Nurture the flame of anti-racism

Op-ed by Sylvia Wohlfarth-Bottermann

I choose not to write about the increase in racism.

Instead, I want to explore whether white people can imagine what it is like to suffer racism, and if so, decide on what they can do about it. Racism is for example, when you notice the cashier placing the change into the hand of the white woman in front of you but gesturing with a nod of her head for you to place the change on the counter before she picks it up. Or a child observing the disrespectful way their mother is treated in the shop because she is wearing a headscarf, or her English is not good enough. Or on offering an elderly lady a seat next to you on the bus, she looks at you with disdain and says ‘I don’t sit next to people like you’. Or when the teacher introduces the theme of the trans-Atlantic slavery and asks you because you come from Nigeria if you would like to contribute something to the subject and all the students turn around and stare at you. Or being told by your college friend that when she has children she wants to live in a Black free zone like when she was a child… but you shouldn’t take that personally. You smile and hide your pain. I do not want you to feel anger and shame and tell me you are not a racist, because this is not about you and your feelings. It is about listening, acknowledging, and showing empathy for those who are racially abused, and act accordingly. Racism is not only acts of overt, conscious, and intentional hate by individuals who believe their race and skin colour are superior. Racism manifests in the form of subtle racial micro-aggressions and unconscious bias that Black and Brown people of all ages face every day, and which have a profound impact on their lives and mental health. If you genuinely and actively want to join in the fight against racism, you must recognize and acknowledge your own biases (conscious or non-conscious) and micro-aggressive behaviour towards Black and Brown people. Working with the Cork Migrant Centre (CMC), I have had the privilege to watch something amazing develop and flourish. Inspired by the 2022 Anti-Racist Summit in Cumbria, England, we decided to bring the idea back home to Cork and carried out the first Youth-Led Anti-Racist Summit in 2023. A campaign, driven by our young people, to actively and sustainably, make Cork the first anti-racist city and county in Ireland, in collaboration with many organisations in Cork and county who supported CMC’s Youth Initiative Against Racism. It was a great success and the flame to achieve an anti-racist community like the Olympic torch was lit and has been cemented in the soul of Cork, burning even brighter since our 2nd Youth-Led Anti-Racist Summit held on 17 May 2024. The campaign focus is the youth, as the carriers of change, as well as on education, the system where change must take place if racism and intolerance is to be challenged and eradicated, top down and bottom up. Significantly, the Cork Migrant Centre is part of Nano Nagle Place where, in 1775, Nano Nagle founded the Presentation Sisters Order as part of her pioneering work to meet the needs of those ‘left behind’ by establishing schools, especially for girls. Nano, a true activist, and campaigner for the poor, left us with her motto: ‘Not Words but Deeds.’ Our youth, if cherished and nurtured, are our only way forward in the struggle towards a racism-free society. Our young people are the future stewards of a socially-just and climate friendly world, we must support them in every way we can. As Janett Walker, CEO and co-founder of Anti-Racist Cumbria tells us, it is not enough to simply listen to the youth, but more importantly to hear what they say and put what they say into action while creating the safe space to spark that conversation. A focus of the youth-led Anti-Racism Summits in Cork, as is nurturing empathic connections. In the words of the great Greek philosopher Aristotle, who was aware of the power of empathy, ‘Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all’. Dealing with the topic of racism is painful, but once you accept and acknowledge that it is a system of which you are part, it is liberating and nothing compared to the pain and suffering many Black and Brown face in their daily lives. Let us stamp out the fire of racism and fan the embers of the campaign to make Cork an anti-racist city and county.