Anti-Racism Writing From Sharon Hurley Hall in July 2021
If there’s one theme that keeps recurring in anti-racism circles, it’s that Black people are tired. We’re giving ourselves permission to rest when we need to, and come back to the fight when we’re ready. One of the things we’re tired of is existing in unsafe spaces. The first article in this month’s roundup is part two of my most popular article to date. I’ll leave you to decide why it struck such a chord.
Anti-Racism Articles
20 Interview Questions I Wish I’d Been Able to Ask, Part 2
“13. Am I going to get invited to the unofficial networking gatherings?
Everywhere that I have lived and worked, without exception, there have been exclusive gatherings for white colleagues or peers. Of course, they’re not presented that way. Sometimes you don’t hear about them till after or, if you do hear about them in advance, their importance is minimized so you don’t feel you have to attend. Only later do you find out how important they were to building relationships inside the company.”
British, Conditionally
“Sure, highly paid football players SHOULD be able to take penalties – it’s part of the game! But if they miss, as England manager Gareth Southgate famously did a couple of decades ago, then attack their competence, not their skin color, and not their right to represent the country of their birth.”
White Friends, Your Shock at Racism Isn’t Helpful
“global minority people inhabit different worlds and have different experiences from global majority people. It may never occur to you that we live with the fact that our blackness and brownness is often perceived as an intrusion at best and a threat at worst. And that in certain situations, the color of our skin can be the cause of bad treatment, and even death.”
Anti-Racism Resources
“Race is a construct – a made up fiction with real consequences. So when we talk about race what do we mean? This chart from Holly Dunsworth, published on Equality Includes You really made me think.”
Interviews and Reading List
Meet Anti-Racism Writer Petiri Ira
“I hope that society can see and live in a world where the construct of racism will cease to exist. This can happen if we continue to educate, amplify and call out all forms of racism. That’s internally, interpersonally, structurally and systemically. For that to happen, it is key for all of us to move in an anti-racist and progressive direction.” – Petiri Ira
Meet Anti-Racism Writer L.A. Justice
“Of course, I want racism to be dismantled, and want equity for Black people, and equality for all people, but this requires a tremendous amount of work, and it requires more than just Black people to do the work. Black people did not create the constructs of race and racism. Therefore, it is not solely on Black people to do the work to dismantle it.” – L.A. Justice
Anti-Racism Reading List – 14 July 2021
“When white people come in with the goal of “amplifying” me, there is an underlying assumption on their part that I want access to whatever audience or outlet they’re offering. This may come as a shock in the age of virality, but not every writer’s goal is to be seen by as many people as humanly possible. Making sure my work is in the right place and published under the circumstances I’m most comfortable with is far more important to me than the number of eyes it gets in front of.” – Casira Copes
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Catch up on previous roundups via the anti-racism category on my blog.
© Sharon Hurley Hall, 2021. All Rights Reserved.
I am an anti-racism writer, educator, and activist, a professional B2B writer and blogger, and co-host of The Introvert Sisters podcast. This article was originally published on sharonhh.com. If you’re reading it anywhere other than there or Medium, it may be stolen.
Photo by Unseen Histories on Unsplash
