DAY 0: Give up believing that antiracism only benefits BIPOC

This video is intended to add context to our campaign and start you off by Giving up believing antiracism only benefits BIPOC.

Our society is built on the idea of competition and scarcity, meaning any change results in winners and losers.  As a result, we fear and resist change, especially if we believe the change won’t benefit us.  White people, who currently benefit from systemic racism, can’t seem to imagine how transitioning to equality and justice for BIPOC would also benefit them. But it does. 

Antiracism is not about revenge and it is not about taking away rights and freedoms from white people.  It is not even about taking away property or wealth from white people.  It is about ensuring that everyone has the same access to rights and freedoms that wealthy white people currently enjoy.  

Before we go on, a few words about freedom.  As the recent “Freedom Convoy” in Canada demonstrated, when white people talk about freedom they often mean “my individual freedom to do and say anything i want without experiencing any legal, social or personal consequences’ short of murder and intentional violence.  This is clearly not about freedom, at least not freedom for all, especially when their tactics denied the freedoms and rights of many people living in Ottawa.

When BIPOC talk about rights and freedom, they mean freedom from harassment, state- sanctioned violence like the extra-judicial killings by police, and freedom from the unconscious racial bias that affects so many areas of life including access to education, healthcare, protection from violence, employment, etc.  This conceptualization of freedom is not about the individual and not about freedom from the logical consequences of personal choice.

Antiracism is about liberation for all. Countless social scientists have shown that all people who live in communities with higher levels of equality are healthier and happier and have greater connection to their humanity. Even those with wealth and power.  In fact, in more equitable societies there is less crime, higher productivity and higher educational attainment.  

How greater equality helps everyone:

https://newint.org/features/2017/07/01/equality-effect

How “freedom of speech” is weaponized against antiracism:

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-06-20/free-speech-racism-digital-age