Treat people like I’d like to be treated. Form opinions on each person individually based on that person’s behavior without any assumptions, positive or negative.
Practice more compassion for everyone.
Educate myself about racial history and issues.
Be generally kinder to everyone, because the world desperately needs more kindness.
Take note of sameness and commonality twice as often as difference.
Fight irrational fear.
Model open approaches to all people for my kids. Model love/friendship/laughter with all people who are willing to share that with me. Model fairness, kindness, and compassion.
You can call out racism and bigotry when you hear/see it among your family members, friends and acquaintances. No one casually spouting hate should ever get a free pass.
edit: I realize from your second post in this thread that you’re already doing this. Just helping to fill out the list.
Let’s keep the thread on topic, and not wonder off into what goes on in Hollywood. I’ve had to delete some posts after the OP requested the thread reflect what kind of information she was looking for.
At our moral Monday protest in NC, the Rev Barber encouraged us to join the NAACP. This seems like a good idea to me as we would be sure to have a mixed race group working together.
For example, in the Hollywood case, if you are a movie watcher, choose to view first run movies in the theater based on whether you agree with their casting policies. Movies which you agree with less can wait for later run cheaper viewing.
In the uncommon case where a business makes its viewpoint on the subject known (or has taken actions based on such), you can choose to favor or disfavor it based on whether you agree with the viewpoint (or actions). (“business” may include colleges, relevant to these forums)
spot on, UCB(re post 305). That is what I said in post 293. The trouble, as I also pointed out, is that many people say they want things to improve but do not wish to be inconvenienced for it to happen. Want to see the latest new movie? Don’t go if it’s disproportionately one race over another unless I suppose there is some necessary historical accuracy at play…
If the OP is serious about racism, I’d also recommend he/she point out anyone that hires/fires based on skin color- any skin color.
Some ideas to think about that may require some to overcome subconscious resistance:
When kids are looking at schools (K-12 or college), do not automatically write off schools where the racial/ethnic composition is different from what you are used to.
When choosing places to live, do not automatically write off places where your racial/ethnic group is not the majority.
When a relative engages or marries someone of a different racial/ethnic group, celebrate it as usual, instead of questioning the choice of someone of a different racial/ethnic group.
Racism is probably greater in more segregated environments. Try not to contribute to segregation.
when buying toys for your children consider ethnic diversity
when choosing a house of worship, do not automatically write off places with ethnic diversity and/or places where your racial/ethnic group is not the majority
It can be hard to find ethnically diverse churches but it is not impossible.
I think this one is very important. If people express bigotry and are not called on it, they are under the impression that is acceptable. Call them on it no matter how uncomfortable it makes things.
Recently I became aware of the views of my dentist. He has shared a racist cartoon on his FB page and when someone called him on it, his response was “lighten up”. I wrote him a letter telling him that his views were unacceptable and that I would no longer require his services. I have also told my BIL that he is entitled to his opinions but he is NOT entitled to share those in the presence of my grandchildren.
When writing about college admissions and college suitability on these forums, avoid overemphasizing race/ethnicity. Examples of how race/ethnicity is overemphasized on these forums:
Assuming that race/ethnicity makes a huge difference in admission selectivity, when it probably makes a small difference at some and no difference at other colleges.
Leaving colleges out of suggestions offered that match a student's stated requirements, based on the racial/ethnic composition of the colleges' students. This is visible most obviously on threads where a student is looking for a large merit scholarship, where most posters are quick to recommend predominantly white schools like Alabama and Alabama - Huntsville, but not predominantly black schools like Howard and Tuskegee.
Not just complaining. There seem to be some posters who assume that a high academic stat black or Latino applicant is a shoe-in at super-selective reach-for-everyone schools (such posters sometimes include both the applicants and those responding to their queries). The reverse assumption is sometimes found with respect to white or especially Asian applicants. The implicit message from such postings is that racial identity is the most important factor besides academic stats, even when it likely is much less important. Encouraging people to exaggerate the importance of racial identity and think in terms of zero sum racial competition probably encourages increased racism.
