What can I do about racism?

Yesterday as I was looking for the Tim Wise video I posted below, I came across a couple of other videos that I think are worth sharing. In both of them, Wise addresses questions that often come up for White people as we begin to struggle with the reality of racism.

In this first one, Wise addresses whether or not we should feel guilty for the sins of our fathers.



Simple answer..."no." Guilt is not the issue - its about responsibility. As Wise says:

Guilt is what you feel for what you've done. Responsibility is what you take because of the kind of person you are.

And secondly, Wise addresses the question..."What do I do about it?"



I love that Wise focuses on "train yourself to see it." Certainly there are things we can do once we see it. But in my own life, I've been amazed that every time I think I've got the picture, someone comes along to help me see it a bit more deeply than I first imagined.

Its our blindness to racism these days that I've found is so often the problem. And once we feel like we "get it," its easy to become blind to the next layers that might help us understand even more.

So if we put these responses together, the advice Wise is giving us is to take responsibility for training ourselves to see it. I'd say that's a pretty good prescription for right now.