What is happening with us white people?

Main Points

• Main Theme: What is happening with white people and how they perceive and handle racism.
• Interest in the Issue: Considering recent events in the US, an increasing number of white people are reflecting on this issue.

Childhood Memories

• Family and the Civil Rights Movement: Parents supported Martin Luther King, being part of a minority of progressive white people.
• Education about Race in the Family: Raised with the message that racism is wrong.
• The Illusion of Racism as something distant: Growing up in Minnesota, thought that racism was far away and not their direct problem.

Description of Racism in the USA

• Recent Events: Trayvon Martin, BLM, Dylann Roof, #OscarsSoWhite, the Black Lives Matter movement and systemic racism.
• The Rise of Trump: The emergence of white identity politics and society's responses.
• Predominantly White Media: Cameras and microphones directed at people of color to report racial issues.

Explanation of Racism

• Studies on Whiteness: The last 2-3 decades have brought interesting work on whiteness as a concept.
• Pioneers of Race Studies: Help from top experts in this field, such as Ibram Kendi.

History of Racism and White Ethnicity

• Origin of Race: Humans are 99.9% genetically similar. There are no genes for race.
• Gomez de Zurara (1450): The first writing that described Africans as a distinct and inferior group to justify slavery.
• From Ancient Greece to Modern Slavery: Differentiation based on cultural grounds and economic benefits from slavery.

Lessons Learned

• Understanding Racism: Racism as a tool for division and to build systems that privilege some and disadvantage others.
• The Fight for Justice: It is not just the fight of people of color, but a problem that must be addressed and combated by everyone.

Responsibility of Whiteness

• Acceptance of Responsibility: Fighting racism is the problem of white people and they must take responsibility to act.
• Transformation of Society: Building a society that is not built on the exploitation or oppression of someone.
• Everyday Activism: That actions in work, community, and politics reflect humility and compassion.

Conclusion

• Need for Action: Awareness and self-improvement as people to create a fairer society.
• Call to Action: Showing up and acting because it is the right thing to do.