By Venkayla Haynes for The Opportunity Agenda
To fight for the rights of marginalized communities is to take a stand against white supremacy, something that has become so normalized that many are desensitized. One thing about white supremacy is that no matter how vitiated and fatal it is, it continues to thrive and mobilize millions.
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It is also not surprising. It has only been 67 years since the murder of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old Black boy lynched after being wrongly accused of offending a white woman. In fact, his accuser is still alive. It has been only 62 years since Ruby Bridges desegregated an all-white school in Louisiana; 57 years since the Selma to Montgomery March for voters rights where organizers where beaten on the Edmund Pettus Bridge; and a little over a month since a white supremacist entered a supermarket with a firearm killing 10 Black people in Buffalo, New York.
Racism is not a thing of the past. It is still happening now. We are consistently witnessing not only anti-Blackness in our personal lives but also in politics. How? White supremacy is allowing many to control the narrative in an effort to prevent us from addressing its historical roots of what this country was built on. It is also being used as the premise to take away our rights.
Last year 42 states introduced bills to limit discussions around race in classrooms, to attack critical race theory (CRT), primarily in K-12 schools. Regardless of what many conservatives would say, discussions about race are not putting one group against another; discussions about race are not too much for “our children.” If it wasn’t too much for Ruby Bridges who faced violence every day going to the first desegregated school at six years old, why is it too much now? The focus should be shielding children from gunmen entering their classrooms not shielding them from the truth. Honesty and transparency about our country's history is imperative, shielding children is intellectually dishonest.
We don’t just see attacks on CRT, but our voting rights. As someone who has been directly involved in the voting rights movement, I saw firsthand the role white supremacy played in our organizing efforts following the insurrection in 2021. Over 400 voter suppression bills were introduced since the conclusion of the 2020 Presidential Election and the 2021 Georgia Senate Runoffs on the basis of voter fraud when in reality, it was about historic Black voter turnout. The power that Black voters displayed was seen as a threat. These bills included restrictions like limiting access to mail-in ballots and drop boxes, and even passing out food and water to voters waiting in line.
Redistricting in states like Florida is another example of racial attacks in politics rooted in white supremacy, where Governor Ron Desantis has created his own maps which are racially gerrymandered and are in effect for future elections. Despite this, the Florida Supreme Court declined to block these congressional maps and those drawn by Desantis. We have elected officials who are able to weaponize many processes and draw their own maps so votes are able to go in their favor. Ultimately, the way the lines are drawn can change who controls the governing body and can change which policies get passed into law. And the list goes on.
White supremacy is why a white man feels comfortable entering a supermarket in Buffalo killing Black people under the guise of replacement theory. White supremacy is feeling powerful enough to storm the nation's Capitol in the attempt to overturn elections. White supremacy is an attempt to ignore or rationalize a long history of rape, lynchings, and slavery. White supremacy is attacking the rights of marginalized groups when you realize how powerful their voices are and how great their impact is. White supremacy is murdering a 12-year-old Black child with a toy gun instantly. White supremacy affects the way that we as Black people navigate through life in order to stay alive.
How do we take a stand against white supremacy? The onus is not on Black people, it is on the ones who benefit from it - white people. Counter sit-ins; The Freedom Summer; Selma; Stonewall, Black Lives Matter protests, and so much more. We continue to do the work, we continue to take a stand against, but this continued fight is not ours.
The first step is accountability and transparency, while many may say they have not directly caused any harm, one cannot ignore the fact that white people continue to benefit from white supremacy every day. Owning your privilege is necessary to work towards the liberation of others. We cannot eradicate an issue if we fail to acknowledge that it exists. White supremacy is a problem. In fact, it has represented the greatest threat of domestic terrorism. We see it in our legal system, policies, schools, housing system, ways of thinking, and interactions.
I am clear that systematic racism cannot be changed overnight; it’s important to be committed to learning and unlearning. Learning and unlearning comes with educating ourselves on the history of racism and how it has impacted marginalized groups; seeing the world from a different perspective. It is not the job of marginalized communities to teach you about their oppression. Educate yourself, take the time to read, and do research about the history of white supremacy, what it has done, and what it continues to have the power to do.
Lastly, call it out and call it in when you see it. This relates to your own communities and structures. However, it’s not enough to just call out but to invite people into ways of creating accountability. Calling it out is important to engage members of your community in a deeper discussion that requires understanding, reflection, and a commitment to change. We all have a role in shifting the discussion towards the fight for the rights of marginalized communities, but we won’t see any meaningful change until those who benefit directly from white supremacy take a stand for the liberation of others.
Venkayla Haynes is Deputy Communications Director at Black Voters Matter Fund and a 2021 Communications Institute Fellow with The Opportunity Agenda.
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