Robin DiAngelo: “Being Nice is Not Going to End Racism”
“The forces are incredibly seductive. The forces of white solidarity, the forces of keeping other white people comfortable, the forces to not see or name any of this. And if you don’t put some kind of structure around yourself to keep you focused there you’re going to slip right back into the status quo. “
From Aspiring Humanitarian, Relando Thompkins-Jones
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You published this a year ago and still is relevant today. I was thinking, people like Amy Cooper who called the cops on a black guy in Central Park or “Barbecue Becky” who called the police on a black family having a BBQ in a park in Oakland, California (and the many others who have called the cops on innocent black people) only bother the nice people. One day, these bigots are going to roll up on the wrong person with nothing to lose and it won’t be pretty. The response won’t be nice. Like you said, being nice won’t end these targeted acts of racism. Like the old saying goes, fight fire with fire. Sometimes you need to arch your back and unleash the dragon. That’s the only response that some people understand.