How to “truly eradicate racism”

I am white. I am of European heritage and in almost every situation I am in a majority. I take it for granted that I will always be with people that look like me and who share at least some cultural similarities with me.  I always feel comfortable in my skin. It’s just the way I am and I don’t expect it to make a difference in my life.

I am trying out for the school badminton team. Suddenly, I’m not in the majority. In fact, there are only two other white girls trying out for the team. Almost every single person in the room is Asian. I feel my “whiteness” so strongly. Suddenly, my eyes and hair and skin aren’t “normal.” I feel like judgments are immediately passed about me, because of the way I look. I feel really left out when coaches rattle off instructions to players in Mandarin.

So now I think to myself, “Do all these people feel like this all the time?” I finally understand racism. It’s not necessarily that everyone else hates you or that you are at an immediate disadvantage, but you feel deep down, that you really don’t belong. You feel like everyone else in the room shares a connection, but that you’re left out. It is an incredibly belittling feeling. You can’t help but feel isolated and accosted.

Now I wonder. How do these other kids deal with this day in and day out? More importantly, how can I help these other people feel more included? Addressing and tearing down a deep physiological barrier isn’t something that happens overnight. And it isn’t going to happen through the efforts of just one person, although that’s where it can start. A smile or even just eye contact can help a person feel included and accepted.

The only way to truly eradicate racism though, is to change the way our society functions. We need to stop even seeing skin color. We need to stop even thinking about differences and embrace our similarities.