DAY 5: Interpersonal Racism

Interpersonal racism – when a person’s conscious or subconscious racial bias influences their interactions and perceptions of other people – is very real. Everyone, and especially white people, have a role in calling out racism and bigotry, and this can be a hard thing to do. Even if it is not difficult, it can be difficult to do in a way that is ultimately productive. We invite you to look over this checklist of racist behaviors and interventions (starts on page 6) as well as the 21 images of frequently heard micro-aggressions in this article. Consider how you see your own role and responsibility around addressing interpersonal racism.

• What acts and expressions of interpersonal racism do you see around you? Are you comfortable with intervening in racist behavior? If so, how does it look different with different people?

• Be aware of how you talk to customers. Do you address white people and BIPOC people differently? If so, how?

• Listen and observe more closely for subtle and not-so-subtle racist aggressions around you today and this week, including in the media.

• Consider ways to intervene or to support others in doing so. If you’re not comfortable doing this, find an opportunity to share the checklist and invite people to consider their behaviors and ways of checking themselves and others.

More Resources

• Sources of White People’s Resistance Regarding Racism
• “Love While Challenging Racist Behavior” by Ana Perez
• Detour Spotting for Anti-Racists
• A Trip to the Grocery Store
• Getting Called Out – How to Apologize

Yesterday: Whiteness and Anti-Blackness
Tomorrow: Reflection on Week One

Author Photo Credit: Medium.com | Quote from Words of Change: Anti-Racism by permission of Sasquatch Books. Copyright 2020 By Kenyra Rankin. All rights reserved.

SIBA thanks its generous sponsors, who have made the 21-Day Racial Equity Challenge possible:

Many of the quotes used in the Challenge are excerpted from Words of Change: Anti-Racism by permission of Sasquatch Books. Copyright 2020 By Kenyra Rankin. All rights reserved.

Although SIBA has modified when appropriate for a bookseller audience, the majority of prompts and resources come directly from the 21-Day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge created by Food Solutions New England (FSNE). We are so grateful for their extraordinary work creating this program and making it available to other organizations.