The History of Racist Ideas: Prof. Ibram X. Kendi
I’m working my way through Stamped from the Beginning, continuing my commitment to decolonizing my understanding of Human History. I am also listening to and watching lectures by Ibram X. Kendi to help reinforce the concepts I am reading. Part of that is realizing as an adult learner, I need to immerse myself in different ways around content to help make it a part of the way I see the world. You can teach an old dog new tricks, but you can’t use the same methods you would with a puppy. Feel me?
Anyway, Kendi is doing something beautiful with his work. It’s making me sit in my feels and remember that I too have been colonized. Internalized imperialism and racism is so real and painful.
What he does is take seemingly complex ideas and narrows them down into simple nuggets about power-over, and not ignorance/hatred. We were all taught that slaveowners were bigots, fuming with hatred of black people. And I’m slowly coming to learn that hatred had very little to do with it. Believing and perpetuating the concept of racism as rooted in hatred and ignorance has allowed people like me, who has nothing but love for my people, to escape the conversation around power and privilege.
When we simplify racism as a source of dominance and control, it becomes easier for us to examine our role in the power structure. Currently I am reflecting on these questions for myself:
What are the negative thoughts and beliefs you hold about black people in this country?
How do these thoughts and beliefs show up in your everyday life?
How have you/do you use your power to these negative beliefs and thoughts to perpetuate and promote racist policies in your work?