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Testimonies: Becoming Aware of Racism

Sometimes you think you are really aware of a thing and then something happens, and you realize, you really didn't know it all. There was a time in my life when I may have been a racist. Some of the behaviors I engaged in with others, on occasion, could've been considered as such by default. On occasion, we all may have some propensity to be one. And it takes real courage and a concerted effort for me not to become even close to being considered one again. It takes even more these days to remain aware of the racist tendencies around me.

We all live in a black and white world, you know. And I believe we are all capable of being a racist. It's neither noble nor hard to do. Racism is the worst side of us expressing itself thru hate for ourselves and our fellowman. But the best side of us, that which God intended when he made us all-different as we may be,-is to love all people as we love ourselves and practice it daily. Now that's the hard part for all of us-especially so for a racist.

I am an African American woman, over forty, living in American. No one lives here for long without becoming aware of racism, or experiencing its affects in their lives, or the lives of someone they know or love. Be them rich, poor, good, bad, and unfortunately even young. And it's ugly. Believe it or read the research and find out the truth for yourself on the matter. Racism can negatively affect a person's health in multiple ways: psychologically, physically and spiritually; and the racial biases that prevail in the health care industry because of it, contribute even greater. Just the stress of the experiences of discrimination and the acceptance of the societal stigma of inferiority can have deleterious consequences for one's health. [Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 896:173-188 (1999)]. Higher disease rates, mental disorders, higher mortality rates, pre-mature births, and a host of other illnesses and conditions brought about due to socio-economic and educational disadvantages resulting from systemic and individual racism which we should all be aware exist.

I guess you could say I have always known racism existed; therefore, I have always been aware of it. Not true. That may be true for some, but what was not always true for me (and maybe for you too perhaps), is being aware of my own racism and how the world around me perpetuated its continued existence. Who hasn't heard a derogatory joke or racial comment where one race or group

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