I’m sitting here on Martin Luther King Junior Day, pondering whether it’s safe to go downtown like I’m supposed to this week because armed far-right extremists may be there too, protesting the outcome of the presidential election.

The irony is not lost on me that, after the past year of pandemic and protests and rioters storming the US Capitol, we feel dangerously far away from the Beloved Community right now. 

What’s my role in getting us back on the path to that Community? What is yours? 

It may not be obvious seeing as how I have a guinea pig for my profile picture, but I am white. And I grew up in a family where we Did Not Talk About Race. We are all equal, I was told. It’s not polite to talk about people’s skin. 

Make no mistake – I’m on board a million percent with message #1. And grateful that I received it in my formative years. 

The problem with message #2, of course, is it denies that there IS a problem. 

That kind of silence is conducive to the narrative that there are Racist people and Not Racist people. Racist people, in this narrative, are the ones waving Confederate flags around and spitting out the n-word.  And people who are so entrenched in racism that they are stewing in hatred and spewing it out like blood from an open wound ARE a huge problem. But y’all know that trying to break this down into overt racists = bad people and the rest of us = good people does nothing to address realities that underlie our society like tumors. It doesn’t address why the median net worth of the average Black family is so much less than that of the average white family, or why Covid has wreaked such disproportionate havoc on communities of color, or why young Black men are disproportionately overrepresented in both special education and the prison system. A nasty minority of outspoken racists can’t cause all that. But a system plagued with systemic racism can. 

I’m keeping this blog short today in hopes that you’ll take the extra moments not spent here to get to know Ibram X. Kendi and Ijeoma Oluo, especially if you’ve not yet found their writing shimmering between the pages of a book or on the interwebs. Reading them both has helped fuel my awkward, stumbling, persistent attempts to step it up from being a Nice (White) Person Who Believes Everyone is Equal and start acting like an antiracist. 

Ibram X. Kendi argues that the choice before us all isn’t between overt racism and silence. The choice is between racism and antiracism. The choice is what kind of action, or inaction, you’re choosing to take at each juncture. And that thought gives me hope. We can learn better, be better and do better, one antiracist action at a time. 

Ijeoma Oluo writes about race in a way that is unblinking and real-life applicable. And she does it with wit, like a friend kicking you under the table again and again to point out how shit is really going down. Please do check her, and Kendi, out. They are both fresh and brilliant and will keep you on your intellectual toes, and have really important stuff to say.

That’s it from me for now, y’all. Happy Inauguration Week. 

Image of MLK Jr. by Gordon Johnson for Pixabay.