What does it mean to be ‘Anti-Racist’?
Being an Anti-Racist is not the same as not being racist. In British society, many white British people have had a tendency to ‘not see colour’ and try to treat everyone the same. This has led to the idea that people are not racist in their behaviours. Of course, we know that there are people who act in a racist way, who make racist comments and sometimes act violently towards people of colour.
You may have witnessed – or even been part of – some of these actions. Did you speak up when you saw or heard these racist behaviours? A lot of the time it can be difficult to speak up. This is because as individuals we value the opinion of those around us – our friends. If we speak up we may risk losing our friends and so we tend to try and avoid conflict. This is very typical human behaviour.
So being Anti-Racist requires some bravery but is incredibly important if we are to challenge every-day racism in our society. Calling out racist behaviours, or reporting them to our teachers can have a big effect. Small actions can lead to people thinking about their behaviour, why they felt the need to behave in such a way and learn themselves to be anti-racist.
