How White People Can Be Great Allies to Black People

Wherever you work or live, you encounter people of all races. They are your equals in all respects apart from genetic make up. Even so, you don’t know who you are related to, you may well have mixed racial ancestry as many slave owners had children with their women slaves all over the world.

It has been known that a mixed race couple had twin girls. One was black skinned and other white.This is how a gene pool works. I once worked with a woman whom I supposed was deeply tanned. It turns out that she got a lot of genes from a few generations ago, and they were genes from black ancestors. Our genes fool us into believing who we are when we look in a mirror, but with scrutiny they tell another story.

None of us know who we really are.

To be an ally, you must;

• You greet anyone in the street as you would want to be greeted.
• Smile a genuine smile to all you meet.
• Chat with people on the subway, but not in an artificial way. If your eyes meet, smile and nod. Any conversation will flow from that.
• Recommend a business run by black people.
• Use a business run by black people.
• Make conversation with anyone at the water cooler, no matter what color their skin is.
• Compliment genuinely.
• Tell a black woman she looks great, but mean it.
• Tell your boss that another person of another race is suited to a particular job. One you find overwhelming.
• Don’t give anyone ‘special’ treatment, they will notice immediately.

Do not ask for a language translator to learn how some people speak to each other. Someone did this and it is racist. If you have other race friends, which is very normal, listen and learn but don’t appropriate their cultural language if you are white.

I, who am white, had black friends when I lived in Southern California. We went for coffee/dessert, the frozen yogurt place, and I lived with a few of them. We would joke, calling each other “homeboy” and “homegirl”. Occasionally, when I knew everyone was in a fun mood, I would say “hey, what’s going on in the hood”. We would laugh, but we were close. I would never say that to someone I don’t know. I sensed their tension when a police car passed or was parked nearby. The fear when police came into a diner or cafe.

Call out racism whenever you hear it or see it. Intervene and defend your black brother/sister. Racism is never OK and must be addressed.

Never say that you are color blind. That denies the identity and the historical trauma of black people. They are still living it with White Supremacists. The murderers of Ahmaud Arbery just got life sentences. But that is not justice- Ahmaud Arbery was executed for taking a run. He was minding his own business.

Do ask if there is a Black Lives Matter rally nearby. Go to it.

Put a Black Lives Matter in your window. It doesn’t need to block the light or the view, just have it there.

Call out racism whenever you hear it or see it. Intervene and defend your black brother/sister. Racism is never OK and must be addressed.

Talk about racism with all your friends. Care enough to tell someone if they display bias against another person; this might look like prioritizing white people, not promoting the the non white person who deserves it, complimenting a woman on her blue eyes or blond hair in front of a non white woman.

Get righteously angry when a black person is executed on the streets, in their car, and in their home. Tell people you are outraged.

Get rid of your gun. Yes, I said it. In Britain we have very strict gun laws and murder by a firearm is extremely rare now. It took two massacres, Hungerford and Dunblane to change our gun control. The US has them regularly and does nothing.

This is not an exhaustive essay on being a white ally. It is certainly a start.

—

This post was previously published on MEDIUM.COM.

***

You may also like these posts on The Good Men Project:

White Fragility: Talking to White People About Racism

Escape the “Act Like a Man” Box

The Lack of Gentle Platonic Touch in Men’s Lives is a Killer

What We Talk About When We Talk About Men

—

Photo credit: Shutterstock