#systemicracism — Public Fediverse posts

A quotation from Gloria Steinem

The first problem for all of us, men and women, is not to learn, but to unlearn. We are filled with the popular wisdom of several centuries just past, and we are terrified to give it up. Patriotism means obedience, age means wisdom, woman means submission, black means inferior: these are preconceptions embedded so deeply in our thinking that we honestly may not know that they are there.

Gloria Steinem (1934–2026) American feminist, journalist, activist
Essay (1971-08-21), “A New Egalitarian Life Style,” New York Times

More about this quote: wist.info/steinem-gloria/18472…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #gloriasteinem #bias #custom #prejudice #receivedwisdom #sexism #stereotypes #subconscious #systemicracism #tradition #ageism #patriotism #culture

Through a political desire for unity, ‘we are documenting the transformation of the very meaning given to the principle of #laïcité, the interpretation of which has undergone a notorious shift: whereas yesterday it allowed the pluralist expression of beliefs, today it requires religious neutrality’.

Stéphanie Hennette-Vauchez in "L'École et la République - La nouvelle laïcité scolaire" (2023)

#unitary #normalization #normation #normal #normativity #school #secularism #neutrality #education #HennetteVauchez #hijab #bioPolitics #bioPower #islamophobia #racism #raceMaking #systemicRacism #France

Here I spin a yarn about an efficient method of using orientalism to support israel. 🧶

#unitary #normalization #normation #normal #normativity #school #secularism #neutrality #education #hijab #bioPolitics #bioPower #islamophobia #racism #raceMaking #systemicRacism #France #Europe #extremeCentre #extremeCenter #proZionism #confusion #conflation #entanglement #EstelleSays

She Saw Her Racist Father Beat A Black Man And Chose Anti-Racist Solidarity Over Inherited Hate

Brittani Mazzone recalls her racist father beating a Black man and explains how that trauma pushed her to reject hate, choose allyship, and stand for justice.

Systemic Racism, Individual Responsibility: Why Black Positivity Triggers White Rage 

Last week, I wrote an article about the Black family—specifically the enduring institution of the Black family reunion. It was a celebration of culture, resilience, tradition, and community. It was not an indictment of white people, nor did it mention systemic racism or historical atrocities. It was simply a quiet, intentional affirmation of Black life. 

Yet, a predictable pattern struck again. 

In the comment section of the facebook post used to promote the article, a few readers lashed out with visceral, unprovoked hostility. One reader insisted I needed to “teach the Black family some good parenting skills” and asserted that “the only people holding back Black people from success are Black people.” All mind you without reading the article. All this from the promotional post. When I pushed back by listing foundational Black inventions that shaped modern American life, another reader jumped in with outright rage, claiming that Black people are “a race without any meaningful accomplishments” and that “Black Wall Street is a made-up lie… it was a dirt road average Black town.” 

Notice what happened there: I never brought up Black Wall Street. 

He did. Out of nowhere. Unprompted. 

That unprompted reaction reveals something critical. He didn’t bring up Tulsa because he was ignorant of it; he brought it up because he knew about it and actively chose to degrade it. He knew the history, felt threatened by its implications, and felt compelled to diminish a thriving, self-sustaining Black community to a “dirt road” to keep his own worldview intact. 

When we talk about systemic racism, people often run to one of two extremes: either blaming every white person individually, or treating “the system” as some abstract, faceless ghost that nobody is personally responsible for. 

The truth is far more uncomfortable. 

Systemic racism is structural. It refers to the policies, institutional designs, and historical inertia that yield disparate outcomes across race, regardless of individual intent. It is how a Black police officer, operating within a system built on specific historical incentives, can participate in institutional brutality. The design of the machine transcends the color of the person operating it. 

However, recognizing the power of the system does not exonerate the white individual. 

The white individual sitting behind a keyboard may not single-handedly draft laws, set bank lending policies, or draw redlined district maps. They do not uphold the entire structural apparatus of systemic racism on their own. But it is their personal attitude—the cruelty, the willful denial, and the hostility that surfaces the moment Black excellence is mentioned—that fuels the engine. 

The system is what denies my rights, but it is the individual that denies my peace. 

Why does the simple assertion of Black joy or historical achievement provoke such irrational hostility? Because for those who have anchored their identity in a rigid racial hierarchy, Black progress is viewed through a zero-sum lens. If Black people built Greenwood—a 35-square-block district with its own luxury hotels, modern hospitals, banks, and legal practices where dollars circulated for nearly a year—then the myth of absolute white superiority collapses. 

Rather than adjust their worldview to accommodate the facts of Black achievement, it is psychologically easier for them to declare those facts “bullshit,” “exaggerations,” or “lies.” Aggression becomes a defensive armor to avoid the discomfort of unlearning. 

This is precisely why platforms like My Two Cents exist. 

The goal of documenting our history, celebrating our cultural traditions, and highlighting our achievements has never been about seeking permission, begging for validation, or picking a fight with strangers in a comment section. It is about grounding ourselves in truth. 

When people invade a space dedicated to Black positivity and lash out with unprovoked anger, they are demonstrating the exact individual cruelty that keeps racism alive on a human level. You do not get to claim innocence while actively fanning the flames of contempt. You do not get to pretend a thriving community was a “dirt road” just to preserve your own racial comfort. 

Ultimately, that rage is a confession. It reveals a deep-seated fear that if the myth of Black inferiority completely shatters, the foundation of unearned privilege crumbles with it. 

We cannot control every system designed to limit us, nor can we stop every hostile comment on the internet. But we have absolute control over our narrative. We will continue to gather at the family reunion. We will continue to honor the legacy of Greenwood and the countless inventors, thinkers, and builders who shaped this nation. We will continue to speak our history plainly—not to convince those determined to hate us, but to ensure our community and our children never forget who we are. 

The system can keep its barriers, and the trolls can keep their rage. Our peace, our history, and our joy belong strictly to us. 

A moving walkway is a great metaphor for systemic racism. This allegory is from Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum in her book “Why are all the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria?” Dr. Camara Jones extended the metaphor to include dismantling the system in her TED talk “Allegories on race and racism.”

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/4sw6VXGFA_4

#movies #airport #systemicRacism #racista #antiracism #racism #StandUpToRacism #FogoNosRacistas #AntiRacista #AntiFa

Steffi Love and Namor discuss W. E. B. Du Bois' "The Souls of Black Folk." #blackauthor #blackauthors #webdubois #bookdiscussion #discussion #blm #blacklivesmatter #civilrights #discrimination #enddiscrimination #endracism #racism #systemicracism #endsystemicracism #doubleconsciousness #jimcrow #jimcrowlaws #segregation #racialinjustice #marchforcivilrights #equality #identity #psychologicalconflict #racismiswrong #doll #dolls #dollcollector #dollcollectors #dollphotographer

Heads up.
Another in my excessively long rants, this time about weaponizing "Reported" incidents without considering WHO reports.

____

Toronto Police Service (TPS) has finally decided to get off their asses and investigate a racist incident from over a month ago.

https://www.tps.ca/media-centre/news-releases/65303/

This happened to someone I know, and I have been part of the team helping her navigate dealing with the cops since.

She was walking through The PATH, like thousands of other people do every single day, when a random racist asshole spit on her then started verbally abusing her.

First, she tried to get a screenshot of the footage showing the perpetrator's face from the security office, but they told her that they would only release footage to the police.

So after much discussion, the desire to get the images to inform other Black people in the area that this guy is out there meant that she needed to file the police report.

It only took a couple of days for the police to get the footage. We know this because they TOLD her they had it, but somehow, it took OVER A MONTH to get these stills to the public — and they would not give them to her directly.

Good luck finding the witnesses at this point, and having their recollections of the event go unchallenged in court, should it get there. 🖕🏾🖕🏾🖕🏾

https://www.cp24.com/local/toronto/2026/02/26/police-search-for-man-who-allegedly-hurled-anti-black-slurs-spat-at-someone-in-torontos-path-network

This is Secondary Victimization, and TPS does it ALL THE TIME.

I don't want to say that the officer in charge (OinC) this particular case dragged his feet intentionally, but sure FEELS like it's a practice of TPS to side with the racists.

• My Lazy Ass.
I've been dancing around getting into this topic for literally years, and I guess it's time. Most recently, it was the three day old incident referenced here:

"We have literally taken up warning marginalized people not to go into 52 during his shifts, because he is such an abusive dick. I just did this again 3 days ago."
https://kolektiva.social/@Gigi/115935207575196398

Here we go.

••••••••••••••••••••
"Hate Crime" Statistics:
Disparities in Reporting Ease
and Unseen Barriers Skew Public
Perception of Who is Being Targeted.
••••••••••••••••••••

Black people in Toronto face significant barriers when attempting to report hate crimes to the Toronto Police Service (TPS), leading to chronic underreporting and a conveniently distorted picture of anti-Black hate in "official statistics."

Official reports, independent inquiries, community accounts, and statistical patterns all show that the Toronto Police Service (TPS) does not provide equally accessible or responsive pathways for reporting hate incidents across all groups.

[I would like you to note that the above incident where the TPS put out a call for witnesses HAPPENED WELL OVER A MONTH AGO. ]

While TPS maintains general reporting mechanisms and acknowledges underreporting as a "broad issue," systemic barriers—particularly for Black communities—create those disparities in ease of reporting, classification, responsiveness, and outcomes especially when compared to some other groups (e.g., Jewish communities).

It's not a coincidence that they align with the biases of the cops themselves.

• The Stats.
Official TPS data for 2024 (the the most recent information available) shows 76 reported hate crimes motivated by anti-Black bias, ranking third behind anti-Jewish (177) and anti-2SLGBTQ+ (79) incidents.

Do you sincerely believe that only 76 black people in Toronto were accosted for racial reasons, whether verbally or physically, in the entire year of 2024? Consider that Toronto has more than twice as many Black people as Jewish people.

The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) has documented systemic racial discrimination, racial profiling, and anti-Black bias in TPS practices, including in use of force, stops, searches, and charging decisions. This fosters deep mistrust: many Black individuals perceive police as unresponsive or hostile to their victimization, leading to reluctance to report.

Victims may fear escalation, secondary victimization, or that their reports will be dismissed or mishandled, especially given historical patterns where police have ignored or downplayed anti-Black incidents while prioritizing others.

If you need further evidence of police bias in dealing with Black victims of hate crimes, check out the #paintgate hashtag here on Mastodon.

Or I can point you to my January 2025 blog post, which delineates my personal experience following the incident at a August 2023 solidarity march.

https://gigi.noblogs.org/post/2025/01/28/blackness-and-the-canadian-justice-system-an-unexpected-illustration/

Tl;dr After being doused in white paint by a white man (an act I documented), I was repeatedly ignored when seeking to report it—despite very visibly being covered in paint and possessing video proof.

(Quick acknowledgement that I WOULDN'T HAVE EVEN BOTHERED HAD THEY NOT ARRESTED TWO WRONG PEOPLE and I needed to get that corrected.)

Cops dismissed my attempts to file a report at the station claiming to be "too busy," yet they had managed to act swiftly on the white perpetrator's claim against unrelated people, including an Indigenous youth.

Only after viral social media pressure and attention did police arrest the assailant for public mischief.

It was also not counted among the hate incidents of 2023 because that classification relies on police discretion in report-writing, and they frequently choose to omit racial dynamics in order to further punish the victim.

Blackness renders us "invisible" to the system, unless we're being perceived as threatening.

The unwritten reality is that "help" is just not coming for Black or Indigenous victims, especially for "hate crimes".

#racism #SystemicRacism #policeDontKeepUsSafe #policeDontPreventCrime #FuckThePolice

Huge #OrangeShirt #memorial to honour all the native kids' lives lost in the cruel #ResidentialSchool system.
On the site of one of the worst in Canada - #Namgis territory, #AlertBay. It was called St. Michael's Indian Residential School. It was demolished in 2015. #Umista Cultural Center sits on the old site. #Indigenous peoples have reclaimed their land there & are trying to heal from colonial abuses.

We have racists in #Canada who are currently dishonouring the victims of residential schools by denying survivors' histories & saying mass graves are a lie. This is so wrong. We owe the ones who died & the living survivors support & reparations. Please don't let folks use denialism around you - confront them & stand up for the victims & survivors.

Relevant links:
https://collections.irshdc.ubc.ca/Detail/objects/518

https://orangeshirtday.org/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Michael%27s_Indian_Residential_School_(Alert_Bay)

https://www.umista.ca/

https://www.7generations.org/what-is-every-child-matters/

#IndigenousChildren #ColonialCrimes #ColonialViolence #ChurchAbuses #RacialViolence #IndigenousGenocide #EveryChildMatters #BelieveVictims #SupportSurvivors #NativeChildren #IndigenousChildren #ChildAbuse #ColonialCoverUps #TruthBeforeReconcilliation #Decolonization #DecolonizeYourMind #BritishColumbia #Canada #CrimesAgainstHumanity #CanadasGenocide #BChistory #CanadianHistory #StopRacism #SystemicRacism #SystematicAbuse

In Canada, the histories of residential school survivors are being challenged by a surge of denialism. Dismantling Denialism confronts those attempts to rewrite history — and explores what it will take to defend truth and reconciliation.

APTN Investigates: Dismantling Denialism | By Christopher Read

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=y-Pv8-99Sp4&list=WL&index=1&pp=gAQBiAQB

#APTNInvestigates #APTN #ShortDocs #HotDocs #CDNpoli #KKKanada #Colonialism #Documentary #DocFilm #Racism #Indigenous #ResidentialSchool #TruthBeforeReconcilliation #ColonialAbuses #ColonialCrimes #Injustices #ChildAbuse #IndigenousGenocide #NativeCanada #TruthAndJustice #Whitewashing #CrimesAgainstHumanity #IndigenousRights #HumanRights #Denialism #SystematicAbuse #SystemicRacism #EthnicCleansing #DecolonizeYourMind #Decolonization #BelieveVictims #SupportVictims

And it’s time for those who still claim “that’s not my party” to finally admit…yes, it is.

It always has been.

#MythOfWhiteMaleSupremacy #Mediocre #Reaganomics #RepublicanParty #NeverTrump #AntiRacism #PoliticalAccountability #SystemicRacism #AmericanHistory #WhiteMen #GoodWhiteFolx #ProfitWithoutOppression #KimCrayton

Plantations industrialised with capitalism.
Let's spin a sugary yarn 🧶

@economics @histodons @geography

#EstelleSays #sugar #tobacco #accumulation #racism #extractivism #landGrab #raceMaking #lineofColor #racialization #rapeCulture #systemicRacism #capitalism #whiteSupremacy #whiteFragility #Discovery #Encounter #Columbus #plantations #America #history #slavery #England #UnitedKingdom #GreatBritain #Bristol #Liverpool #London #decolonial #antiRacism #sweet #sweets #Caribbean #marketing #commOdon

This short #documentary highlights how the mechanism of #discrimination prevents foreign-trained #doctors from practicing in #Canada – even after they've received their #Canadian qualifications. Every year, scores of these doctors are turned down for the residencies they need in order to practice – and many of those residencies stay vacant. Through interviews with #medical professionals and #HumanRights advocates it becomes clear that #SystemicRacism is to blame. Strikingly, several doctors interviewed for this film would not speak on camera, fearing repercussions from the medical establishment. What is the real problem: the incompetence of foreign-trained doctors or the #injustice of the system?

https://www.nfb.ca/film/doctors-without-residency/

#Racism #HealthCare #CDNpoli #ForeignDoctors #MedicalResidency #DoctorsResidency #ShameOnCanada #ShortDocs #FilmDocs #NFB

This was real. It was from 2018 when Donald called African countries “shit holes.” And this is how you run a news publication.

I’m exhausted by the journalistic complacency about this not-normal fascist totalitarianism. The people with pens and paper MUST tell it like it is. We need more of this.

#Journalism #DailyNews #NYDailyNews #SystemicRacism #Fascism #Racism #Africa

#RESIST! #NAACP Sues #DepartmentOfEducation Over #DEI Rollbacks: Here's What To Know

The nation's oldest #CivilRights group says the Trump administration’s rollback of diversity and inclusion programs is unconstitutional and disproportionately harms #BlackStudents.

April 19, 2025

"The NAACP is suing the U.S. Department of Education over recent efforts to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs in schools. In a federal complaint filed in Washington, D.C., the organization alleges that the Department of Education’s recent directives are unconstitutional and discriminatory—particularly for Black students.

"The complaint faults the administration for targeting programs that offer '#truthful, #inclusive curricula,' as well as policies that expand access to selective educational opportunities for #BlackAmericans and foster belonging while addressing #racism in schools.

"The NAACP argues that the Department’s recent actions 'advance a misinterpretation' of federal civil rights laws and Supreme Court precedent—actions that, according to the group, violate its members’ rights to equal protection and to be free from viewpoint discrimination under the #USConstitution.

"NAACP President Derrick Johnson criticized the move, stating that the administration is 'effectively sanctioning' the very discrimination that U.S. civil rights laws were designed to prevent

" 'The Department of Education, tasked with a responsibility to protect the civil rights of all children, has instead claimed #SystemicRacism doesn’t exist — effectively sanctioning the very discrimination that our civil rights laws were designed to prevent while children of color consistently attend #segregated, chronically underfunded schools where they receive less educational opportunities and more discipline,' said Johnson."

Read more:
https://www.essence.com/news/naacp-sues-department-of-education-over-dei/?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us

#BlackLivesMatter #USPol #Resistance #TrumpIsARacist #CharacteristicsOfFascism

The exhibit is a collection of artwork created after Chicago artists watched the body camera footage of the wrongful police raid at Anjanette Young’s home.
via #thetribe on #bluesky

https://thetriibe.com/2025/03/anjanette-youngs-new-exhibit-at-the-dusable-museum-showcases-the-trauma-of-black-women-victimized-by-police/

#museum #exhibition #blackvoices #policeviolence #racism #blackwomen #poc #pocvoices #bipoc #bipocvoices #blackartists #violence #acab #blacktrauma #blackhistory #chicago #blackhistorymuseum #copviolence #institutionalracism #systemicracism #institutionalviolence #blm #blacklivesmatter

#Phoenix #police use #ExcessiveForce & racially #discriminate, #DOJ says

#PHXPD routinely uses excessive force & discriminates against #Black, #Hispanic [ #Latino] & #NativeAmerican [ #indigenous] people, part of a broad pattern of unconstitutional policing in America.

#Justice investigators also found that the PHXPD violates the rights of the #homeless, improperly arresting them & destroying their #property.

#law #CivilRights #SystemicRacism
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/06/13/justice-department-phoenix-police-force/

Peel police receive initial 64 recommendations to address systemic racism https://bit.ly/3O70rI5 #PeelPolice #Racism #Police #SystemicRacism #PeelRegion #onpoli @ontariogreens @onpoli

Read the Complete #Justice Department’s #Report on the #Minneapolis #Police Department here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1587661/download

#DOJ #discrimination #GeorgeFloyd #MinneapolisPoliceReport #MPD #CivilRights #bias #racism #SystemicRacism #MentalHealthStigma #Law #LawEnforcement

…the #DOJ excoriated the #Minneapolis #police as an agency that put officers &residents at unnecessary risk& failed to act on repeated warnings about #bias…
the rpt criticizes the #MPD for: using “dangerous tactics & weapons”—incl’g neck restraints &Tasers—against people for #petty offense or no crimes; #punishing residents who criticized the police; patrolling differently based on race;& #discriminating against those w/ #behavioral #health disabilities (sic).
#SystemicRacism #MentalHealthStigma

“Our investigation found that the systemic problems in MPD made what happened to George Floyd possible,” the #DOJ report stated.

The #Minneapolis #Police Dept engaged in the #systemic use of #ExcessiveForce & #discriminated against #racial minorities in the years leading up to the police killing of #GeorgeFloyd…, federal authorities said Fri.

#MinneapolisPoliceReport #MPD #CivilRights #bias #racism #SystemicRacism #MentalHealthStigma #Justice
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/06/16/minneapolis-police-report-doj/