Standing Against White Supremacy

Art by Misha Zadeh via Amplfier.Org

Gilroy. Dayton. El Paso. The news of these horrible massacres has weighed deeply on all of us. Last week, in Mississippi, we bore witness to the largest US immigration raid in a decade—nearly 700 lives violently interrupted, families that will be ripped at the seams, and communities left broken. We stand in solidarity with the Black and Brown communities that have been targeted and terrorized and everyone else who has been affected. 

We’re witnessing bursts of violence stemming from a toxic ideology that’s been at the root of American life since its inception. We have to be real about the fact that while the current rhetoric and policies coming directly from the Trump administration, his cronies, and enablers are animating these domestic terrorists, the roots of this violence run much deeper than that.

The myth of white supremacy and the project of white nationalism go hand in hand. One lies to us and tells us that white culture, beliefs, and lives are more valuable; inherently better. The other puts that lie into action: dehumanizing, deporting, and destroying human lives in pursuit of a nation looking to define itself by its whiteness.

We’ve also seen how, like tentacles from the same creature, misogyny, anti-Semitism, homophobia, and other forms of hatred stem from white supremacy and intertwine. These dangerous ideas sharpen themselves against each other to inflict even more pain. We can’t deal with one issue without confronting the whole monster.

If we’re serious about uprooting the hatred that’s feeding this violence, we need to acknowledge the reality of how these ideologies play out every day in our homes, our communities, workplaces, and institutions. Nonprofits can be a space for staff, board, members, and clients to make direct connections between their missions and the root causes of inequities. 

We can commit to moving past the complicity of silence. We can step out of a false sense of neutrality to call for needed policy change. We can interrupt racism everywhere we see it. We can support and center the voices and leaders who have been doing the work of challenging oppression in all its forms since forever. It won’t be all that's needed to make this violence stop, but it’s a fundamental start. 

In solidarity,
The CompassPoint Team

 

Organizations and relief efforts
you can amplify and support

(Add your own suggestions in the comments): 
 

California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance (California) 
Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants (California)
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (California / National)
SouthEast Immigrant Rights Network (SouthEast including Mississippi)
Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance (Mississippi)
Raices (Texas)
Immigrant Defense Project (National)
National Immigration Law Center - Know Your Rights Information (National)
Mijente (National) 

Gilroy Garlic Festival Victims Relief Fund (Gilroy, CA)
How to help those affected by the shooting in Dayton, Ohio (Dayton, OH)
How to help victims of the El Paso and Dayton mass shootings (El Paso, TX / Dayton, OH)

Youth Over Guns (New York / National)