Being Antiracist

I think a very relevant example of how power influences the perpetuation of racist policies is the common ideology of American politicians taking the stance of being ‘tough’ on crime. This stance of being tough on crime has been a standard stance for decades now and it is one of the few bipartisan ideologies. The ideology of being tough on crime has increased incarceration in America due to mandatory minimum prison sentences for non-violent crimes, like drug possession. At surface level a ‘tough on crime’ ideology might look like a good way to reduce violent crime but in actuality, what it has done since the 1980’s is increase the number of people incarcerated as well as result in much longer prison sentences for non-violent crimes. Statistically speaking, according to the National Institute of Justice as of 2008, one in fifteen black men are incarcerated. This is a stark contrast to the one in one hundred and six white men incarcerated. This is not because black men are more likely to commit crimes but rather a result of aggressive policing of black communities and things like racial profiling. This current powerful influence of being tough on crime has perpetuated racist policing policies and caused a disproportionate amount of black men to be incarcerated.

Another issue with black men being disproportionately represented in prisons comes from the thirteenth amendment of the constitution that outlawed slavery. The thirteenth amendment states that slavery and involuntary servitude are forbidden except as a punishment for crime which is the reason why Jim Crow laws were instituted once the Civil War was over. The result of these tough-on-crime policies has resulted in higher incarceration rates for black men who are subject to prison labor where they make pennies on the dollar for the work they do while incarcerated. We are experiencing modern-day Jim Crow laws just under the guise of being ‘tough on crime’. I think that prison reform is vital in antiracist work due to these reasons. Not only do we need prison reform but antiracist individuals also need to challenge these ‘tough on crime’ ideologies as they have done little to reduce violent crime. It starts with talking to our local and state representatives in government as well as prison reform education.

            Our current educational system does not do enough to challenge the racist history of this country. In parts of this country they still teach the Civil War was simply about the confederacy fighting for states to have rights against the federal government but a more accurate account of the Civil War, is that the confederacy was fighting for the right to enslave people to maintain free labor. The education system needs to tell history to its full truth and when history, like that of the American Civil War, is taught in half-truths with an omission of the racist ideologies that are relevant then our education institutions are contributing to existing racist ideologies instead of challenging them.

            White supremacy is systemically and subtly upheld by things like media, media representation, and our culture’s beauty standards. Things as simple as the horror movie trope that the black man dies first, and the only survivor of the story is a beautiful white woman with blonde hair can contribute to the internalization of racist ideologies. Yet, you can find this across the entire genre of scary movies. Another issue in media is how the women deemed the most attractive in a film or TV show that more often than not, she is white. It is sadly rare to see black women put on the pedestal as the most beautiful or protagonist and this contributes to the cultural ideas of what beauty is as well as the standards that women need to live up to. A way to facilitate a collective consciousness against white supremacy is the change these tropes and expectations in media and media representation.

            Critical social work needs to emphasize the importance of building solidarity across different social movements. Antiracist work also needs to be anti-misogynistic, anti-homophobic, etc., to realize full cultural change. Critical social work can support and contribute to transforming society by engaging in policy changes that address the root causes of inequality, things like challenging discrimination laws and advocating for the allocation of resources to marginalized communities can move mountains in this work.