Online social justice champions go on and on about the crimes of white imperialism and conservatism while bigoted keyboard warriors complain about disorderly ethnic minorities and reverse racism. What do these schools of thought have in common? Both are not doing anything to create a positive future. Am I the only one who believes that progress is synonymous with coexistence? It seems I stand alone because a lot of the politically conscious black brethren I know regard my way of thinking as ‘self-hatred’.

 

I am all for equality and I am all for the empowerment of black people. But honestly, we need to approach the debate from an angle of achieving coexistence as a united people whether black, white or blue. Some black people seek to achieve equality by creating exclusive spaces where they can empower each other. While this can indeed be positive, isn’t it a paradox to strive for coexistence while excluding most of those you exist next to?

 

“My reading into personal accounts of the suffering that people of colour have faced throughout history wrought so much emotion from me that it gave me stomach pain and physical tremors.”

 

We cry all the time about European imperialism and the crimes of the British empire. I know of them too well; I studied colonial history for a year as part of my degree. My reading into personal accounts of the suffering that people of colour have faced throughout history wrought so much emotion from me that it gave me stomach pain and physical tremors. Nonetheless I cannot find it in my being to dislike white people or Britain for that matter. While some of the institutions remain, those who colonised my people are all dead. Why would I waste my energy projecting the hatred of my ancestors onto others? Isn’t a better use of my limited time on this planet to help create a future without hatred?

 

Personally, I try and focus on what I’m passionate about and what will contribute to making the world a better place. I simply do not have the time, nor the patience to sit around and engage in this eternal blame game. It makes me rather sad when I see black people who generally dislike white people. I understand it all too well, but blaming other people for your own lack of achievement will always hinder progress. Unless you plan to dismantle the entire democratic capitalist system created by white Europeans and build it anew, I wouldn’t waste your time complaining about white privilege. It’s obvious to me that white privilege will exist in a predominantly white country. Focusing on moulding it into a system that benefits everyone is a much better use of your energy in my opinion. Surely the happiness of generations to come can only be achieved through the utter abandonment of stagnant thinking.

 

“[Our] future vibrancy depends increasingly on our collective ability to invest in one another without attending to the socially constructed meanings of skin-deep particulars.” – Jermaine Singleton

 

I am a proud black man. I am educated, I know my history and I have stood among my people in Sierra Leone. When you cast your gaze over the poverty and corruption in third world countries often caused by historic Western imperialism, you can’t help but feel angry. But understand that hating isn’t going to stop children from starving. Understand that hating will only ensure that they continue to starve. Yet we sit around arguing about who should be held accountable for what.

 

Does racism in modern times exist? Well of course. I grew up in America and have experienced more racism than the average black person in the United Kingdom probably has. However, I recognise that I simply can’t do anything about people fixed in their backwards thinking; I can only educate myself and future generations. It is obvious that racism hinders progression but as people of colour, we must be careful not to let grudges hinder progression as well. We can achieve much when we are united. Divided we will ultimately destroy each other. It is enough to educate yourself and know your history without weaponizing it for the sake of argument. One love.