-
Cloe Shasha: So welcome, Ibram,
-
and thank you so much for joining us.
-
Ibram X. Kendi: Well, thank you, Cloe,
-
and Whitney,
-
and thank you everyone
for joining this conversation.
-
And so, a few weeks ago,
-
on the same day we learned
about the brutal murder of George Floyd,
-
we also learned that
a white woman in Central Park
-
who chose not to leash her dog
-
and was told by a black man nearby
that she needed to leash her dog,
-
instead decided
to threaten this black male,
-
instead decided to call the police
-
and claim that her life
was being threatened.
-
And of course, when we learned
about that through a video,
-
many Americans were outraged,
-
and this woman, Amy Cooper,
-
ended up going on national TV
-
and saying,
-
like countless other Americans have said
right after they engaged in a racist act,
-
"I am not racist."
-
And I say countless Americans
-
because when you really think
about the history of Americans
-
expressing racist ideas,
-
supporting racist policies,
-
you're really talking
about a history of people
-
who have claimed they're not racist,
-
because everyone claims
that they're not racist,
-
whether we're talking
about the Amy Coopers of the world,
-
whether we're talking about Donald Trump,
-
who, right after he said
that majority-black Baltimore
-
is a rat and rodent-infested mess
that no human being would want to live in,
-
and he was challenged as being racist,
-
he said, "Actually, I'm the least racist
person anywhere in the world."
-
And so really the heartbeat
of racism itself
-
has always been denial,
-
and the sound of that heartbeat
-
has always been, "I'm not racist."
-
And so what I'm trying to do with my work
-
is to really get Americans
to eliminate the concept of "not racist"
-
from their vocabulary,
-
and realize we're either being racist
-
or anti-racist.
-
We're either expressing ideas
that suggest certain racial groups
-
are better or worse than others,
-
superior or inferior than others.
-
We're either being racist,
-
or we're being anti-racist.
-
We're expressing notions
that the racial groups are equals,
-
despite any cultural
or even ethnic differences.
-
We're either supporting
policies that are leading
-
to racial inequities and injustice,
-
like we saw in Louisville,
where Breonna Taylor was murdered,
-
or we're supporting policies
and pushing policies
-
that are leading to justice
and equity for all.
-
And so I think we should be very clear
-
about whether we're
expressing racist ideas,
-
about whether we're
supporting racist policies,
-
and admit when we are,
-
because to be anti-racist
-
is to admit when
we expressed a racist idea,
-
is to say, "You know what?
-
When I was doing that in Central Park,
-
I was indeed being racist.
-
But I'm going to change.
-
I'm going to strive to be anti-racist.
-
And to be racist
-
is to constantly deny
-
the racial inequities
that pervade American society,
-
to constantly deny the racist ideas
that pervade American minds.
-
And so I want to built
a just and equitable society,
-
and the only way we're going
to even begin that process
-
is if we admit our racism
-
and start building an anti-racist world.
-
Thank you.
-
CS: Thank you so much for that.
-
You know, your book,
"How To Be An Anti-Racist,"
-
has become a bestseller
in light of what's been happening,
-
and you've been speaking a bit
-
to the ways in which
anti-racism and racism
-
are the only two polar opposite ways
to hold a view on racism.
-
I'm curious if you
could talk a little bit more
-
about what the basic tenets
of anti-racism are,
-
for people who aren't as familiar with it
in terms of how they can be anti-racist.
-
IXK: Sure. And so I mentioned in my talk
-
that the heartbeat of racism is denial,
-
and really the heartbeat
of anti-racism is confession,
-
is the recognition
-
that to grow up in this society
-
is to literally at some point in our lives
-
probably internalize
ideas that are racist,
-
ideas that suggest certain racial groups
are better or worse than others,
-
and because we believe
in racial hierarchy,
-
because Americans
have been systematically taught
-
that black people are more dangerous,
-
that black people are more criminal-like,
-
when we live in a society
where black people
-
are 40 percent of the national
incarcerated population,
-
that's going to seem normal to people.
-
When we live in a society
-
in a city like Minneapolis
-
where black people
are 20 percent of the population
-
but more than 60 percent of the people
being subjected to police shootings,
-
it's going to seem normal.
-
And so to be anti-racist
-
is to believe that there's nothing wrong
-
or inferior about black people
or any other racial group.
-
There's nothing dangerous
-
about black people
or any other racial group.
-
And so when we see these
racial disparities all around us,
-
we see them as abnormal,
-
and then we start to figure out, OK,
what policies are behind
-
so many black people
being killed by police.
-
What policies are behind
so many Latinx people
-
being disproportionately
infected with COVID?
-
How can I be a part of the struggle
-
to upend those policies and replace them
with more anti-racist policies?
-
Whitney Pennington Rodgers:
And so it sounds like
-
you do make that distinction, then,
between not racist and anti-racist.
-
I guess, could you talk a little bit
more about that and break that down?
-
What is the difference between the two?
-
IXK: In the most simplest way,
-
a not racist is a racist who is in denial,
-
and an anti-racist is someone
-
who is willing to admit the times
in which they are being racist,
-
and who is willing to recognize
-
the inequities and
the racial problems of our society,
-
and who is willing to challenge
those racial inequities
-
by challenging policy.
-
And so I'm saying this because
literally slaveholders, slave traders,
-
imagined that their ideas
in our terms were not racist.
-
They would say things like,
-
"Black people are the cursed
descendants of Ham,
-
and they're cursed forever
into enslavement."
-
This isn't, "I'm not racist."
-
This is, "God's law."
-
They would say things, like, you know,
-
"Based on science, based on ethnology,
-
based on natural history,
-
black people by nature
-
are predisposed to slavery and servility.
-
This is nature's law. I'm not racist.
-
I'm actually doing what nature
said I'm supposed to be doing."
-
And so this construct of being not racist
and denying one's racism
-
goes all the way back
to the origins of this country.
-
CS: Yeah.
-
And why do you think it has been so hard
-
for some people now to still accept
that neutrality is not enough
-
when it comes to racism?
-
IXK: I think because it takes
a lot of work to be anti-racist.
-
You have to be very vulnerable, right?
-
You have to be willing to admit
that you were wrong.
-
You have to be willing to admit
-
that if you have more,
if you're white, for instance,
-
and you have more,
-
it may not be because you are more.
-
You have to admit that,
yeah, you've worked hard
-
potentially, in your life,
-
but you've also had certain advantages
-
which provided you with opportunities
-
that other people did not have.
-
You have to admit those things,
-
and it's very difficult
-
for people to be publicly,
-
or even privately, self-critical.
-
I think it's also the case of,
-
and I should have probably led with this,
-
how people define "racist."
-
And so people tend to define "racist"
-
as, like, a fixed category,
-
as an identity.
-
This is essential to who a person is.
-
Someone becomes a racist.
-
And so therefore --
-
And then they also connect a racist
with a bad, evil person.
-
They connect a racist
with a Ku Klux Klansman or woman.
-
And they're like,
"I'm not in the Ku Klux Klan,
-
I'm not a bad person,
-
and I've done good things in my life.
-
I've done good things to people of color.
-
And so therefore I can't be racist.
-
I'm not that. That's not my identity.
-
But that's actually not
how we should be defining racist.
-
Racist is a descriptive term.
-
It describes what a person
is saying or doing in any given moment,
-
and so when a person in one moment
-
is expressing a racist idea,
-
in that moment they are being racist
when they're saying black people are lazy.
-
If in the very next moment
-
they're appreciating the cultures
of native people,
-
they're being anti-racist.
-
WPR: And we're going to get
to some questions
-
from our community in a moment,
-
but I think when a lot of people hear
this idea that you're putting forward,
-
this idea of anti-racism,
-
there's this feeling
that this is something
-
that only concerns the white community.
-
And so could you speak a little bit
to how the black community
-
and nonwhite, other ethnic minorities
-
can participate in and think about
this idea of anti-racism?
-
IXK: Sure.
-
So if white Americans
commonly say, "I'm not racist,"
-
people of color commonly say,
-
"I can't be racist
-
because I'm a person of color."
-
And then some people of color
say they can't be racist
-
because they have no power.
-
And so, first and foremost,
-
what I've tried to do in my work
is to push back against this idea
-
that people of color have no power.
-
There's nothing more disempowering
-
to say, or to think, as a person of color,
-
than to say you have no power.
-
People of color have long utilized
the most basic power
-
that every human being has,
-
and that's the power to resist policy --
-
that's the power to resist
racist policies,
-
that's the power to resist
a racist society.
-
But if you're a person of color,
-
and you believe that people coming here
-
from Honduras and El Salvador
-
are invading this country,
-
you believe that these Latinx immigrants
-
are animals and rapists,
-
then you're certainly not,
if you're black or Asian or native,
-
going to be a part of the struggle
-
to defend Latinx immigrants,
-
to recognize that Latinx immigrants
have as much to give to this country
-
as any other group of people,
-
you're going to view these people
as "taking away your jobs,"
-
and so therefore you're going
to support racist rhetoric,
-
you're going to support racist policies,
-
and even though that is probably
going to be harming you,
-
in other words, it's going to be harming,
-
if you're black, immigrants
coming from Haiti and Nigeria,
-
if you're Asian,
immigrants coming from India.
-
So I think it's critically important
for even people of color
-
to realize they have the power to resist,
-
and when people of color
view other people of color as the problem,
-
they're not going
to view racism as the problem.
-
And anyone who is not viewing
racism as the problem
-
is not being anti-racist.
-
CS: You touched on this a bit
in your beginning talk here,
-
but you've talked about how
racism is the reason
-
that black communities
and communities of color
-
are systematically
disadvantaged in America,
-
which has led to so many more deaths
from COVID-19 in those communities.
-
And yet the media is often
placing the blame on people of color
-
for their vulnerability to illness.
-
So I'm curious, in line with that,
-
what is the relationship
between anti-racism
-
and the potential for systemic change?
-
IXK: I think it's a direct relationship,
-
because when you are --
-
when you believe
and have consumed racist ideas,
-
you're not going to even believe
change is necessary
-
because you're going to believe
that racial inequality is normal.
-
Or, you're not going
to believe change is possible.
-
In other words, you're going to believe
that the reason why black people
-
are being killed by police
at such high rates
-
or the reason why Latinx people
are being infected at such high rates
-
is because there's
something wrong with them,
-
and nothing can be changed.
-
And so you wouldn't even
begin to even see the need
-
for systemic structural change,
-
let alone be a part of the struggle
for systemic structural change.
-
And so, to be anti-racist, again,
-
is to recognize
-
that there's only two causes
of racial inequity:
-
either there's something
wrong with people,
-
or there's something wrong
with power and policy.
-
And if you realize that there's
nothing wrong with any group of people,
-
and I keep mentioning groups --
-
I'm not saying individuals.
-
There's certainly black individuals
-
who didn't take coronavirus seriously,
-
which is one of the reasons
why they were infected.
-
But there are white people
who didn't take coronavirus seriously.
-
No one has ever proven,
actually studies have shown
-
that black people were more likely
to take the coronavirus seriously
-
than white people.
-
We're not talking about individuals here,
-
and we certainly should not
be individualizing groups.
-
We certainly should not be looking
at the individual behavior
-
of one Latinx person or one black person,
-
and saying they're
representatives of the group.
-
That's a racist idea in and of itself.
-
And so I'm talking about groups,
-
and if you believe that groups are equals,
-
then the only other alternative,
-
the only other explanation
to persisting inequity and injustice,
-
is power and policy.
-
And to then spend your time transforming
and challenging power and policy
-
is to spend your time being anti-racist.
-
WPR: So we have some questions
that are coming in from the audience.
-
First one here is from a community member
-
that asks, "When we talk
about white privilege,
-
we talk also about the privilege
not to have the difficult conversations.
-
Do you feel that's starting to change?
-
IXK: I hope so,
-
because I think
-
that white Americans, too,
-
need to simultaneously recognize
-
their privileges,
-
the privileges that they have accrued
-
as a result of their whiteness,
-
and the only way in which
they're going to be able to do that
-
is by initiating and having
these conversations.
-
But then they also should recognize
-
that, yes, they have more,
-
white Americans have more,
-
due to racist policy,
-
but the question I think
white Americans should be having,
-
particularly when they're having
these conversations among themselves,
-
is, if we had a more equitable society,
-
would we have more?
-
Because what I'm asking is that, you know,
-
white Americans have more
because of racism,
-
but there are other groups of people
in other Western democracies
-
who have more than white Americans,
-
and then you start to ask the question,
-
why is it that people in other countries
have free health care?
-
Why is it that they
have paid family leave?
-
Why is it that they have
a massive safety net?
-
Why is it that we do not?
-
And one of the major answers
-
to why we do not here have is racism.
-
One of the major answers as to why
-
Donald Trump is President
of the United States
-
is racism.
-
And so I'm not really asking
white Americans to be altruistic
-
in order to be anti-racist.
-
We're really asking people
-
to have intelligent self-interest.
-
Those four million, I should say
five million poor whites in 1860
-
whose poverty was the direct result
-
of the riches of a few thousand
white slaveholding families,
-
in order to challenge slavery,
-
we weren't saying, you know,
we need you to be altruistic.
-
No, we actually need you
to do what's in your self-interest.
-
Those tens of millions of Americans,
white Americans, who have lost their jobs
-
as a result of this pandemic,
-
we're not asking them to be altruistic.
-
We're asking them to realize that
if we had a different type of government
-
with a different set of priorities,
-
then they would be
much better off right now.
-
I'm sorry, don't get me started.
-
CS: No, we're grateful. Thank you.
-
And in line with that,
-
obviously these protests and this movement
have led to some progress:
-
the removal of Confederate monuments,
-
the Minneapolis City Council pledging
to dismantle the police department, etc.
-
But what do you view
as the greatest priority on a policy level
-
as this fight for justice continues?
-
Are there any ways in which
we could learn from other countries?
-
IXK: I don't actually think necessarily
-
there's a singular policy priority.
-
I mean, if someone was
to force me to answer,
-
I would probably say two,
-
and that is,
-
high quality free health care for all,
-
and when I say high quality,
-
I'm not just talking about
Medicare For All,
-
I'm talking about a simultaneous scenario
-
in which in rural southwest Georgia,
-
where the people are predominantly black
-
and have some of the highest
death rates in the country,
-
those counties in southwest Georgia,
-
from COVID,
-
that they would have access to health care
-
as high quality as people do
in Atlanta and New York City,
-
and then, simultaneously,
-
that that health care would be free.
-
So many Americans not only of course
are dying this year of COVID
-
but also of heart disease and cancer,
-
which are the number one killers
before COVID of Americans,
-
and they're disproportionately black.
-
And so I would say that,
-
and then secondarily,
I would say reparations.
-
And many Americans claim
-
that they believe in racial equality,
-
they want to bring about racial equality.
-
Many Americans recognize
just how critical economic livelihood is
-
for every person in this country,
in this economic system.
-
But then many Americans reject
or are not supportive of reparations.
-
And so we have a situation
-
in which white Americans
-
are, last I checked,
-
their median wealth is 10 times
the median wealth of black Americans,
-
and according to a recent study,
-
by 2053 --
-
between now, I should say, and 2053,
-
white median wealth is projected to grow,
-
and this was before
this current recession,
-
and black median wealth
-
is expected to redline at zero dollars,
-
and that, based on this current recession,
that may be pushed up a decade.
-
And so we not only have
a racial wealth gap,
-
but we have a racial wealth gap
that's growing.
-
And so for those Americans who claim
-
they are committed to racial equality
-
who also recognize the importance
of economic livelihood
-
and who also know
that wealth is inherited,
-
and the majority of wealth is inherited,
-
and when you think of the inheritance,
-
you're thinking of past,
-
and the past policies
-
that many Americans consider to be racist,
-
whether it's slavery or even redlining,
-
how would we even begin to close
-
this growing racial wealth gap
-
without a massive program
like reparations?
-
WPR: Well, sort of connected to this idea
of thinking about wealth disparity
-
and wealth inequality in this country,
-
we have a question
from community member Dana Perls.
-
She asks, "How do you suggest
liberal white organizations
-
effectively address problems of racism
within the work environment,
-
particularly in environments where people
remain silent in the face of racism
-
or make token statements
without looking internally?
-
IXK: Sure.
-
And so I would make a few suggestions.
-
One, for several decades now,
-
every workplace has publicly pledged
-
a commitment to diversity.
-
Typically, they have diversity statements.
-
I would basically rip up
those diversity statements
-
and write a new statement,
-
and that's a statement
committed to anti-racism.
-
And in that statement you would
clearly define what a racist idea is,
-
what an anti-racist idea is,
-
what a racist policy is
and what an anti-racist policy is.
-
And you would state as a workplace
that you're committed
-
to having a culture of anti-racist ideas
-
and having an institution
made up of anti-racist policies.
-
And so then everybody
can measure everyone's ideas
-
and the policies of that workplace
based on that document.
-
And I think that that could begin
the process of transformation.
-
I also think it's critically important
-
for workplaces to not only
diversify their staff
-
but diversify their upper administration.
-
And I think that's
absolutely critical as well.
-
CS: We have some more questions
coming in from the audience.
-
We have one from Melissa Mahoney,
-
who is asking, "Donald Trump seems
to be making supporting Black Lives Matter
-
a partisan issue,
-
for example making fun of Mitt Romney
-
for participating in a peaceful protest.
-
How do we uncouple this
to make it nonpartisan?"
-
IXK: Well, I mean, I think that
to say the lives of black people
-
is a Democratic declaration
-
is simultaneously stating
-
that Republicans do not value black life.
-
If that's essentially
what Donald Trump is saying,
-
if he's stating
-
that there's a problem
with marching for black lives,
-
then what is the solution?
-
The solution is not marching.
What's the other alternative?
-
The other alternative
is not marching for black lives.
-
The other alternative is not caring
when black people die of police violence
-
or COVID.
-
And so to me, the way in which
we make this a nonpartisan issue
-
is to strike back
-
or argue back in that way,
-
and obviously Republicans
are going to claim
-
they're not saying that,
-
but it's a very simple thing:
-
either you believe black lives matter
-
or you don't,
-
and if you believe black lives matter
-
because you believe in human rights,
-
then you believe in the human right
for black people and all people to live
-
and to not have to fear police violence
-
and not have to fear the state
-
and not have to fear
that a peaceful protest
-
is going to be broken up
-
because some politician
wants to get a campaign op,
-
then you're going to institute
policy that shows it.
-
Or, you're not.
-
WPR: So I want to ask a question
-
just about how people
can think about anti-racism
-
and how they can actually
bring this into their lives.
-
I imagine that a lot of folks,
-
they hear this and they're like,
-
oh, you know,
I have to be really thoughtful
-
about how my actions and my words
-
are perceived.
-
What is the perceived intention
behind what it is that I'm saying,
-
and that that may feel exhausting,
-
and I think that connects
even to this idea of policy.
-
And so I'm curious.
-
There is a huge element of thoughtfulness
-
that comes along
-
with this work of being anti-racist.
-
And what is your reaction and response
to those who feel concerned
-
about the mental exhaustion
from having to constantly think
-
about how your actions
may hurt or harm others?
-
IXK: So I think part of the concern
that people have about mental exhaustion
-
is this idea
-
that they don't ever
want to make a mistake,
-
and I think to be anti-racist
-
is to make mistakes,
-
and is to recognize
when we make a mistake.
-
For us, what's critical
is to have those very clear definitions
-
so that we can assess our words,
-
we can assess our deeds,
-
and when we make a mistake,
we just own up to it and say,
-
"You know what, that was a racist idea."
-
"You know what, I was supporting
a racist policy, but I'm going to change."
-
The other thing I think
is important for us to realize
-
is in many ways
-
we are addicted,
-
and when I say we, individuals
and certainly this country,
-
is addicted to racism,
-
and that's one of the reasons why
-
for so many people they're just in denial.
-
People usually deny their addictions.
-
But then, once we realize
that we have this addiction,
-
everyone who has been addicted,
-
you know, you talk
to friends and family members
-
who are overcoming an addiction
to substance abuse,
-
they're not going to say
-
that they're just healed,
-
that they don't have
to think about this regularly.
-
You know, someone who is
overcoming alcoholism
-
is going to say, "You know what,
this is a day-by-day process,
-
and I take it day by day
-
and moment by moment,
-
and yes, it's difficult
-
to restrain myself
-
from reverting back
to what I'm addicted to,
-
but at the same time it's liberating,
-
it's freeing,
-
because I'm no longer
having to wallow in that addiction.
-
And so I think, and I'm no longer
having to hurt people
-
due to my addiction."
-
And I think that's critical.
-
We spend too much time
thinking about how we feel
-
and less time thinking about how
our actions and ideas make others feel.
-
And I think that's one thing
that the George Floyd video
-
forced Americans to do
-
was to really see and hear, especially,
-
how someone feels
-
as a result of their racism.
-
CS: We have another question
from the audience.
-
This one is asking about,
-
"Can you speak to the intersectionality
-
between the work of anti-racism,
feminism and gay rights?
-
How does the work of anti-racism
relate and affect the work
-
of these other human rights issues?"
-
IXK: Sure.
-
So I define a racist idea
-
as any idea that suggests
a racial group is superior
-
or inferior to another
racial group in any way.
-
And I use the term racial group
-
as opposed to race
-
because every race is a collection
of racialized intersectional groups,
-
and so you have black women and black men
-
and you have black heterosexuals
and black queer people,
-
just as you have Latinx women
and white women and Asian men,
-
and what's critical for us to understand
-
is there hasn't just been racist ideas
-
that have targeted,
let's say, black people.
-
There has been racist ideas
that have been developed
-
and have targeted black women,
-
that have targeted black lesbians,
-
that have targeted
black transgender women.
-
And oftentimes these racist ideas
targeting these intersectional groups
-
are intersecting
with other forms of bigotry
-
that is also targeting these groups.
-
To give an example about black women,
-
one of the oldest racist ideas
about black women
-
was this idea that they're inferior women
-
or that they're not even women at all,
-
and that they're inferior to white women,
-
who are the pinnacle of womanhood.
-
And that idea has intersected
-
with this sexist idea
-
that suggests that women are weak,
-
that the more weak a person is,
a woman is, the more woman she is,
-
and the stronger a woman is,
the more masculine she is.
-
These two ideas have intersected
-
to constantly degrade black women
-
as this idea of the strong,
black masculine woman
-
who is inferior to the weak, white woman.
-
And so the only way
to really understand these constructs
-
of a weak, superfeminine white woman
-
and a strong, hypermasculine black woman
-
is to understand sexist ideas,
-
is to reject sexist ideas,
-
and I'll say very quickly,
the same goes for the intersection
-
of racism and homophobia,
-
in which black queer people
have been subjected to this idea
-
that they are more hypersexual
-
because there's this idea of queer people
-
as being more hypersexual
than heterosexuals.
-
And so black queer people have been tagged
-
as more hypersexual
than white queer people
-
and black heterosexuals.
-
And you can't really see that
and understand that and reject that
-
if you're not rejecting and understanding
and challenging homophobia too.
-
WPR: And to this point of challenging,
-
we have another question
from Maryam Mohit in our community,
-
who asks, "How do you see cancel culture
and anti-racism interacting.
-
For example, when someone
did something obviously racist in the past
-
and it comes to light?"
-
How do we respond to that?
-
IXK: Wow.
-
So I think it's very, very complex.
-
I do obviously encourage people
-
to transform themselves,
-
to change, to admit those times
in which they were being racist,
-
and so obviously we as a community
-
have to give people
that ability to do that.
-
We can't, when someone admits
that they were being racist,
-
we can't immediately
obviously cancel them.
-
But I also think
-
that there are people
-
who do something so egregious
-
and there are people who are so unwilling
-
to recognize how egregious
what they just did is,
-
so in a particular moment,
-
so not just the horrible, vicious act,
-
but then on top of that
-
the refusal to even admit
the horrible, vicious act.
-
In that case, I could see how people
would literally want to cancel them,
-
and I think that we have to,
-
on the other hand,
-
we have to have some sort of consequence,
-
public consequence, cultural consequence,
-
for people acting in a racist manner,
-
especially in an extremely egregious way.
-
And for many people, they've decided,
-
you know what, I'm just
going to cancel folks.
-
And I'm not going
to necessarily critique them,
-
but I do think we should try
to figure out a way
-
to discern those who are refusing
-
to transform themselves
-
and those who made a mistake
and recognized it
-
and truly are committed
to transforming themselves.
-
CS: Yeah, I mean,
-
one of the concerns
many activists have been expressing
-
is that the energy behind
the Black Lives Matter movement
-
has to stay high
-
for anti-racist change
to truly take place.
-
I think that applies
to what you just said as well.
-
And I guess I'm curious
what your opinion is
-
on when the protests start to wane
-
and people's donation-matching campaigns
fade into the background,
-
how can we all ensure
that this conversation
-
about anti-racism stays central?
-
IXK: Sure.
-
So in "How To Be An Anti-Racist,"
-
in one of the final chapters,
-
is this chapter called "Failure."
-
I talked about what I call
feelings advocacy,
-
and this is people feeling bad
about what's happening,
-
what happened to George Floyd
-
or what happened to Ahmaud Arbery
or what happened to Breonna Taylor.
-
They just feel bad about this country
and where this country is headed.
-
And so the way
they go about feeling better
-
is by coming to a demonstration.
-
The way they go about feeling better
-
is by donating
to a particular organization.
-
The way they go about feeling better
-
is reading a book.
-
And so if this is what
many Americans are doing,
-
then once they feel better,
-
in other words once the individual
feels better through their participation
-
in book clubs or demonstrations
-
or donation campaigns,
-
then nothing is going to change
except, what, their own feelings.
-
And so we need to move past our feelings.
-
And this isn't to say
that people shouldn't feel bad,
-
but we should use our feelings,
-
how horrible we feel
about what is going on,
-
to put into place, put into practice,
-
anti-racist power and policies.
-
In other words, our feelings
should be driving us.
-
They shouldn't be the end all.
-
This should not be
about making us feel better.
-
This should be about
transforming this country,
-
and we need to keep our eyes
on transforming this country,
-
because if we don't,
-
then once people feel better
after this is all over,
-
then we'll be back to the same situation
of being horrified by another video,
-
and then feeling bad,
-
and then the cycle will only continue.
-
WPR: You know, I think when we think about
-
what sort of changes we can implement
-
and how we could
make the system work better,
-
make our governments work better,
-
make our police work better,
-
are there models in other countries
-
where -- obviously the history
in the United States is really unique
-
in terms of thinking
about race and oppression.
-
But when you look to other nations
and other cultures,
-
are there other models
that you look at as examples
-
that we could potentially implement here?
-
IXK: I mean, there are so many.
-
There are countries in which
police officers don't wear weapons.
-
There are countries
-
who have more people
than the United States
-
but less prisoners.
-
There are countries
-
who try to fight violent crime
-
not with more police and prisons
-
but with more jobs and more opportunities,
-
because they know and see
that the communities
-
with the highest levels of violent crime
-
tend to be communities
with high levels of poverty
-
and long-term unemployment.
-
I think that --
-
And then, obviously,
-
other countries provide pretty sizable
social safety nets for people
-
such that people are not
committing crimes out of poverty,
-
such that people are not
committing crimes out of despair.
-
And so I think that
it's critically important for us
-
to first and foremost
-
think through, OK, if there's
nothing wrong with the people,
-
then how can we go about
reducing police violence?
-
How can we go about
reducing racial health inequities?
-
What policies can we change?
What policies have worked?
-
These are the types of questions
we need to be asking,
-
because there's never really
been anything wrong with the people.
-
CS: In your "Atlantic" piece
-
called "Who Gets To Be
Afraid in America," you wrote,
-
"What I am, a black male,
should not matter.
-
Who I am should matter."
-
And I feel that's kind of
what you're saying,
-
that in other places
maybe that's more possible,
-
and I'm curious when you imagine
-
a country in which
who you are mattered first,
-
what does that look like?
-
IXK: Well, what it looks like
for me as a black American
-
is that people do not view me as dangerous
-
and thereby make my existence dangerous.
-
It allows me to walk around this country
-
and to not believe
that people are going to fear me
-
because of the color my skin.
-
It allows me to believe, you know what,
-
I didn't get that job because
I could have done better on my interview,
-
not because of the color of my skin.
-
It allows me to --
-
a country where there's racial equity,
-
a country where there's racial justice,
-
you know, a country
where there's shared opportunity,
-
a country where African American culture
and Native American culture
-
and the cultures of Mexican Americans
-
and Korean Americans
are all valued equally,
-
that no one is being asked
to assimilate into white American culture.
-
There's no such thing
as standard professional wear.
-
There's no such thing as, well,
you need to learn how to speak English
-
in order to be an American.
-
And we would truly not only have
equity and justice for all
-
but we would somehow have found a way
-
to appreciate difference,
-
to appreciate all of the human
ethnic and cultural difference
-
that exists in the United States.
-
This is what could make
this country great,
-
in which we literally become a country
-
where you could literally
travel around this country
-
and learn about cultures
from all over the world
-
and appreciate those cultures,
-
and understand even your own culture
-
from what other people are doing.
-
There's so much beauty here
amid all this pain
-
and I just want to peel away
-
and remove away
-
all of those scabs of racist policies
-
so that people can heal
-
and so that we can see true beauty.
-
WPR: And Ibram, when you think
about this moment,
-
where do you see them
on [?] of progress
-
towards reaching that true beauty?
-
IXK: Well, I think, for me,
-
I always see progress
and resistance in demonstrations
-
and know just because people
are calling from town squares
-
and from city halls
-
for progressive, systemic change
that that change is here,
-
but people are calling
-
and people are calling
in small towns, in big cities,
-
and people are calling
from places we've heard of
-
and places we need to have heard of.
-
People are calling for change,
and people are fed up.
-
I mean, we're living in a time
-
in which we're facing a viral pandemic,
-
a racial pandemic
within that viral pandemic
-
of people of color disproportionately
being infected and dying,
-
even an economic pandemic
-
with over 40 million Americans
having lost their jobs,
-
and certainly this pandemic
of police violence,
-
and then people demonstrating
against police violence
-
only to suffer police violence
at demonstrations.
-
I mean, people see
there's a fundamental problem here,
-
and there's a problem that can be solved.
-
There's an America that can be created,
-
and people are calling for this,
-
and that is always the beginning.
-
The beginning is what
we're experiencing now.
-
CS: I think that
this next audience question
-
follows well from that, which is,
-
"What gives you hope right now?"
-
IXK: So certainly resistance to racism
has always given me hope,
-
and so even if, let's say,
-
six months ago we were not in a time
in which almost every night
-
all over this country people
were demonstrating against racism,
-
but I could just look to history
-
when people were resisting.
-
And so resistance always brings me hope,
-
because it is always resistance,
-
and of course it's stormy,
-
but the rainbow
is typically on the other side.
-
But I also receive hope philosophically,
-
because I know that in order
to bring about change,
-
we have to believe in change.
-
There's just no way
a change maker can be cynical.
-
It's impossible.
-
So I know I have to believe in change
-
in order to bring it about.
-
WPR: And we have another question here
-
which addresses some of the things
you talked about before
-
in terms of the structural change
that we need to bring about.
-
From Maryam Mohit: "In terms of putting
into practice the transformative policies,
-
is then the most important thing
to loudly vote the right people
-
into office at every level who can make
those structural changes happen?"
-
IXK: So I think that that is part of it.
-
I certainly think
we should vote into office
-
people who, from school boards
to the President of the United States,
-
people who are committed
-
to instituting anti-racist policies
-
that lead to equity and justice,
-
and I think that
that's critically important,
-
but I don't think
-
that we should think that that's
the only thing we should be focused on
-
or the only thing that we should be doing.
-
And there are institutions,
-
there are neighborhoods
-
that need to be transformed,
-
that are to a certain extent
-
outside of the purview of a policymaker
-
who is an elected official.
-
There are administrators
and CEOs and presidents
-
who have the power to transform policies
-
within their spheres,
within their institutions,
-
and so we should be focused there.
-
The last thing I'll say about voting is,
-
I wrote a series of pieces
for "The Atlantic" early this year
-
that sought to get Americans
thinking about who I call
-
"the other swing voter,"
-
and not the traditional swing voter
who swings from Republican to Democrat
-
who are primarily older and white.
-
I'm talking about the people
who swing from voting Democrat
-
to not voting at all.
-
And these people are typically younger
-
and they're typically people of color,
-
but they're especially
young people of color,
-
especially young black
and Latinx Americans.
-
And so we should view these people,
-
these young, black and Latino voters
-
who are trying to decide
whether to vote as swing voters
-
in the way we view these people
-
who are trying to decide
between whether to vote for, let's say,
-
Trump or Biden in the general election.
-
In other words, to view
them both as swing voters
-
is to view them both in a way that,
OK, we need to persuade these people.
-
They're not political cattle.
-
We're not just going to turn them out.
-
We need to encourage and persuade them,
-
and then we also
for these other swing voters
-
need to make it easier for them to vote,
-
and typically these young people of color,
it's the hardest for them to vote
-
because of voter suppression policies.
-
CS: Thank you, Ibram.
-
Well, we're going to come
to a close of this interview,
-
but I would love to ask you
-
to read something that you wrote
-
a couple of days ago on Instagram.
-
You wrote this beautiful caption
-
on a photo of your daughter,
-
and I'm wondering if you'd be willing
to share that with us
-
and briefly tell us how we could each
take this perspective into our own lives.
-
IXK: Sure, so yeah,
-
I posted a picture of
my four-year-old daughter Imani,
-
and in the caption I wrote,
-
"I love, and because I love, I resist.
-
There have been many theories
-
on what's fueling the growing
demonstrations against racism
-
in public and private.
-
Let me offer another one: love.
-
We love.
-
We know the lives of our loved ones,
-
especially our black loved ones,
-
are in danger
-
under the violence of racism.
-
People ask me all the time what fuels me.
-
It is the same: love,
-
love of this little girl,
-
love of all the little and big people
-
who I want to live full lives
-
in the fullness of their humanity,
-
not barred by racist policies,
-
not degraded by racist ideas,
-
not terrorized by racist violence.
-
Let us be anti-racist.
-
Let us defend life.
-
Let us defend our human rights
to live and live fully,
-
because we love."
-
And, you know, Cloe,
I just wanted to sort of emphasize
-
that at the heart of being anti-racist
-
is love,
-
is loving one's country,
-
loving one's humanity,
-
loving one's relatives
and family and friends,
-
and certainly loving oneself.
-
And I consider love to be a verb.
-
I consider love to be,
-
I'm helping another, and even myself,
-
to constantly grow
into a better form of myself,
-
of themselves, that they've expressed
who they want to be.
-
And so to love this country
and to love humanity
-
is to push humanity constructively
-
to be a better form of itself,
-
and there's no way
we're going to be a better form,
-
there's no way we can build
a better humanity,
-
while we still have on
the shackles of racism.
-
WPR: I think that's so beautiful.
-
I appreciate everything
you've shared, Ibram.
-
I feel like it's made it really clear
this is not an easy fix. Right?
-
There is no band-aid option here
-
that will make this go away,
that this takes work from all of us,
-
and I really appreciate all of the honesty
-
and thoughtfulness
that you've brought to this today.
-
IXK: You're welcome.
-
Thank you so much for having
this conversation with me.
-
CS: Thank you so much, Ibram.
-
We're really grateful to you
for joining us.
-
IXK: Thank you.