the white moderate.

Dr Martin Luther King Jr. - In Colour Because This Was Not That Long Ago.

"First, I must confess that over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Council-er or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can't agree with your methods of direct action;" who paternalistically feels he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by the myth of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a "more convenient season."

- Dr Martin Luther King Jr.

this one. this is crazy relevant right now. there's a whole lotta people who felt too uncomfortable in conversations about race that they dodged them completely. the white moderate, as Dr. MLK explains, is the one who prefers a negative peace, with no social disrupt (that they have to experience) to a true, positive, full peace; one in which justice lives. in 2020, some only would speak about the movement as if everyone protesting was using it as an excuse to break the lockdown or something. of course, covid measures were taken so seriously at all the protests in brighton because it's obviously such a serious thing, but a lot of the people criticising the movement were the ones seeing about 30 of their friends on the beach. it's like MLK said, the white moderate 'advises' black people to 'wait until a more convenient season,' as opposed to allyship by any means necessary. it's clear that the white moderate still exists. 

when it came to getting racial justice (our literal responsibility as humans, especially as white people who created this evil) there were people who saw it as a 'trendy' thing. a reason to post a couple aesthetic quotes on your stories talking bout 'be anti-racist', but not follow through by challenging racism when you come face to face with it.  last year, the white moderate became the hypocrite.

before educating myself on racial inequalities, both in the UK and other ex-colonial ex-empires, there's no question that i contributed to this issue. i'd challenge overt racism, but thought that that was the only thing i had to do; my only responsibility. after seeing the horrors we all had to see online last year, and seeing lots of information on how to challenge the racism that those unaffected by it, like myself, were blind to, i don't understand how some people could revert back to their old ways. thinking a black square, effectively saying 'racism is bad!', would repair all the generations of damage that white people have inflicted upon our black counterparts?? online solidarity is not, and will never be, enough. white people need to do better.

check yourself. that is the literal only way that we can ever dream of saying goodbye to racism, or any forms of oppression for that matter. please don't think it stopped with George Floyd, please don't think it stopped with Breonna Taylor. there are many, too many, names and people and families and communities that are being affected by this. every. day. and NOT just in the U.S.A.

racism is not just an american problem! - justice for belly mujinga

here are some contemporary racial justice fights that we gotta fight here in the UK, information we can read to educate ourselves and petitions we can sign to show our outrage and solidarity:

Osime Brown:

https://linktr.ee/Justiceforosimebrown

Mohamud Mohammed Hussan:

https://www.change.org/p/iopc-justice-for-mohamud-mohammed-hussan?utm_content=cl_sharecopy_26828079_en-GB%3A6&recruited_by_id=8eed3620-5f13-11eb-b892-153cec100670&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&utm_term=psf_combo_share_abi

Belly Mujinga:

http://chng.it/SMztK7qcgf

Jay Abatan:

the saddest part is, this isn't even a fraction of the lives lost to racism in britain, and these won't be the last names we have to get justice for. white people, we ALL need to find ways to play a part in this; whether it's speaking to and challenging racist family members, raising awareness about current issues (on socials AND in real life) or educating ourselves as a 1st step. let's not think this is over and let's not become the white moderates that MLK spoke about.

stay safe,

k

xxx