The problem is that white people see racism as conscious hate, when racism is bigger than that.
Racism is a complex system of social and political levers and pulleys set up generations ago to
continue working on the behalf of whites at other people’s expense, whether whites know/like it or
not. Racism is an insidious cultural disease. It is so insidious that it doesn’t care if you are a
white person who likes black people; it’s still going to find a way to infect how you deal with
people who don’t look like you. Yes, racism looks like hate, but hate is just one manifestation.
Privilege is another. Access is another. Ignorance is another. Apathy is another. And so on. So
while I agree with people who say no one is born racist, it remains a powerful system that we’re
immediately born into. It’s like being born into air: you take it in as soon as you breathe. It’s
not a cold that you can get over. There is no anti-racist certification class. It’s a set of
socioeconomic traps and cultural values that are fired up every time we interact with the world. It
is a thing you have to keep scooping out of the boat of your life to keep from drowning in it. I
know it’s hard work, but it’s the price you pay for owning everything.

            -Scott Woods


We cannot educate white women and take them by the hand. Most of us are willing to help but we can’t
do the white woman’s homework for her. That’s an energy drain. More times than she cares to
remember, Nellie Wong, Asian American feminist writer, has been called by white women wanting a list
of Asian American women who can give readings or workshops. We are in danger of being reduced to
purvey­ors of resource lists.

            -Gloria Anzaldúa

The police can go to downtown Harlem and pick up a kid with a joint in the streets. But they can’t
go into the elegant apartments and get a stockbroker who’s sniffing cocaine.
    
            -Noam Chomsky

There are a lot of readers who pride themselves on not paying attention to the identities of their
favorite writers. Some of them think this means they’re not prejudiced. I don’t know anyone who
isn’t, myself included. But let’s say for argument’s sake that those particular readers in fact are
not prejudiced. How many books by writers of color do you think you’ll find on their bookshelves?
I’d lay odds that if there are any at all, they will be far outnumbered by the books by white
authors. Not necessarily because those readers are deliberately choosing mostly white/male authors.
They don’t have to. The status quo does it for them. So those readers’ self-satisfied “I don’t know”
is really an “I don’t care enough to look beyond my nose.” And that’s cool. So many causes, so
little time. But don’t pretend that indifference and an unwillingness to make positive change
constitute enlightenment.
    
            -Nalo Hopkinson