Rep. Genevieve Mina is the incoming chairwoman of the Alaska House Health and Social Services Committee as the Democrats take over the Alaska House of Representatives, with the crossover of two Republicans — Chuck Kopp and Louise Stutes.
Alaskans may thus be interested in Rep. Mina’s 2017 musings on Facebook, in which she berated white people and said they cannot do enough to undo their inherent racism. Voters may reflect on how she will conduct her committee, as she take over from current chair, Republican Mike Prax of North Pole:
What can I do to help after #Charlottesville? It’s not enough to say “racists are bad!” Everyone needs to take action, especially if you are white. Even though there aren’t any formal white supremacy organizations in Alaska (thank God) or Confederate monuments in Anchorage (that would be confusing), implicit white supremacy still reigns. It is important to ALWAYS be vigilant to counteract oppression.
To fight fascism is to uphold the rights of marginalized individuals, act against oppressive policies, and diminish the fire of white supremacist organizations. Also understand that the fight is intersectional, and to help people of color weaves with the fight to help women, the LGBTQ community, people with disabilities, immigrants, refugees, and other countless groups. There are a huge range of things you can do to be an ally, from simple education and awareness, to conversation and activism. Here’s a couple of things I can suggest:
1.) Self-reflect: Think about what you have done to fight racism. Not just explicit racism or people saying derogatory terms, but implicit racism. Do you stay quiet when friends who are standing for POC are getting dismissed in conversation or online? Do you read about the problems of POC in the news? Are you aware about the concerns of your friends who are POC or are marginalized in our society? Do you understand that white supremacy exists beyond neo-Nazis? Do you recognize that racism exists not just in racists, but as an entire system of oppression?
2.) Educate yourself: The first step to helping people of color, and to fight fascism, is to understand the privilege white people have in our modern day. Read works by POC talking about systemic oppression. I like the works of Ta-Nehisi Coates, specifically his book “Between the World and Me”, and his essay about a case for reparations (https://www.theatlantic.com/…/the-case-for-reparati…/361631/). His writings, as well as James Baldwin, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Sherman Alexie, and others, do a great job elucidating how racism manifests as an entire system which oppresses the lives of people of color, and uplifts white people in our society.
3.) Have the difficult conversation with white people around you: When someone makes a racist joke, call them out. If someone victim-blames a black man who is unjustly killed by the police, or states that “all lives matter”, explain the complete discrepancy of the loss of black bodies due to the police, or due to incarceration rates. When someone tries to negate the racial aspect of Charlottesville by pointing at the tactics of other activists across the political aisle, redirect the conversation back to the fact that there are Americans who are actively trying to create a white nation in 2017.
People who have fascist or racist ideas in their head aren’t just neo-Nazis. They are your friends on Facebook sharing racist memes in isolation, your family members at Thanksgiving, your classmates, your co-workers, the folks you drink with at the bar – systemic racism is everywhere.
Having these conversations is incredibly important especially if you are white, because you frankly have more leverage and accessibility to these people than me or other POC. Some people who have racist thoughts are simply ignorant about oppressive policies which have upheld white supremacy. Some people are incredibly stubborn about ignoring the aspect of race, and wish to generalize every prejudice as wrongful. Some people are unwilling to wake up from the American Dream, and face the scars of their country. But in order to stop racism and fascism, you need to make people around you realize the problem of race in our society.
4.) Show up: Go to rallies, protests, and community events. I know there’s a candlelight vigil this Sunday for those in Anchorage who may be interested.(https://www.facebook.com/events/870612609759793/). Some people doubt the power of protests, but the mere action of showing up creates a solidarity in our community against hatred, and strengthens a support for marginalized individuals. And don’t only show up after a tragedy. Community council meetings and assembly meetings happen all the time, and the key to stopping hate from growing is to be consistently proactive about problems in our community.
5.) Get involved in groups and activism: Volunteering and taking time out of your day can take a variety of forms. I personally am involved in the Alaska Young Democrats, and I lead the UAA College Democrats. The current issue AKYD is working on is to help the ACLU Nationwide fight against a bathroom bill that will be on the 2018 ballot measure. You also can get involved with Catholic Social Services-Anchorage, AK, which helps with refugee assistance and homelessness. You can even volunteer at Food Bank of Alaska! There’s so many organizations to choose from!!! Getting involved in your community improves our society, widens our social network, and strengthens our relationships with each other.
6.) Support anti-fascist organizations: If you have money, you can donate to a couple of groups. Here are a few I found:
-“Life After Hate”, founded by former neo-Nazis, reaches out to white supremacists and de-radicalizes potential violent extremists (https://publicgood.com/…/camp…/help-life-after-hate-fight-on).
-“Solidarity C’Ville” directly helps the Charlottesville activists who organized against the “Unite the Right” protest last weekend (http://solidaritycville.com/donate/).
–https://medium.com/…/what-to-do-about-charlottesville-dfc7d… is a longer list of Charlottesville-specific organizations.
I welcome any other suggestions! Only YOU can prevent fascism and stop white supremacy!
