Racial Identity and Ethnicity

The year 2020 turned out to be an extraordinary year for racial reckoning in the United States. The nation (at least those who had not seen the dark side of this country) woke up and discovered white supremacists living under the bridge dressed and armed like mercenaries. We learned that Black and Brown people are the essential workers and the backbone of our communities. We heard harrowing stories of DACA recipients threatened with deportation and families separated at the border. We watched a deadly pandemic disproportionately claim the lives of people of color. And of course, we finally became privy to the extent to which police can threaten our civil liberties with impunity – to death.

Both because of and in spite of technology, the country found itself confronted with the truths that it long ignored or swept under the rug. Not only did technology enable us to see the tragic last words of man struggling to breathe underneath the knee of law enforcement, but we also witnessed an entitled woman falsely reporting endangerment from an African-American bird-watcher when, in fact, she was being the aggressor. Technology also enabled thousands to millions of white supremacists to find each other, collaborate, and stir themselves into a frenzy.

In the past four years, it dawned on the US that the entire presidency of Donald Trump served as a rebuke to that of Barack Obama’s. White supremacists finally had a champion and stepped out of the shadows. It turns out that we are not in a post-racial society as some liked to claim. If anything, America is finally being honest with itself and, for those that confront discrimination every day and their allies, it is a relief, painful, and a horror show at the same time.

One of the most awe-inspiring moments in the summer of 2020 were the Black Lives Matters protests. Galvanized by the death of George Floyd, millions of people of all races and creeds, marched in cities around the US and the world. This global unity had not been seen before and it finally helped people understand.

One of the many great things that emerged to public consciousness was the concept of anti-racism. It has long been known, if not understood, that race is a social construct. However, having a racial identity is not. Anti-racism is more than just a state of being like saying “I am not racist.” It is an action against systemic bias, oppression, and hatred of marginalized groups. This means recognizing personal privileges, educating and working on ridding personal biases, calling out acts and institutions of discrimination.

By and large, Generation Z is considered the most diverse, most accepting, and most socially conscious generation. However it is obviously too soon to claim victory and move on. In ways overt and subconscious, we all hold certain biases and stereotypes. In order to become the self-actualized people we hope to be, it is necessary for us to take the time to reflect on our cultural competence and our society’s blind spots and then to work to change it. In other words, we must become anti-racist.