I also grew up in rural Canada and didn't understand what racism looked like because I was white, and was surrounded by white people. but I was being taught racist thoughts, behaviours, and beliefs that while time. https://twitter.com/tsnotoole/status/1266871839994896385

conversations abt race in canada constantly have to fight a second battle to white comfort and complacency – against the popular mythos of canada as a cultural mosaic, the multicultural promised land, full of nothing but tolerance. but it is a lie told to uphold white supremacy.

the reality is that even if you didn't witness it, either because you lived in an all-white community or because you chose not to or even just bc u didn't recognize it when it happened, it was still around you the whole time, shaping your beliefs, worldview, and sense of self.

racism isn't a single act, it's structures, it's beliefs, it's thought patterns and behaviours that we don't even realize we have. and undoing it involves as much internal reflection as external action. listen. read Black writers. follow Black activists. donate.

but also talk to your fellow white people. now, more than ever, have the unbearably awkward conversations with your family and friends, bc even that awkwardness is a privilege. ur worried about making family dinners tense, Black people are worried abt being murdered by the police

if you want to learn more abt the reality of anti-Black state violence in Canada I recommend Policing Black Lives by Robyn Maynard, because anti-Blackness is not and has never been limited to a single country. https://fernwoodpublishing.ca/book/policing-black-lives