This election cycle is a very difficult time for many women of color. For me, it’s been hard to swallow the reality that about half the US population thinks that being racist isn’t a disqualifier for the highest office in the country. Some people will say he’s not racist (ignoring all evidence of things he’s said and policies he’s supported and enacted), others will say that his other policies outweigh racism e.g., “but the economy matters more”. Whichever logic route you take, it’s either that they can’t see racism, or can see it but don’t think it’s important enough — there is a group that believes racism can be outweighed by other “benefits”.
I don’t want racism and sexism to be the central features of my life, but they end up affecting everything from how much money you make, to how much status you have in a meeting, to how much extra work you have to do to prove yourself in a workplace, to how long you have to wait in an immigration line to another country, to your dating opportunities, to your economic situation, to your access to healthcare, to the quality of healthcare you get, to how likely your children are to be bullied and to all the products and services in the world being designed for someone that is not you and you just have to adapt yourself constantly.
It’s hard to run away from sexism and racism. I could link data sources behind each of those claims but data doesn’t change minds unfortunately.
This election season will be drawn out very long with all the disputes now on voter fraud et cetera. It’s very, very hard to change anyone’s mind or to make people see or acknowledge things they don’t have an incentive to see or acknowledge, unless they are interested in moral enlightenment, which is not everyone’s cup of tea.
Here’s what I’ll be doing:
- Feeling my feelings of disappointment
- Practicing more self-care: yoga, tea, walks, talking to friends about other topics
- Being committed to being as excellent as I can in my work, in my writing, in my life
There’s a lot of belief out there about brown women and our incompetence and worthlessness in society. I wish we didn’t have to go above and beyond anyone else to earn our right as equal members of society, but it looks like we have to. I enjoy the pursuit of excellence any way but I have added motivation to keep it up now.
If you are a brown girl wondering what you can do to help our cause in the world, one of the most fundamental things is the pursuit of excellence in whatever field you are in. Strive to be the best. Be impeccable. Be articulate. Do your research diligently. Prepare. Read. Be as educated as possible on whatever you need to talk about. Go the extra mile.
I know other messages are more comforting or comfortable or consoling to listen to but equality wasn’t ever just given to people. If you’re starting out behind in the race, the laws of physics are you have to run faster to catch up. We need the world to see our brilliance and we need to sparkle very, very bright for those who are wearing the sunglasses of racism and sexism, which is not a minority group as we were hoping for, and not a group we can run away from or avoid forever.
