Racism is real. Its most virulent seeds are structural. To be anti-racist, we need to stop it at its root.

Protest is just a start. Much racism is invisible, buried underground, growing from a root that feeds its ugliest branches and bears its bitterest fruits, like the police brutality invited by laws like the Qualified Immunity Act.

The roots of racism go deeper and broader than law.  Racism is built into our public school finance system, our criminally unjust justice system, and the identity politics that leaves each of us dependent on one party in a two-party duopoly that profits by failing us.

A core driver of racism is a political business model that profits from fear. Fear grabs our attention, locks our eyes on those we can hate, and immerses us in images that sell ads and buy votes.  This effectively divides and conquers us, leaving money in charge of politics.  Even the best journalists, politicians, and companies can’t always resist it. Those who try lose audience, and eventually fail.

That’s no excuse. But it’s a reality.

We can change that now.  It’s not that hard to disrupt the fear-based business model.  Just five million of us can transform politics. Fifteen million can shift the media. With each other, we can harness our anger, our hope, and our love, and direct our immense power to solutions.

Don’t just cut off the ugly leaves and limbs of racism.  Extract the weed at its root, cut off the flow of nutrients that feed it, and let racism die a natural death. 

Join us in our Declaration of Interdependence. 

Photo by Obi Onyeador on Unsplash