This seems to be a reasonable question and a common one. If the context is structural racism and the Black Lives Matter movement, the question takes on some currency and for some people some urgency.
Let’s assume you are not black (if you are black, you probably know how you can help and don’t need advice or insights from the white community). For those of us who are white privileged we start of course by recognizing that the answer to “Black Lives Matter!” is “yes they do,” not “but don’t all lives matter?” Of course all lives matter, but black lives have been seen as the USAs lower caste (ready Isabel Wilkerson’s stunning new book, Caste for an in-depth discussion comparing the caste systems of the US, India and Nazi Germany). If you have been in the lower caste for hundreds of years then people have been conditioned to propagate this environment, and it becomes supported by the infrastructure of our legal and voting systems, and the likes of ‘redlining.’ If you don’t believe the US is still a largely racist society then move on…this blog entry is not for you. According to Wilkerson, most Americans have been exposed to a culture with enough negative messages about African-Americans and other marginalized groups that as much as 80 percent of white Americans hold unconscious bias against black Americans, bias so automatic that it kicks in before a person can process it.
If you still want to consider “what can I do to help?” I offer a few thoughts. First and foremost, do whatever you can. Go out and join a BLM protest if that’s your thing. Give money to relevant causes. My friend (retired) Professor Steve Rogers of Harvard says we should do business with black-run businesses, especially banks – take out loans from a black-run bank…if you can find one,
Get educated. Read! Reading means learning, Here are a few books that I have found quite compelling:
1 White Fragility, by Robin DiAngelo. Lessons for white people on how to deal with ingrained lessons of racism that they undoubtedly grew up with.
2. How to Be an Antiracist, by Ibram Kendl. Kendl calls on his own personal journey, and refers to racism as a disease that must be battled as such.
3. Micromessaging, by Stephen Young – this one is not new, but I have re-read it recently. When I met Steve he was doing seminars teaching people how to be aware of all the non-verbal cues they give off.
4. What Truth Sounds Like, by Michael Eric Dyson. I never knew this story about how RFK got educated about what life is really like for black Americans, from James Baldwin and his friends. Fascinating.
5. The Nickel Boys, by Colson Whitehead. If you’re in the mood for fiction that tells a lesson along with a story.
6. Just Mercy, by Bryan Stevenson. Now a movie, I read this when it came out and was floored. What a story, this guy. Stevenson started Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) and this is his story. powerful.
7. We Were Eight Years in Power, by Ta-Nehisi Coates. A great author, this is a series of his articles about the Obama years.
8. Waking Up White, by Debby Irving. I read this one back in 2016. She declares that white is a race too, and we need to think differently about this.
9. Between The World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates. This was his earlier book and my favorite. It’s basically a letter to his young son about what it will be like to be black in America.
10. Caste, by Isabel Wilkerson – as mentioned above, this is a new book and quite a study. Did you know that the Nazis studied America and how the south treated blacks to determine how they might treat the jews?
11. The Warmth of Other Suns, also by Isabel Wilkerson – she is really really good. 5*
These are just a few of the many I have read. They are all very interesting, very readable and very educational. As my friend Prof Rogers said to me, “own the story.”
Okay so you (we, white people!) can protest, give money and get educated, but there is more we can do. We can get involved. There are many wonderful organizations that are either dedicated to fighting racial injustice or happen to have a significant impact even if it’s not the core mission. My example is the group I have been involved in since 2004, Junior Achievement. Junior Achievement (JA) is a global organization with chapters in many geographies around the world. Each chapter follows the JA mission, to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy. JA does this by creating and providing curriculum that can be delivered in schools, in class or out of class, by volunteers. The way it works is that busy executives like me decide to volunteer our time to teach. JA provides curriculum that is of incremental value to what schools teach. JA doesn’t teach math, chemistry or english. It provides volunteers the opportunity to be role models for kids by teaching financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and career readiness. The mission doesn’t say anything about fighting racial injustice, but in our chapter (in Connecticut) we prioritize communities with a great need and so we end up teaching many young black kids. I love doing it – I get in front of kids from all ages and tell them stories about the business world, leveraging the JA curriculum.
JA is just one example of an organization that provides an opportunity for people to get involved and help. I have friends who enjoy teaching a class to a group of kids in Bridgeport, Ct or Harlem in NYC (where I started), or elsewhere. It is rewarding. I have also been involved in the past with A Better Chance (ABC). I was a lucky youngster – my Dad felt strongly enough about “doing something” that he took time from his busy job as a banker and started a local chapter of ABC. ABC identifies young people of color who have great potential, but because of their circumstances (primarily where they live – mostly inner city kids) they will have a hard time achieving that success. ABC offers to take them out of their community, house them in a specially purchased home and go to a highly regarded high school. It is designed to prepare them and help them go to college. Oh, by the way – my friend Professor Steve Rogers was an ABC kid, when my Dad was President of Radnor ABC in the 1970s. Rogers went on to Williams College, got an MBA at Harvard, became a successful entrepreneur, and then a professor at first Northwestern Business School and then Harvard Business School. Not bad, for a kid from the wrong side of the tracks in Chicago.
Those are just a couple of ideas. Many people will have many more that are just as valuable to the world and to helping bring value to a world that is troubled by structural racism.
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