The response to being called racist should never be, “I’m not racist.” The response shows a fundamental misunderstanding of racism, how it works, and how to grow out of it. When used as a defense, the statement communicates “therefore nothing I do can be racist.” 1/13
Racism is not a fixed state. Racism is a pattern of thoughts and actions that often come from prejudices so ingrained that they’re hard to see in ourselves. 2/13
Racism is sometimes a knee-jerk reaction. Sometimes it is an instinct or a fear. Sometimes it’s not interrogating why something you view as mundane is offensive to someone else. Often, it’s immediate defensiveness. 3/13
Not only can people reform and grow and start thinking more inclusively, but also not-racist people can (and do) have racists thoughts. People we would consider “not racists” can (and will) perform actions that ARE racist. 4/13
All of us have said, done, or written something that is racist. Some of us had been fortunate enough to have someone say, “Hey, that’s racist.” The line between a non-racist person who did a racist thing and a person who is a racist lies in the response. 5/13
Do you examine your prejudices, apologize, and figure out how to fix the problem in yourself and in your work? Or do you say it couldn’t have been racist because you aren’t a racist, cite your masters degree, and allege that you are being bullied by reverse racists? Oof. 6/13
The first response makes you a not-racist human whole made a mistake. The second response makes you a racist. 7/13
It’s like mouth hygiene. You can be a tooth brusher, but only if you brush your teeth. If someone says you have bad breath, just brush your teeth, don’t proclaim, “I DON’T NEED TO BRUSH MY TEETH I AM A TOOTH BRUSHER!” (Refusing to brush makes you *not* a tooth brusher.) 8/13
Being “not racist” at first is constant work but, unlike tooth hygiene, it gets easier and less frequent the more you do it. But you’ll never be perfect. We learned the term “neo-Orientalism” last month thanks to a listener email. 9/13
We were grateful to this listener for illuminating the problem and giving us the opportunity to do better. We were called out on our oral hygiene. We apologized and brushed our teeth. Despite our mistakes, we continue to brush our teeth and continue to be tooth brushers. 10/13
So, Kathryn Lynn Davis, the book you wrote was a fucking racist mess. We’ve read the excerpts, it is. We would give you the benefit of the doubt and the opportunity to fix your mistakes if your “I’m not a racist” defense showed any shred of humility or growth. 11/13
Maybe the underlying acts can be forgiven as mistakes or blind spots or ignorance, but the responses by Ms. Tisdale, Ms. Davis, and RWA are reprehensible. The difference between a non-racist person who did something racist and a racist person is the willingness to change. 12/13
NWLs, look past the tone you may find aggressive or offensive and see the hurt underneath. See the damage that lifetimes of ignorance and microaggressions and flat out brutality POCs have endured because too many people think, “I’m not a racist, so I don’t have to change.” 13/13
