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Minority & Small Business Week
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O PINION
October 2, 2019
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Feeling Pressure to Talk about Structural Racism
A turning point
on inequity
criminal justice system especially
has targeted, and too often unjust-
ly punished, black Amer-
icans. Through practices
like racial profiling and
by d iallo b rooks
excessive force, today’s
At this September’s
criminal justice system
Democratic presiden-
upholds centuries-old pat-
tial debate — held at
terns of racial surveillance
a historically black
and targeting.
college in Houston —
I’m reminded every
some 14 million Americans tuned
in to watch the 10 leading can- time I leave my house how I’m
didates debate each other for the seen by others — and the threat
first time.
The debate set another import-
ant precedent: All of the candi-
dates spoke out against the sys-
temic racism that has toxified the
country and endangered our com-
munities for centuries.
Some candidates promised to
fight racial inequity with policies
that would close the racial wealth
gap or reduce maternal mortality
disparities between white Ameri-
cans and communities of color. Oth-
ers stressed the need for gun control
after the racist attack in El Paso.
And, vitally, all promised to ad- they may perceive as I go about
dress the deep racial inequities in my everyday routine.
In recent months black men
our criminal justice system.
These conversations are en- have had the cops called on them
couraging. It’s been 400 years while looking for a parking spot
since the first enslaved Africans or depositing a paycheck. These
were brought to the U.S. And after ever-present headlines remind me,
four centuries, it’s well past time and those who look like me, of the
for our country’s political leaders burden of being a black man in
to embrace proactive policies to America.
As a parent, it’s not lost on me
create lasting change.
From fugitive slave laws to Jim that one of my most important
Crow to stop and frisk, the U.S. jobs is to prepare my three chil-
dren for the injustice and racism
they will face in this world. Many
black families already know how
emotionally draining it is to have
“the talk” on how to engage with
police to stay safe.
If you’re white, you might not
have had to have the same conver-
sation with your loved ones or the
children in your life. But it’s time
for all of us now to step up and
talk to each other.
I’m heartened that presidential
neighbors, colleagues, and friends
about issues like racial profiling.
All of us, regardless of the color
of our skin, should continue to
push America to strive to live the
values of justice and equity that
we process — and put hate and
discrimination behind us for good.
We must recognize the enemy
as more than a racist president
who weaponizes bigotry and divi-
sion, and as more than the crim-
inal justice officials who dispro-
White Americans, in particular,
can demonstrate their commitment to
racial justice by talking to neighbors,
colleagues, and friends about issues
like racial profiling.
candidates are proposing bold pol-
icies to address the injustice Afri-
can Americans in the U.S. contin-
ue to endure, but we all share the
responsibility to talk about racial
inequity. As the president and oth-
er political leaders stoke hate and
fear to normalize racism, we all
must be intentional about creating
change.
White Americans, in particular,
can demonstrate their commit-
ment to racial justice by talking to
portionately profile communities
of color. The enemy is the racism
and oppression that’s at the heart
of our institutions and the normal-
ization of that bigotry in our com-
munities.
And we must fight, together, to
dismantle these — and every —
system of oppression.
Diallo Brooks is senior director
of outreach and public engage-
ment for People for the American
Way.
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