why people with power need to get involved
Chris Rock says it very well:
“Here’s the thing. When we talk about race relations in America or racial progress, it’s all nonsense. There are no race relations. White people were crazy. Now they’re not as crazy. To say that black people have made progress would be to say they deserve what happened to them before. So, to say Obama is progress is saying that he’s the first black person that is qualified to be president. That’s not black progress. That’s white progress. There’s been black people qualified to be president for hundreds of years. If you saw Tina Turner and Ike having a lovely breakfast over there, would you say their relationship’s improved? Some people would. But a smart person would go, “Oh, he stopped punching her in the face.” It’s not up to her. Ike and Tina Turner’s relationship has nothing to do with Tina Turner. Nothing. It just doesn’t. The question is, you know, my kids are smart, educated, beautiful, polite children. There have been smart, educated, beautiful, polite black children for hundreds of years. The advantage that my children have is that my children are encountering the nicest white people that America has ever produced. Let’s hope America keeps producing nicer white people.”
From “Chris Rock: In Conversation” by Frank Rich New York Magazine Nov 30, 2014
More on why people with power need to get involved:
“Women Can’t End the Wage Gap on Their Own” by Ann Friedman The Cut April 12, 2015
“No, We Don’t Need to Have a Conversation About Race” by Michael Harriot Ebony Magazine Aug 2016
“Many Men Talk Like Donald Trump in Private and Only Other Men Can Stop Them” By Shaun R. Harper The Washington Post October 8, 2016
“This researcher programmed bots to fight racism on Twitter. It worked.” by Kevin Munger The Washington Post November 17, 2016
“We Have to Create a Culture that Won’t Vote for Trump” by Ijeoma Oluo The Establishment Nov 11, 2016
“Welcome to the Anti-Racist Movement: Here’s What You Missed” by Ijeoma Oluo The Establishment March 16, 2017
"Real Men Might Get Made Fun Of" by Lindy West The New York Times July 12, 2017
“White People Need to be Better” by Damon Young GQ Jan 30, 2017