I Want to be Educated. Now What?

The comment for this post: "I'd really like to learn about the most important things people are wanting us to be educated on."

I understand that sometimes it's hard to figure out where to start, especially when you're not exactly sure what you should be learning.

This is not at all meant to be a deep lesson, but rather a starting point for you to then continue educating yourself and make changes.

In my opinion, some of the most important things to know are as follows (in no particular order):

1. White privilege

2. Systemic racism

3. Microaggressions

White Privilege:

This is a topic of major controversy. To keep things simple, I'll explain it like this. White privilege does not mean you don't have any issues in your life. It means that more issues are not created based upon the color of your skin. Even white passing members of poc admit they have some sort of privilege because of it. You're more likely to get jobs, have a positive relationship with law enforcement officers, you could learn about members of your own race in school, finding toys that looked like you was rarely a problem, etc. As a child, I could never find dolls that looked like me or had my hair texture, I never learned about my people in school besides the brief lesson on slavery and the even shorter lesson on the Civil Rights Movement which mainly covered Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. Those with white privilege who claim to be allies of poc communities need to learn what that privilege truly means and how to use it to help those communities.

Systemic Racism:

"A form of racism expressed in the practice of social and political institutions. It is reflected in disparities regarding wealth, income, criminal justice, employment, housing, health care, political power, and education, among other factors." - Wikipedia

Systemic racism (also known as institutional racism) has been around for a long time. For further explanation on the topic, watch this video from act.tv

Microaggressions:

In my opinion, this is the most important thing to be aware of. This may be a new term for many of you, but it is something that I and many others deal with every single day. Microagressions can be defined as "Microaggressions are the everyday verbal, nonverbal, and environmental slights, snubs, or insults, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative messages to target persons based solely upon their marginalized group membership." - UCSC

These are very harmful whether or intentional or not. They are meant to degrade your successes and belittle you.

Examples:

• "You are the whitest black person I know."

• Asking a non-poc at work if they are the new diversity hire.

• Saying someone only got into a program or college due to affirmative action.

• Asking "no I meant where are you from?" after asking the first time and not getting an answer outside the country/where you would assume the person to be from.

• "You're really pretty for a black girl."

• "Wow, you're so pretty. What are you mixed with?" ~ I get this one a lot because of my long hair. Saying this makes it sound like black girls can't be pretty. They have to be mixed with something (usually white) to be as perceived as attractive.

• "You're probably really good at dancing."

• "You speak English so well."

• A more well-known example, when Tiana from The Princess and the Frog finally saved enough money for a building to start her restaurant only to be outbid, and the owners of the building said: "a woman of your background would have had her hands full running a place like that anyway."

The hidden meaning behind all these boils down to one thing. You are not enough. The black community is not the only one to face these microaggressions. So please, think before you speak. Words hurt more than you know.

I also firmly believe everyone should educate themselves on at least surface level black history/culture so we can avoid some of the things I discussed. I like keeping these posts short and to the point, so I think I'll save that topic for a different post. For more resources & information, go to the education & resources page. As always, if you have more questions feel free to reach out :)

image via Hatch Kids on Youtube