your very existence at all times. 

To be a white person in a systemically racist society is to be aware of the fact that government bodies are your protectors by default. To live as an indifferent white person in a society that is conscious of systemic racism, your greatest fear is not that you might lose your life at the hands of a racist government but that you might ever be labelled as racist yourself. Because in your eyes you merely lead a quiet, marginal existence of indifference and therefore the greatest injustice would be to be termed racist. But it is the duty of white people alike to realise that to consider yourself a good, unproblematic citizen does not make you not-racist by default. Because in a systemically racist society to exist simply as ‘not racist’ is to be complicit in that systemic racism. 

In 2020 it is not enough as a white person to merely exist as not-racist. It is not enough to be indifferent and it is not enough to choose not to be engaged or to pick and choose when to be engaged. Because the choice to not be engaged is in its very existence a product of privilege. A privilege that is not afforded to people of colour.  

As a white person in a systemically racist society it is absolutely your duty to not only educate yourself on how racist systems of government operate to oppress black populations, but to actively work to dismantle these systems yourself. It is not enough to be a good citizen, it is not enough to be indifferent, it is not enough to simply be ‘not racist’, you must actively work to create change, or you are complicit in racist systems of government. 

Having read this you might ask: as a white person, how can I be active in working to dismantle racism? Now first things first, it is not the duty of people of colour to educate you on what you can do, it is of the highest importance that you educate yourself and actively educating yourself is a fundamental step.  Now you might ask: what tools can I use to educate myself? This is where using your privilege comes in, it is likely that as a white person you were born into a society that sought to ensure your education, use what you have been given. Read. 

Read Amiri Baraka, read Angela Davis, read James Baldwin, Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, read the works of twentieth and twenty-first century black writers, find the styles you understand best, take time to understand what doesn’t come to you immediately. Engage. If books are not accessible to you then make a twitter account, follow black activism accounts. Listen. Listen to the voices of black activists and empathise. Empathy will educate you more than any other tool in your arsenal. Empathy is one of the cornerstones of your existence as a human being, engage with it as much as you possibly can in your lifetime, it will only broaden your mind. Being able to place yourself into another person’s shoes is one of the most powerful tools you possess, to refute that tool is to live ignorantly.

If you can read, listen, and empathise, then it is likely that you will be angry, angry about the continual injustices that afflict the lives of people of colour in systemically racist societies. Anger is fundamental and just as powerful as empathy. Finding productive ways to harness that anger is the next step. So how can I help? Speak out. In every corner of your society exists indifferent white people, it is your duty to change that, to do so you must have conversations. Have conversations that make you uncomfortable. Think back to the most important conversations you have had in your lifetime, it is very likely that those conversations took you to places of discomfort and by doing so you broke barriers. It is not enough to shy away from territory that you do not believe concerns you, talking about racism, keeping the conversation alive is part of being active. Speak out about every injustice you hear of, because it is not enough to pick and choose when to engage, you must carry that momentum, you must continue to be engaged. Even if your only means of speaking out is through word of mouth I urge you to do it. 

Challenge authority, send emails, make phone calls, attend protests where you can and demand justice. As a white person born into a systemically racist society you are by default born into a position of privilege, harness that privilege to fight for the agenda of persons not born into privilege. Systems of government are designed to protect you, so challenge them without fear. Systems of government are designed to make your voice feel heard, so demand that they listen. Work within the system in order to dismantle it, it is your duty. 

In 2020 disregard your choice to be indifferent. There is no such stance as indifferent when injustice permeates society. To be complacent is to be complicit.