To ask for your practical ANTI-RACIST things to do?

[WhenAllsSaidandDone]

What I've learned recently is that there's a difference between non-racist and anti-racist. Being non-racist is all well and good (and we all claim to be) but the real change happens when one is anti-racist. Non-racism is passive, Anti-racism is active.

I'll like to ask you to join in writing out a list of practical everyday stuff we could all do in our bid to be more anti-racist (if you're not already) and join in this fight against racism. Some are:

1. Shopping for black dolls/books with black characters especially as the lead (Prince/ss, Scientist, Superhero, etc) and not just the token friend to the white character, so your DC gets used to having beautiful dolls of different colours and books with different races working together and seeing them equally.

1. Writing to shop management about the lack of black representation on their website, posters etc and asking for a more diverse range of toys/books to be displayed in the shops, available for all to buy. (Not just for black people to buy black dolls or books with black characters but for white people to do the same. BAME have had to buy white dolls/books with only white characters for ages).

1. Writing to school management/head teacher about something similar for their website, etc.

1. Not only raising children to be decent human beings but also having ongoing active conversations with them regarding how some people in society are treated and letting them know it is unacceptable to [insert different ways they can be unfairly treated] and what they can do if they witness this.

1. Actively searching out films with more than a token black/BAME character to watch, etc and petitioning to have much more than one in a film.

The aim is to ensure that our children grow up seeing and appreciating people of all colours in their daily lives, particularly if we don't live in very diverse areas. We've no excuses now.

Please add to this list, thanks.

I have always considered myself anti-racist but this last week or so, I've realised I wasn't doing enough and didn't know enough.

I've bought and am reading 'why I'm not talking to white people about race anymore' and I will be purchasing more like this soon as I can. There are loads of great reading lists flying around insta and twitter if you look or google

I realised I was in an entirely white echo chamber and so I've sought out Black scientists, artists, activists, feminists to follow on my twitter, insta and youtube. I want to hear these voices all the time.

I've donated to multiple USA and UK anti racist organisations and become a patron of @thegreatunlearn (HIGHLY recommended!)

I've signed every petition I've seen (after checking them out for legitimacy and if I agree with them, which I have in every instance)

I've written to my MP to ask that Black history be put on the curriculum

I've pledged to myself to keep retweeting Black voices, putting them in front of my white echo chamber audience whenever I agree with what is being said and/or have had my eyes opened. (100% of the time so far) and I've been tweeting and pushing on insta the extremely helpful things I've found, seeing as there are a lot of people asking 'what should I read' etc

I desperately want the momentum of this movement to continue until there is real, proper and consistent change. I'm certain my impact will be tiny but clearly there are a lot of us doing this and collectively, surely this must be a good thing. But we must keep doing it.

I've stopped blocking and deleting racists, trying really hard to very politely call them out in the hope of a civilised conversation about it. I find it so hard to stay calm and find the right words, but I will be buying and reading more to help me do this more effectively and confidently. My discomfort over this is NOT more important and I must stop avoiding issues and burying my head in the sand.

I don't expect any congratulations for the above. This is what I should have been doing all along, and I'm sure more besides but this is what I'm starting with and I'm going to keep going, keep reading and learning

@namesnamesnamesnames Explained : The Wealth Gap (Netflix) is probably light enough for a teen. It’s the last episode of Season One.

With regards to plasters etc - stock a range of colours. We will never match everyone - but having 4 or 5 broad shades means there will be something close enough to not make people feel ostracised.

I have seen a few good explanatory videos online that I will try and link below

www.instagram.com/tv/CBCaLE7FfW8/?igshid=1dp7rywypmkhf
Talks about America’s history and also some more recent studies looking into engrained racism in the police force and schools

- Experiment that explains privilege well for children

Natives by Akala is another great (british) book.

Think about what we call things. I’ve heard the beige/peach colour crayon called the “flesh tone” in early years classrooms. It’s little things like this that “others” BIPOC people very early on.

I also think being aware of small day to say differences is a good thing to start to do. Next time you buy tights, observe the colour shades available. Next time you buy shampoo, look at how many are suitable for afro hair. Also look at how many times “anti frizz” (alongside a before picture of perfectly normal curls) or “for soft, sleek hair” is used as a selling point. Next time you buy underwear, look at the skin tones available. Look at the names of various foundation shades...Natural, Blush etc all suggest a skin in its natural, bare state but are always used for light shades.

Can I suggest stop shopping in Primark and other clothes manufacturers who rely upon the exploration of labour in other countries to fuel our desire for disposal fashion?

With regards to plasters etc - stock a range of colours. We will never match everyone - but having 4 or 5 broad shades means there will be something close enough to not make people feel ostracised.
YY ladypete. The plasters thing was tiny, and inconsequential to anyone outside of the Plaster Making industry. Yet there was a MNet thread, deriding it.

There's a scene in the first episode of Noughts and Crosses with plasters for anyone who doesn't get the issue. It's in the book but the visual imagery is more powerful.

I read Salma El Wardany (bbc london presenter) wrote on twitter if everyone made who made an nhs rainbow and stuck in their window did a black lives matter poster and stuck it in their window. We’ve done that it created the discussion as to why we were doing it. I’ll admit it is very little but also very easy to do.

If people are looking for resources for children would recommend Storyline Online, it's a US foundation of actors reading children's fiction books aloud on videos with the book. My son and I have been really enjoying them and the books feature diverse characters and storylines as standard, including racism e.g White Socks Only. Some really well known readers, Oprah, Annette Benning and some we don't recognise as it's US focused - it's brilliant and free.

I think some people are actually not advising watching 'The Help' as although it shows racism isn't it white people who 'save' the help in the end? So not an especially good example perhaps.

I've watched it but can't remember the end.

Next time you buy shampoo, look at how many are suitable for afro hair.

In every supermarket in the country? Less than 3% of people have Afro hair! If course you won’t find products everywhere!

But if you go to London you find loads of shops selling Afro hair products. Because that is where people are buying them!

There are lots of good things to do to reduce racism but it is crazy to suggest that it is racist that tescos in Windermere doesn’t have Afro hair products!

I think some people are actually not advising watching 'The Help' as although it shows racism isn't it white people who 'save' the help in the end?

I'm not sure that's how I'd describe it, it's about the women working together to highlight their experiences of racism. It's simplistic, has a positive ending, is written by a white woman and is set in a segregated past that we can all look at and feel superior to but I think it's approachability for a white audience means it may reach places a more hard hitting book won't. DD1 watched it at school and it generated a lot of discussion.

Thanks for all these ideas.

Wrt to BAME representation on TV - of course it shouldn’t be directly proportional to demographic percentages. BAME people should be overrepresented, because otherwise we would hardly see them on TV. The goal is to humanise people - that is much more likely to happen if you have a roughly equal split. A 10:90 split or whatever does nothing to get rid of the us and them problem. Plus, the ethnic split is different all over the UK - if you’re contesting the very idea that we need to make an effort to humanise BAME people for the sake of social cohesion, then maybe go and spend some time in a minority white area - it is hugely important to know how to treat people belonging to different social groups equally if you encounter them every day.
The only situation where it makes sense, arguably, to organise representation exactly proportionately is in democratic government where people elect those who represent their interests. That has got nothing to do with TV. BAME people are acting, not advocating a political stance simply by standing there being of colour. Such a stupid argument - and generally only trotted out when the person is trying to yank some veneer of credibility over their thoughtless prejudice.

I've pledged to myself to keep retweeting Black voices, putting them in front of my white echo chamber audience whenever I agree with what is being said and/or have had my eyes opened.

That's a good idea, I'll do the same, never really thought of being in a white echo chamber before but I definitely am.