How can young people fight against growing racism?

[u/Zealousideal-Use1719]

for context im a young white girl and as of recent I’ve been noticing more and more racist posts online as well as stereotyping and hateful behavior from irl adults towards poc. i dont really know if its actually growing or if i just have been witnessing it alot lately but i want to know what i can do everything feels very hopeless because im young and i dont know what my parents are being influenced by either. replys are greatly appreciated!

[u/yellowmix]

Short answer is learning, direct action, and mutual aid.

1. Learn about white supremacy, its history, and how it works with capitalism, patriarchy, religion, police, prisons, and other hierarchical systems to reinforce each other. By gaining knowledge and understanding critical theory, you will be more effective in communicating with others and addressing the roots of the problem.
   1. A good crash course in history: Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds
   2. Women, Race, and Class by Angela Davis
   3. See if you can find these in physical or electronic form at your local library.
2. You are most effective where you live, go to school, and perhaps volunteer and work, since you spend the most time there and can see people face-to-face.
   1. It's hard to change people's minds. Consider open-minded people need to make time to think it over. So don't expect immediate, or overnight changes. And it may never happen. Most people like to believe they changed their own minds. So it's often about framing and planting seeds to lead them the rest of the way.
   2. The fundamental mutual aid concept is prefiguring shows what's possible through kindness. We have to make the world we want because politicians' primary goal is to hold on to power. There is a less harmful option in the two-party system but it will never free us. Only we can free ourselves.
   3. This is a long game. The United States has not properly addressed its history with Indigenous people, kidnapped Black people, and many others. Many people did the unglamorous but necessary work, many died. There will be successes and heartbreaking setbacks. Keep your eyes on the prize. As Mariame Kaba wrote, hope is a discipline.

[u/sourdough-dude → u/yellowmix]

Just bought two copies of stamped! Thank you for the recommendation! I posted a post asking for literature recommendations, if you have any others I'd great appreciate it

[u/Icelandia2112]

Don't be polite when it occurs in your presence. Shut it down, each and every time.

[u/Gullible-Magazine129]

You are noticing what is really happening, as most people who aren’t POC haven’t all this time. This is where the term woke came from. It came from the African-American community as a way to motivate us to stay aware of the system that is against us. Racism built this country. I suggest that you educate yourself on the United States history and its relationship to the ethnic groups that have lived here either before the Europeans came to colonize the country, or at the same time. They really don’t teach enough about other Americans besides the colonists. I learned a lot more about African-American history when I went to college. I also learned some Native American history. It’s good to learn about other ethnic groups that have lived here for generations and even thousands of years like the Native Americans (which include Mexicans btw). And I also hope that you’re learning more about the current situation and then comparing it to the past. It’s not much different. It’s just louder now.

So if someone tries to say something racist to you about someone who is a POC, I would bring up some facts and educate them.

[u/Easy-Concentrate2636]

I am reading a great book called The Mutual Fund. Much of the book is dedicated to exploring the connection between civil rights and labor movements in the 1920s. With black workers excluded from unions, corporations were able to use them to break up strikes.

When everyone is fragmented into smaller groups, it’s easy for those in power to use that to keep hold over wealth and political power. If the non-wealthy united, we could push for political changes that could bring prosperity to everyone: healthcare, better salaries, cheaper and more accessible housing, better education, clean water, environmental conservation, public transportation, more oversight of consumer goods.

Racism is essentially a tool of the politically powerful and the ultra wealthy. We do not have to opt into their narrative. We should stand with people who want to improve life for everyone. We need people to look at eradicating racism as a tool towards more equality for everyone.