Racism is not about the actions of biased white people—it’s about power and the circumstances that create and maintain that power.
For example, cops aren’t more likely to threaten, abuse, and kill Black people solely out of personal bias. If it made their jobs safer, it wouldn’t matter to cops who they used violence against. (Of course, there are cops who have an unhealthy relationship to feeling superior to other people, and that’s can be a motivator, too.)
The thing is, if a cop uses violence against a white person, a white person might talk to your manager. And if a white person talks to your manager, you’re quite likely to get you in trouble. Why? Because of the resources they—and people who empathize with them—have to retaliate.
Black people don’t have a bias problem; we have a lack of power to retaliate through the proper channels.
