White People: Racism is Our Responsibility and Ending it is Our Work to Do

I used to watch videos of police murdering Black people, and share them on social media, demanding that white people watch them and take action.

A few years ago, my good friend LeRon Barton convinced me watching and sharing these videos was harmful and dehumanizing,

So last year when the video 17-year-old Darnella Frazier bravely made of Derek Chauvin murdering George Floyd popped up in my Twitter feed, I did not watch it.

Days later, my heart soared listening to young Black people with megaphones lead protests in all fifty states -on tribal lands, among the Amish, with labor unions, in the Sundown Town where I grew up. A particular highlight was DC Mayor Muriel Bowser renaming 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Black Lives Matter Plaza:

I honestly believed we were witnessing white Americans FINALLY recognize the full humanity of Black people.

But as July rolled around, I could already feel the energy start to wane.

A year later, indicators abound that white people value Black lives less than they did before, and that corporations have not followed through on their solidarity pledges:

"Five of the nation’s largest banks are pushing shareholders to reject racial equity resolution audits after expressing solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement."

"Tech companies that made public pledges to Black communities have fewer Black employees"

"American companies pledged $50 Billion to Black communities. Most of it hasn't materialized."

"Support for Black Lives Matter Surged Last Year. Did it Last?"

"US mourns fresh police killings in wake of Chauvin conviction"

"Unsafe. Unheard. Unvalued. State of Inequity Report"

"Report: In a year of tragedy, injustice, and upheaval, have we seen progress in the quest for racial justice in technology?"

"Despite All That Happened Last Year, Many Law Firms Still Have No Black Partners"

Wypipologist Michael Harriot summed it all up "It Turns Out, All Those 'Woke' White Allies Were Lying"

White people: as we reflect on the past year, I urge us to fulfill the commitments we made last summer.

White supremacy wasn't built in a day and dismantling it is going to take a lot of work, especially in a country where six months ago, 74 million people voted for a second term of a President endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan, National Rifle Association, National Fraternal Order of Police, and Border Patrol Union. Where prior to the pandemic, median Black net wealth was projected to be zero by 2053 and median Latinx net wealth was projected to be zero by 2073.-The Road to Zero Wealth

The privileges white supremacy grants us aren't easy to relinquish. The truths we must face about ourselves, our history, our families and the harm we have done for generations are painful.

But our inaction is inexcusable and is the equivalent of kneeling on Black people's neck.

White people: we gotta get up, grow up, and actually transform, individually and collectively.

We created racism, we benefit from it, and ending it is our responsibility. Noone else can or will do it for us, we have to choose to do it for ourselves.

If you're trying to figure out what to do Resmaa Menakem "When White Bodies Say: "Tell Me What to Do"" and Garrett Bucks "There is no way out but together" have some great insight.

What are YOU doing to end racism?

Karen Fleshman Esq. she/her is a single soccer mom, mentor, activist, entrepreneur, attorney, author, educator, and proud San Franciscan. She is the founder of Racy Conversations, a workplace workshop facilitation company, with a mission to inspire the antiracist generation. She is seeking a publisher for her first book White Women We Need to Talk: Doing Our Part to End Racism.