Why is it so hard to talk about Racism?

This is constantly a question top of mind for me.

Racism is nothing new. It has been around for hundreds of years. It continues to be prevalent because we still have not fixed the root cause of this problem. All we have done are band-aid the symptoms over time. When is enough enough?

Often times, I would hear “people are getting too PC now…can’t joke about anything”. I think that is a false ideology, and it’s not that we’re getting more sensitive, it’s just that we are thinking about the roles we each play in society. People, specifically the underrepresented groups are getting fed up and have just had enough. We want change to happen, speaking up finally, and are changing with the times.

I think the reason why it’s so hard to talk about race and racism, is because it forces people to take a deeper look at themselves. By challenging the status quo and things that were once acceptable, now no longer are; you’re forced to look at what you have done in the past and present, and the role you played in this white supremist society. It doesn’t feel good. You feel guilty. And you know racists are bad, and don’t want to be associated with them.

However, just because you don’t consider yourself a racist, doesn’t mean you don’t participate in racist tendencies. Where you are an active participant in dehumanizing Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. You make a joke here and there that plays into the stereotypes of their culture and ethnicity because it’s so common. That’s what you’re used to, and used to be acceptable. People would laugh at these jokes, and then you go on about your day. Not knowing that this will continue adding salt to an already open wound that continues to oppress this group of people. We are the punchline to your jokes, we are dehumanized, fetishized and erased from history. We are expendable.

I remember all the times growing up, especially in High School where white men would never date me. They would just fantasize about me and only want my body for sexual pleasures. I was a hot kept secret and commodity. I would get comments like “I have never been with a hot spicy Latina before” and “You’re so exotic”.

I think another reason why it’s hard to talk about racism is because there is fear. As things change, there is this fear in the white community that they will lose their power. Because there are more of us. If they are no longer in power, then how can they continue to benefit from a systemic racist country? Or maybe it’s because for the first time, they actually have to work and earn their privileges, rather than it just be handed to them?

Now, I am far from perfect. Even I have been racist in my lifetime. Where I participated in jokes where it dehumanized other ethnicities because it was the norm. I mean, it didn’t affect me, so what’s the harm, right?

Wrong.

We all play an active role, and can no longer be bystanders. When there is injustice in one community, there is injustice everywhere. I am glad I have grown over the decades to the person I am today. And I still cringe at times of the person I used to be, and the things I would say.

The times are changing, and that’s okay. The question is, are you willing to change with the times?