As we’ve recently had June 19 and on Sunday we have July 4 – both of which are topics for tomorrow’s post – I thought this would be an opportune time to write this.
I am blown away that some people deny racism is in plain sight.
Actually, ‘blows me away’ isn’t anywhere close to the emotion I feel … downright fury is a much closer definition of what I feel.
What makes it even worst is when I see them attempt to deflect the issue by saying people are reading into things that simply aren’t there. Or are making it an issue of race when there isn’t one. Or that they are in fact the racists, because they’re making anti-white statements.
Of course, the reason they do this is because they don’t want to admit the truth of who they truly are. A truth they write off as ‘living in a world of wokeness’ … without realising that to be described as woke means you are a person who is compassionate towards others, which means it is far more a compliment than an insult.
What makes it all the more laughable is they think they’re being intellectually superior with their arguments, without realising it’s just highlighting their prejudice to an even greater extent.
And while some like to suggest it is an America problem, the reality it’s a ‘wherever there are white people’ problem.
Recently photographers Chris Buck and Greg Semu decided to highlight the racism that lives in plain sight in the hope a different perspective may make these people see what has been staring them right in their face.
Given how blinkered these people are, I don’t know if it will work … but hopefully it will make those who say they are against racism realise it’s not enough to just hold that view, they have to be anti-racist.
I still remember when I lived in America and we were talking at a conference about the America In The Raw book we had done.
An attendee – a senior marketing exec – asked how I could help them better understand African American culture.
After pointing out they were asking a WHITE, BRITISH male who had only been living in the country for over a year, I said the best thing they could do was hire some young African Americans, put them in positions of power, pay them properly and set them up for success.
To be fair to him, he was genuinely appreciative and enlightened by my suggestion.
To be unfair to him, it was another example of the oppression People Of Colour continually face from those who are too – let’s be honest – too blind, ignorant, prejudiced or lazy to change their ways.
Which is not only why I am eternally grateful the brilliant Maya, Chelsea, Bree and Lani came into my life in such bloody amazing and beautifully angry ways … but why I have written to Chris and Greg to ask them to extend their shoot to include corporate environments – because maybe when companies, and their HR departments, are forced to recognise the reality of the environment they have created, maybe then they will realise they can’t hide from their lack of action for any longer.
