The Game Is Rigged: Publishing While Black - early bird tickets available now!
Hello {{ first name | friends}},
Can racism be unintentional and still harmful?
The answer, of course, is yes.
Let's put it in terms anyone can understand. When a toddler is barrelling along after having recently found their feet and bumps into another toddler, who falls and gets hurt, that's an example of unintentional harm. As parents and caregivers, we immediately tell the first toddler to say sorry, kiss it better, shake hands or whatever form of repair seems most appropriate. And that's for something that may be no more than a graze.
So imagine an instance of racism, then
the careless words that wound
the unawareness that makes someone feel othered
the bias that pushes certain identities aside in the workplace or social settings
Some examples I've shared before:
the person who mistook my silence for stupidity (not a word I often use, but that's clearly what he thought)
the person who wanted me to have a more ethnic name
the person (actually multiple people on different continents) who refused to serve me
the people who asked where I was from and questioned my right to be in certain spaces
the people who made assumptions about my background
The slights showed up in multiple ways, from dismissive actions to hurtful words. And here's the thing: just because you're unaware, it doesn't mean harm hasn't been done. And saying "I didn't mean it" puts the onus on the harmed person to coddle your feelings rather than, as it should be, the onus on you to repair the harm.
So how do you do that?
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