HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED…
…how your early experiences
in life shaped racism for you?
“I was brought up in an environment that was very much: that’s the way they are, and this is what we do. Even if it wasn’t offensive, it was separating, segregating.”
Thinking back to reflect forward…
We all have a personal compass of what we believe to be right and wrong, and true and false. This is also known as a belief system.
Often those who raise us, or those who we looked up to when we were young, are the ones who shape our belief system the most. They give us our sense of the right way to think, feel and act towards others.
If for example you remember your father giving some money or food to homeless people, how do you think that impacted your belief system? Would it make you more caring and empathetic towards homeless people?
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Did any adult give you help thinking about racial differences?
For so many of us, no one ever taught us how to talk about race when we were young. We grow up not knowing where to go.
So often, people in our lives who meant well were not educated themselves when it came to race. They handed down knowledge to us in the form of opinions and jokes that perhaps needed to be questioned.
And our personal belief system around race often goes way back. It runs deep through the generations that came before us.
Adults who taught us often learnt their belief system from an adult who raised them, and so on. Fast-forward to now and this old belief system is a part of who we are too. Sometimes we carry this old belief system through life, without really questioning it, and go on to pass it along to the next generation.
Andre Adams and Harry Conway discuss growing up and belief systems.
“It can be easier to not question your belief system, because it’s just too damaging. When you go back it’s actually your parents and your family.”
Have you ever talked about race with someone who disagrees with you or sees it in a different way?
It’s easy to take for granted that our belief system is true without questioning and checking it. Especially when it comes from people that we love. It makes it even harder when we see our belief system reflected right back at us through the media and our own bubble of people that we know.
But if we don’t question what we believe and why, we may be helping racism to happen. Even to people that we know and love, like friends and teammates.
Racism can make a person feel alone and insignificant, and impact their rights and opportunities, and how they see themselves and their place in society. But we can be brave and question what we believe, and why, and figure out if this really holds true for the person we want to be. This is an important step to play our part in creating a fairer, kinder world.
“I think, one, it’s educating myself and then two, what can I actually do every day to try and affect other people and influence change. The biggest thing is the next generation that you can help.”
How will you use your belief system around racial difference for positive change?
Getting to know what you believe about racial difference, and why, will help you notice and question racist jokes and opinions of your friends, family, and teammates. It’s possible that they are not racist, just not educated about race. But you can help them to understand and see things in a new way.
Also keep a look out for ways that you can educate people who are younger than you, so that they can grow up knowing how to talk about race too. This might be someone in your family, or your sports club might have a junior team. You can help them to create a fairer, kinder world with you.