During a time where social media has tremendously raised the ‘woke culture’ and the implications of being otherwise, perhaps it is also a time where we need to ask ourselves if we truly embody in mind and spirit, the understanding of racism in its entirety.
The events of what happened to George Floyd uplifted a mass riot globally, which proves that racism affects everyone, but in different forms. It is a global issue threatening the lives of innocents and the very foundation of justice.
Seeing people post pictures of George Floyd and statements against racism, has dawned on me how powerful social media is in creating mobilization, but how powerful it also is in masking the true identities of others. Truth is, some of those people are people I know, and sadly are hypocrites – or at least hypocrites without their knowing.
Racism is grounded on prejudice, no matter how small. Prejudice is what racism feasts on to grow, and so long as the little bits of ‘unconscious’ prejudice still exists, then racism still very much thrives.
It is not enough for us to share social media posts. It is important for us to embed through our actions what we want the world to think about us.
We are not contributing our part against racism if we share posts against it but also believe that saying the N-word is acceptable. We are not contributing our part so long as we think making fun of our classmate with dark skin is harmless. We are not contributing our part so long as we believe that dark skin equates to ugliness.
We are not contributing our part if we warn our children to keep away from people we think look like terrorists. We are not contributing our part if we believe that immigrants are and will always be different. We are not contributing our part if we skip on a TV show that has a black person as its lead. We are not contributing our part if we think racist jokes from time to time, no matter what, is and will ever be okay.
The things we believe are small and insignificant contribute to the growing prejudice that only intensifies marginalizing, oppressing, and harming others.
Thankfully, social media has become such a powerful tool to hold us accountable — and make us mindful of what we say and do. It has almost forced being politically correct on us because if not, we are met by hundreds or even thousands of angry comments.
However, in our pursuit to speak online, may our raising the voice of the oppressed and marginalized also reflect the small and big things we do in the society behind the camera.
Our intentions and belief system matter. We have to speak up and hold people accountable while also continuing to educate ourselves and others because most often than not, our grasp of political correctness falls short — especially on racism.
Most importantly may we remember George and all those fallen to injustice as human beings, not as mere numbers victimized by society’s scrutinizing prejudice.
What happened to George Floyd and the thousands of others we never even heard of, truly opened the discourse on racism. I hope we take this time to understand how this issue is still such a prominent and strong force threatening our justice.
Hopefully when the headlines of George Floyd be overturned by other stories, may we still always seek to fight racism through our words, thoughts, and actions.
Because what is scarier than a blabber mouth is the veiled mask of a hypocrite, the one that stabs you from behind, or more timely, the one that puts a knee to your neck.