The urgency with which many white people are calling for racial justice in the wake of the murders of George Floyd, Tony McDade, Breonna Taylor, Dominique Rem’mie Fells, Ahmaud Arbery, Rayshard Brooks and so many others embodies a critical paradox: how can whites work against racism while also ensuring that we don’t re-center white supremacy in the process?
On the one hand, ending racial injustice is urgent. It needed to happen decades ago. All of us, but particularly white people, need to be speaking out against racial injustice and actively dismantling structural racism.
On the other hand, this transformational energy needs to be sustained over what will be a long journey of racial transformation. Institutional racism has existed for decades, and it will not be undone overnight. The movement to end structural racism needs to be sustained, creative, deep and long-term.
