Re: Racism in The Bahamas
I think a lot of people are joining the conversation without acknowledging that a lot of the participants don't know what racism is or what it looks like, particularly in a majority Black country. They have an idea, but don't really know. Start there.

1. Race is a social construct. It was created to give a group of people power over another group of people. It was used to determine who gets to be seen and treated as a person.

I started with this because it's important to have this as a foundation for when we talk racism.

2. Race being a social construct doesn't mean it is not real. It has become an identity marker.
As an example, gender is a social construct. People decided which people should behave in which way. They used sex -- "biological" -- to make these decisions...

...but sex is also a social construct. Someone decided that reproductive organs -- with heavy dependence on what is visible outside the body -- are a significant determinant of our place in the world.

3. People will try to tell you race is biological, and that's it. It's not that simple. Yes, having Black parents results in you being Black... Racially. It is still a social construct. It was created, named, and used to make assumptions about people.

4. With the understanding that race is
a) not (just) biological, and
b) a social construction
we see that race is the basis of a judgment, an assumption, an assignment.
You are Black, therefore you...
You are Latinx, therefore you...

5. Narratives become reality through experiences that limit choice and opportunity.
Person is Black, therefore this person must... is... cannot...
This person's access and experience in the world is predetermined by their race.

The person is restricted. This means their outcomes are restricted.
Let's talk to the hot example of St. Andrew's School. The school built for white people trying to avoid integration.

Black person is Black. Kidnapped. Enslaved. Inability to build wealth.

Descendants struggle day to day while people who are not Black, enslavers, have wealth accumulated -- proceeds of slavery.

Descendants are Black. Education limited by money. Struggle. Earn. Save. Try to give Black children better. Fight to get them in the best school.

Remember, race is a social construct that serves to limit opportunities. It is more difficult for a Black person to send their child to a private school. They manage it. White people decide to build another school. They can't just keep Black people out, so they set a high price.

This is racism. It is a calculated act with the purpose of excluding Black people. It's the slick racism we often see in The Bahamas. "We didn't say Black children couldn't attend!"
Maybe not, but you set a price Black people couldn't reach. Intentionally.

6. Racism is an act of power. It limits opportunity (among other things). White people had the resources to build another school and the ability to set a price they could easily pay, but Black people could not.

I can do this to you because I have a power you cannot match.

7. When the opportunities are limited, Black people are relegated -- because of their race -- to the subpar, the leftover, the not-good-enough. Until they can create better for themselves OR it becomes useful for the white people to do it and paint themselves as benevolent.

"Your child can come here! They just need to be an exceptional student. We have scholarships, just for children like yours."

Jump. Higher. Oh, wait, no, I meant THROUGH THIS HOOP.

Look at you! Through the hoop! Someone get a camera. Capture this Black child. Put it on Facebook.

8. When the opportunities are restricted, the outcomes "prove" the narrative. This is how stereotyping happens.

Women do all the housework. Okay, but why? Because (white) men worked, (white) women did not, so they took care of the home.

When everyone started work, women cont'd to do the housework because by then, it was branded at women's work. Not because women are biologically better suited to it. It was a matter of circumstance, become a norm, and is now a stereotype. Women are "supposed to" do the housework.

9. Back to racism. It isn't about the numbers. Being a majority Black country does not decrease racism. It hides it in plain sight AND it makes you too uncomfortable to see it, much less talk about it. That's that power! Doing double, triple, quadruple duty.

"I don't like you because you're white." That's not racism. That's prejudice. I can not like you all day long. I can't do shit to limit your opportunities. You have access. Connections. Probably wealth or close links to it. Prejudice is uncomfortable, but it ain' ga kill you.

Racism is an act that recognizes the power of the racist person to limit the opportunities and access of the person they are acting against.

Recall the video of Amy Cooper. She is a racist, she knows her power. She spoke with authority. Threatened with authority. Then performed.

10. Black people do not hold the power it would take to be racist against white people.

Oh, but what if you's the manager and I white and you fire me?

In that case, I hold a different kind of power. Not race. And your race can still save you because the people over me? Yours.

11. But what about reverse racism?
Not a thing. Black people can choose not to fuck with white people, and ya know what? FAIR. So what? How are you harmed? Short answer: You're not.
Race and class are inextricably linked and this concentrate power into the hands of white people.

Again, racism requires power. The person with the power can be racist and carry out racist acts. The person with the least amount of power cannot.

There is a lot more to it, but that's all I'm doing for now.

Note: Some people retweeted the first tweet before I made it a thread. Every RT is not endorsement in any case, but be clear that RTs before 11:53pm were for the first tweet and not the entire thread.

Adding to 5.

5. Narratives become reality through experiences that limit choice and opportunity
ADD:
and determine outcome.

E.g. Narrative that Black ppl aren't smart becomes "reality" when we miss school (exp) b/c no uniforms (limit opp), and then we fail exams (outcome).

12. "But I'm white, and no one ever thinks I'm a Bahamian."
Okay...
Congratulations.
I know when you walk into any establishment, people come to help you. When you come through LPIA, you get waved through the non-resident line.
What you want us to do for you, luckypants?

If your biggest struggle is that people don't recognize you as a Bahamian on sight bc you're white, I really don't have the time or interest. No Black Bahamian should. What you try to present as something akin to oppression is actually a privilege in more cases than it is not.

And I confidently say this as a Bahamian who, at a certain point in my life, was frequently mistaken for a tourist. The reception. The service. DIFFERENT. Until I say, "I from here," so they can save their lil accent. SWITCH.
(Might address this issue more fully another time.)