It's hard to know when Racism will pop up in your personal life in a way that lets you strike back. It's a clever force that often hides in the shadows or disguises itself as other forces.

It's also hard to trust the laws of nature to automatically strike it down.  In a lot of situations where you notice something going wrong, it is easy to excuse inaction by reasoning that some automatic safety net will snag the wrongdoer. Or that it is not your job and there might even be a risk for you to blow the whistle.

If you do want to take the steps to bring attention to the power inequity, whom do you tell? Racism doesn't have a boss who can fire it or a parent who can scold it.  Have there been times that you have spoken up or taken action?  Or maybe you wanted to do something but didn't know how. Or maybe you saw evidence of Racism, and it scared you into doing nothing.

Your practice today is to revisit one or more of these experiences and think through your emotions and inclination to respond at the time. When did you notice the Racism forces at work? Could you have seen it earlier? But maybe you explained it away?  Who were the people involved? Was their closeness to you a factor in whether or how soon you took action?  Were you worried about looking silly or maybe experiencing retaliation?  Did you wish you could have done more? Or were you frustrated that your efforts weren't as effective as you had hoped? 

Think about whether what you were witnessing was actually Racism or if it was discrimination toward or hatred of a specific person.  For example, was there a company policy that prevented Black people from working there because of an educational requirement that was difficult for them to achieve? Or was there one person in the HR department who was hiding the applications of all the Black applicants?  Think about which situation you would feel more empowered to address.  Do you automatically assume one or the other is the cause?  Just think about your own action and inaction.  What skills have you already put into action, and which ones would you like to add to your Racism action resume?