Did You Know Dismantling Racism Is An Inside Job?

04 Aug Did You Know Dismantling Racism Is An Inside Job?

It begins with knowing who you are and the role you play as a member of a racialized society.

Dismantling racism from the inside out is based on the belief that social change emerges from personal transformation. It’s not just about laws and legislation or politics and economics. It’s also about the thoughts, ideas, beliefs, and assumptions that lie within the hearts and minds of individual people just like you. It’s making the choice to confront your own internalized and interpersonalized racism.

“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love.” 
—Nelson Mandela

Every person can intentionally choose to strive for deeper racial understanding and healing through truth and reconciliation. No matter where you come from or how you were raised, as a human being you have the capacity within yourself to make a choice. You can choose to do nothing and let racism go uncontested and flourish or choose to do something specific to allow personal change to emerge from deep within yourself. And personal change leads to social change.

You can choose to apply the tools of interpersonal activism daily to disrupt the forces of racism all around us. It will not be easy, and it will not always be comfortable, but courage coupled with conversation, relationship, and accountability is a great place to start.

10 Interpersonal
Actions You Can Take
to Fight Racism
Daily

Select at least 3-5 actions to begin your interpersonal journey towards dismantling racism.

Educate yourself beyond your personalized life bubble.
Examine your own biases and consider where and how they have originated. 
Learn and educate yourself with humility and purpose.
Hold yourself, friends, coworkers, and family accountable.
Resist racist, sexist, homophobic, and other stereotypical jokes, or assumptions. 
Validate the experiences and feelings of people different than you. 
Choose love as a means of seeing another person holistically and uniquely.
Work equitably on projects with members of groups different from your own. 
Engage in intentional conversations with culturally diverse peers, friends, or co-workers.
Be a proactive in your home, community, and workplace. 

A Transformative Journey

Mind you, these daily interpersonal actions are just the tip of the iceberg, certainly not intended to be quick fixes. A transformative journey towards antiracism takes time, courage, and accountability. It’s hard work that requires deep self-knowledge and an unwavering commitment to disrupt your current thoughts, beliefs, ideas, and assumptions about race and racism. I designed the Social Impact Mastermind: A Journey Towards Antiracism to serve that specific purpose. 

Two Additional Steps You Can Take

• Take the Social Impact Mastermind Quiz.
• Submit your Discovery Call Application today and join the conversation.