Anti-Blackness

Anti-Blackness refers to structural racism and oppression that marginalizes Black people and can include violence, discrimination, dehumanizing policy, police brutality, segregation, mass incarceration, devaluing Black lives and more.

Though all racism is damaging, it’s still important to see how it particularly affects Black people. It differs from racism in that it places Black people at the bottom of the social order, challenging the idea that all racial minorities have the same lived experiences and can be shoved under a singular umbrella.

The price of gaining access to the structures of power has often meant stepping on those lower on the ladder of power and most often that has been the Black community.

As the discussion on racism has been shaped, there is a tendency to lump all race and ethnic minorities together – for ease, or out of our own laziness and ignorance. We see that in terms like ‘people of color’ or ‘minority populations’, and while these terms can have some use in some situations, they shouldn’t be used in reference to a specific race unnecessarily. For instance, referring to a black woman as a ‘minority woman’, when you could refer to her as Black, can undermine her specific lived experience of being Black.

Anti-Blackness is also seen expressed by non-Black people of color who, along with white people, have a stake in the systemic injustice Black people experience. As over time, those communities have bought into colonial lies and anti-Black stereotypes to ‘gain access to structures of power’ and be accepted within whiteness. The price of gaining access to the structures of power has often meant stepping on those lower on the ladder of power and most often that has been the Black community.

It’s only when we acknowledge and dismantle those systems, that we begin to repair the damage done to Black communities and uplift their contributions that make our whole society beautiful.

Acknowledging the ways Black people can be disproportionately affected by racial discrimination is vital to dismantling the engrained hierarchies and resulting inequities. And it’s only when we acknowledge and dismantle those systems, that we begin to repair the damage done to Black communities and uplift their contributions that make our whole society beautiful.

LET’S LOOK AT SOME EXAMPLES

Anti-Blackness infiltrates every structure and system in America and the numbers starkly bear this out. In no place more so, than in the criminal justice system where Black people are more likely to be arrested, be convicted and experience longer sentences than their white counterparts. While driving, Black people are 115% more likely than white people to be searched in a traffic stop, even though statistically, contraband is more likely to be found in searches of white drivers. Source »

Access to healthy food is also a vital issue. Black people are more likely to live in food deserts, with limited access to supermarkets and farmers markets. This limits their access to healthy foods and, in turn, makes them more prone to developing chronic illnesses and disease such as diabetes and heart disease.

Nearly 1 in 3 Black children and about 1 in 4 Hispanic children suffer from child poverty as compared to 1 in 11 white children. Source »

And finally, non-Hispanic Black infants had the highest mortality rate in the nation. With 10.97 infant deaths per 1,000 births, roughly 1 in 90 Black infants will die before their first birthday. Source »

Once we’re aware of white supremacy in our world today, it can’t be unseen. And we must all work  together to dismantle it so all people can be represented, valued and safe.