Educating Yourself About Anti-Racism Part 4: True Allies sacrifice their privilege to be Anti-Racist

Announcer: This is The ARCC of Change with Donzel Leggett, a podcast from the Anti-Racism Commitment Coalition, an organization dedicated to eradicating racism and hate and spreading anti-racism. Listen as Donzel talks about the relevant topics that will inspire you and help build your capability to take action and change the world. Because none of us are doing enough as long as racism still exists. And now, here's your host, Donzel Leggett.

Donzel Leggett: Hello and welcome to the 11th episode of The ARCC of Change with Donzel Leggett. In this episode, I will conclude my review of Step 2 of the ARCC Process for Personal Transformation, Educating Yourself About Anti-Racism, by explaining how anti-racists must willingly sacrifice their privilege to be true allies who are ready to build the courage and confidence needed in Step 3 to take action and continually spread anti-racism. And I'll also welcome in fellow ARCC member Dan Maus to share his anti-racism transformation journey. Now let's get started with our show.

So I am Donzel Leggett, host of The ARCC of Change podcast and founder of the Anti-Racism Commitment Coalition, or ARCC. Now, at ARCC, our vision is to build a racism-free world. And our mission is to provide the inspiration, education, and support for you to transform, practice, and spread anti-racism. Now, this begins with our personal transformation process to anti-racism. So, three-step process. And the first step is erasing your ignorance about racism and hate. Step two is about educating yourself about what anti-racism is all about. And step three is all about building the character and confidence to stand up, speak out, and take action to spread anti-racism.

Now, I've spent the last several episodes detailing this process. I provided an overview of my anti-racism transformation. I then covered Step 1, and spent the last three episodes on Step 2. And on this episode, I will conclude my focus on Step 2, which is again, educating yourself about anti-racism.

Now I wanna start this episode by talking about something that we've all been going through over the last year and a half. And that's the global pandemic of COVID-19, but also here in the United States, the pandemic of racism and social injustice. Now, the global pandemic of COVID-19 changed the way we interact, both socially and professionally. For those who are essential workers, I want to personally thank you because you had to brave this new world, this environment that none of us had any experience dealing with, and find ways to help us as society get through it. I also want to send a big thank you to all of our health workers who had to do the same thing and put themselves on the line every day to take care of the rest of us. And as I said, all of us had to find ways to interact differently. Many of us found ways to stay connected with our family in ways we had not done before. Weddings, birthdays, family reunions—people found ways to do these things virtually. We found ways to stay connected with our friends and our social groups, have meetings and gatherings virtually, things we would have never thought we could do over hundreds and thousands of miles before. And those of us who were fortunate enough to be able to work from home, to do and attend virtual work meetings, work team meetings, board meetings, even civic group meetings in church and other worship services, all virtually. Many of us got a crash course on Zoom and Teams, Global Meet, group FaceTime, and other virtual hosting sites. And as time progressed, we started adjusting to conducting life in this new way. You know, regular team meetings that would usually be in person were now remote. But we found ways to make them effective, more open, more conscious of topics that were sensitive to what's going on in our communities, our countries, and the world. We developed Zoom etiquette. We got used to kids being in the background, dogs barking. We provided a choice for whether people wanted their cameras on or off, depending on what time it was and what's going on in their house. Ways to ensure that everyone could talk, especially in family gatherings.

You get all the family on those Zoom meetings, it's hard to get a word in edgewise. We figured out ways to use breakout rooms with meetings, interactive tools like polls and annotation, all sorts of things, reactions, thumbs up, applause. We found ways to get everyone to feel more comfortable to engage, share, and discuss their thoughts, especially on difficult topics. Topics like the other crises here in the United States that I talked about earlier. The crisis of racial and social injustice. Finding ways to use things like icebreakers to literally break the ice, the silence, so that people have the confidence and the openness to have conversations about race and racial injustice to open the minds for learning. In other words, we started trying to bring together the ability to deal with both the global pandemic as well as take the opportunity to drive learnings and address the crisis of racial injustice at the same time.

I remember in one such meeting that I attended last year, that the people that were in the meeting were mostly white professionals. There were a few of us who are people of color. I was the only African-American that attended. But we had been following this process, again, leveraging virtual technology due to the pandemic, but also using this opportunity to start discussing racial injustice. And this was not very long after George Floyd's murder. So we felt that it was important to start to proactively raise the awareness of the collective group and to have very candid conversations. Because many in this group, in fact, all of them in this group had described themselves as allies, racial allies. Now, we had an icebreaker in this meeting. And again, this icebreaker was to literally break the ice, to break the silence, the discomfort, to get everyone to engage in an open manner, to discuss different perspectives. And sometimes you use some interesting questions to bring out different perspectives. Well, in this case, the facilitator chose an icebreaker. That was a question in which he wanted everyone to respond in the chat. In Zoom, there's a section where you can type in a written response. Everyone can see it. And he said, hey, I'm looking for who has what the most common responses to this, what's the most different and what's the most creative, that type of thing. And the question was: What if you were arrested with no explanation? What would your family assume you had done? So people started responding in the chat. Five quickly responded in the chat, speeding. That's what they would assume. One person responded, they'd assume that I was pulled over because I had personally pulled over to sleep rather than drive tired. Another person said, they would respond that I was probably drunk driving. Another person responded that they would assume it was probably something from my past that caught up with me. Another responded, it would be that I under-declared at customs bringing something more back than I put on the paper from outside the country. Another one said it would be that I was smuggling wine. That's what they would think. And another one said, my family would think that I had taken cookies from the cookie jar. Cute little answer. I responded in the chat, what is true? My family would worry first and foremost, whether I had been killed or was going to be killed. They would not be thinking about what I had done because they would assume I hadn't done anything. They would assume that I had been targeted and racially profiled and that my life was in danger. That's what I typed in the chat. The facilitator said, hey, we have a winner, speeding. It's the most common response. We got five people that responded speeding. But smuggling wine and taking cookies from the cookie jar are really creative answers. They're really different. We have to vote for what's the most different and what's the most creative. Facilitator never said one word about my response. In fact, no one said anything about my response. No one even put anything in the chat about my response. But they did comment on the other answers and there was giggling and talking. They then went so far as to take the vote and judge that taking cookies from the cookie jar was the most creative and different response. Although this team saw themselves as allies, they clearly demonstrated a lack of what a true ally actually is. This is partly because the word has been hijacked by the mainstream and by corporate America as a buzzword to provide a badge or credentials for people who accept diversity, equity, and inclusion. They tolerate it and seek to empathize, emotionally support, and provide hope for people of color or other marginalized groups mainly at work. But it does not demand that they take accountability to take real actions to drive change. To even ask the tough questions or acknowledge what's been said. If one of them was a true ally, they might have said something like, "Wow, we have to acknowledge and recognize the stark difference between our reality and Donzel's reality when it comes to being stopped by the police. Clearly to us, this was a funny question, one that we could make light of. But to Donzel, this is a dead serious question." They could have said, "I missed this and I commit to doing some research to learn about this. To understand the deep disparities that exist in our country in terms of police treatment of people of color, in particular African-Americans, so I can be more informed about what I can do about it. And I will commit to sharing what I learned with all of you." That's what a true ally could have done and would have done. Look, no one expects us to know everything about everything. No one expects you to know everything about everything. But as an ally, we are at least expected to acknowledge, to voice our acknowledgement publicly, to voice our commitment to learn publicly, our commitment to support, and most importantly, our commitment to doing something publicly.

Several weeks ago, we had another meeting with this same group. This was the day before the Derek Chauvin verdict in the murder of George Floyd. The meeting facilitator talked about the expected verdict coming later that day and said that we all had to be prepared to be good allies, either way the verdict goes. Again, this was the same exact group from the meeting last year. I then spoke up and explained that the current definition of ally is incorrect. And that if we're going to say everyone's got to be a good ally, I want to make sure they understand what we're talking about. Because that definition is wrong. It's been changed to make it softer and more acceptable for the mainstream by not requiring action. It allows people to claim that they're allies by saying they empathize with people. They emotionally supported people by reaching out. By talking to a person of color and saying, I'm sorry, I empathize with you. My heart goes out to you. But by not taking any real action or saying anything publicly, acknowledging where they stand publicly, because all of that would jeopardize their privilege to fully and publicly engage. I said, look, if this verdict is not guilty, no one wants to hear you say I'm sorry. They want to know what are you going to do to change this cruel injustice. And if the verdict is guilty, they want to know as allies, do you understand that this is just one small step to accountability? But obviously, we got a tremendously long way to go. And we need everyone to work even harder to address the bigger issue of systemic racism that created this situation. I said to them that allies sacrifice their privilege publicly. To take action and break down structural and systemic racism and support and defend the marginalized. And they push themselves to continually learn, holding themselves accountable to do the research and not put that pressure on a person of color to teach them. And they push themselves to take action because they know that racism will not be eradicated without allies standing up and doing real work. I told them that allies are anti-racist, not non-racist. I then reminded the group of the icebreaker from several months earlier. I recounted the entire story and reminded them that although all of them call themselves allies, not one of them said one word during that meeting or after that meeting when I explained what my reality would be if the police stopped me. What my family would be thinking. Not one of them, I reminded them, were willing to sacrifice their privilege that allows them to not have to deal with racism. Again. Again. After me explaining all of that to the team, no one said anything. No acknowledgment. No commitment. No anything. One person did email me the next day and said, "Donzel, I remember the icebreaker from the meeting last year. And I remember your comment and feeling despair around that reality. But you're right. I didn't ask any follow-up questions. I didn't say what I was going to do. I'm glad you pointed it out. Like many things in life, when we know better, we do better. And this is no exception for me. It also reminded me of other issues you've raised and personal examples you've shared to help me and others to see. I appreciate your perspective and continue to be grateful that you share and lead with it."

Great letter. I appreciate it. And I give this person credit for taking the time to write it and send it. But again, this person still didn't say anything in the meeting to publicly acknowledge so that the rest of the folks in that group could understand the allyship that they were not stepping up to. This person could have also copied the rest of the group on the email that was sent to me, but didn't do that. This person also could have committed to doing something different in the letter going forward and that didn't happen. This person never committed to doing something about what they heard, whether it's increasing learning or taking action going forward. Remember, privilege is a special right, an advantage or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group. Privilege is about having access to special benefits that are denied others. It does not mean that you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth. It doesn't mean that you've never had troubles, that you've never been hurt, or you've never had problems. It doesn't mean that you have not had to work your butt off to work hard, that you've faced significant struggles and overcome them in your life. It simply means that you have access to special benefits that others don't have.

White privilege allows white people the special benefit that white supremacist culture provides. And at minimum, this benefit is that if you're white, you simply can choose to not see, to not think about or deal with or have to experience racism. A white person can, yes, go to a Black Lives Matter protest as an ally, carry a flag proudly and protest with me shoulder to shoulder. But when we go home, that white person has a choice. They can choose to put their flag in their trunk of their car, not put up a sign, not have anything visible that ties them to that movement or ties them to their support. They can just blend back in. I can't do that. In other words, a white person can choose when, how, and if they want to sacrifice their white privilege. I don't have that choice. I have a lot of privileges. I'm a cisgender man. I have a great job. I had a great education. But the fact of the matter is I am still black. I don't have the privilege of just blending in. Those people who are in that meeting had the privilege to simply ignore what I said. Because they don't have to deal with it if they don't want to. They don't have to think about it if they don't want to. They don't have to talk about it if they don't want to. They don't have to experience it if they don't want to. They could just ignore it and maintain their privilege. Acknowledging it would have meant that their ignorance would be challenged. So silence was the weapon to protect their ignorance. To protect their privilege. To not have to take accountability to stand up, to speak out, to do something. Or at minimum, simply to have a conversation. That's not allyship. Recognizing your white privilege and being willing to sacrifice it and take action to do something about it is the path to anti-racism. It's what allyship truly is all about. I saw a great example of this just a few days later from someone I don't even know. I was having my second vaccination shot. And the best thing about getting vaccinated was not the fact that I was protected from COVID-19. It was the experience I had at the Mall of America surrounded by hundreds of people. And I saw this one guy, huge guy, like 6'7", over 300 pounds, white guy, long, thick beard, dressed in all black. I could only see him from the back and the side at first. He looked like a biker type. He looked like the kind of guy that might have been at the January 6th insurrection. I got to be honest. That's what was going through my mind. But when this guy turned around and I saw what he was wearing—the t-shirt and what it said—it completely uplifted my spirits. As an African-American. And in Minneapolis, just minutes away from where George Floyd was killed. It said, "I don't drink beer with racists. I support Black Lives Matter." A simple shirt, about 10 words on the shirt, but it had a bigger impact on me and anyone else who saw that shirt. It is not that complicated to be anti-racist and be a true ally, but it takes courage and selflessness to sacrifice privilege, whether it's white privilege or social privilege, economic privilege, status privilege. Stop hiding in plain sight. Stop hiding behind your career. Stop hiding behind your money. Stop hiding behind your social status. Stop hiding behind your friends and family. Stop hiding behind your ignorance. Get in the fight and be a true ally. Adopt anti-racism. This guy gave up his privilege by declaring publicly his allyship in an unequivocal way. A simple statement. To sacrifice privilege. A simple but powerful way to demonstrate true allyship.

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As I mentioned earlier, the mainstream and corporate America have hijacked the word ally and made it soft or fake. In my opinion, ally truly defined means a person, group, or nation associated or united with another in a common purpose. And further, one that is associated with another as a helper, a person or group that provides assistance and support in an ongoing effort, activity, or struggle. To do this, the ally sacrifices their privilege to stay out of the fray and to not engage. Think of it in terms of what the word ally means when it comes to countries, where one country that supports another helps that other country economically, from a policy standpoint, from a resources perspective, and even if there's conflict with other nations, up to and including the biggest sacrifice of all, going to war for their ally. Wars require funding, resources, and of course, human capital commitment to win. Defeating racism is a war and thus also requires funding, resources, and human capital commitment to win it. Allies sacrifice their privilege of staying out of someone else's troubles, of someone else's problems. And they engage. They take action. They choose to sacrifice their privilege to do that. To stand up for their allies when their allies are in trouble, when their allies are having problems, or when their allies are being subjugated. This is what true allies do. Eradicating racism and spreading anti-racism only happens with action from true allies. Empathy, hope, and support all sound good. They look good on paper. But with no action, they simply don't help. In fact, just like with non-racism, they make things worse.

Remember, I started ARCC after so-called allies kept contacting me, telling me after George Floyd was murdered how empathetic they were for me, how their hearts went out to me, how they kept me in their thoughts and prayers. But they never said one word about what they were going to do personally to get engaged and change things. So that's why I came up with the idea to start an organization to transform people to be true anti-racists. So everyone and anyone could make a difference if they committed to taking real action as a true anti-racist ally.

You know, this term anti-racist or anti-racist ally might be new. But the concept and the understanding that sacrifice of privilege, in particular white privilege, and commitment in this society to drive real action had to be required to eradicate racism and spread anti-racism—that's not new. Here, I'm going to talk about three people on this podcast, three people who personified sacrifice of white privilege and to be true anti-racist allies. And you should be viewed as heroes around this country. They should be household names in this country. They should have their statues up all across this country instead of the tyrannous Confederates and other racist leaders who supported the institution of slavery, genocide, and institutional and structural racism. But not these men. They had the courage to stand up, speak out, and take action, even though they knew it was not popular at the time, and in fact, controversial, and that they would be labeled troublemakers and problems and radicals, all because they chose the side of right. They sacrificed their privilege at a time, again, when they would be in the minority and where it was very dangerous to be so. They were true brave heroes who should be celebrated for the American spirit of fighting for freedom. Isn't freedom why we fought for independence against the British? Wasn't freedom the reason the Allies engaged and fought in World War I? Wasn't freedom the reason why the Allies engaged in World War II? Wasn't supposedly freedom the reason why we engaged and fought wars in Vietnam and Korea? Wasn't it all about freedom that the Cold War was supposedly engaged in to save the world from oppressors? To let freedom reign? This is what these three allies were doing. Yet the power of racism in this country has kept these heroes uncelebrated, unrecognized, and purposely forgotten, and in some cases, as I said, cast as villains. But these three men, Thaddeus Stevens, Charles Sumner, and John Brown, illustrated over 150 years ago what sacrificing privilege to be true anti-racist allies is all about. I'm going to start with United States Representative Thaddeus Stevens, who was born dirt poor in rural Pennsylvania, but rose to be a United States representative and was one of the leaders of the so-called radical Republicans, who, by the way, were so-called radicals because they pushed unequivocally for the immediate end of slavery and discrimination of African Americans and the installation of full equality throughout the country during the 1860s. Before the Civil War, he strongly opposed any concessions to the South, especially regarding slavery. And during the Civil War, he was the chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee and was key in the strategy to defeat the Confederacy by financing the war with new taxes and loans and crushing the financial power of the slave owners by ending slavery. But abolishing slavery was not his endgame. Unlike President Lincoln, Thaddeus Stevens wanted to secure full equal rights and status for the freedmen. He understood that ending slavery was not enough. We had to set up a system to ensure that systemic racism would not be implanted and sustained. The term "40 acres and a mule" came from Thaddeus Stevens' plan to truly reverse the deep disparities that slavery had inflicted on African Americans and that still exist today by giving them a stake in the South's future through the confiscation of land from plantation owners and distributing this land to the freedmen. His plan for reparations, unfortunately, went too far for the moderate Republicans and were not enacted. This man was a visionary who foresaw that structural and systemic racism would take hold and continue if the drastic actions that he pushed for and he strongly recommended were not taken on. And he was right. And because he had the gall to drive for the right thing, he was called the Scourge of the South. In fact, that is the actual name of his biography. Because so many white Southerners hated him for what he stood for. He stood up for what is right. And he should have his statue all over this country instead of people like Robert E. Lee. The legacy of right should displace the legacy of wrong. Thaddeus Stevens sacrificed his privilege of reputation and legacy to be a true anti-racist ally.

Now, secondly, let's talk about Charles Sumner. Senator Charles Sumner was the son of a liberal Harvard-educated lawyer and abolitionist who actually supported racially integrated schools and was opposed to anti-miscegenation laws, you know, those laws that prohibited interracial marriage at the time. These were clearly not popular stances in the early 1800s. But that's where Charles Sumner's father was at that time. Sumner's cousin was Union General Edwin Vose "Bull" Sumner, who was the oldest field general to serve during the American Civil War on either side. So Sumner was born into one of the most progressive and liberal families at the time.

Charles Sumner rose to be a United States Senator, and like his friend Thaddeus Stevens, he was also one of the leaders of the Radical Republicans. In fact, he was the recognized leader of the Radical Republicans in the Senate. He was also equally as passionate as his friend Thaddeus Stevens about the immediate end to slavery and discrimination of African Americans and to establish them as fully equal citizens in the United States with all the benefits to come with that. Before the Civil War, he also strongly opposed the expansion of slavery into the Kansas Territory and he gave several speeches against the South and the expansion of slavery. On May 22, 1856, the Senate was debating whether Kansas should be admitted to the Union as a slave state. And Senator Sumner rose and addressed the Senate. He delivered what became known as the "Crime Against Kansas" speech, in which he placed full accountability for the Bleeding Kansas crime—which it was so named Bleeding Kansas because of all the fighting and killing and what really was a territorial civil war over slavery. He placed accountability for this fully on the shoulders of two Democratic senators, Stephen Douglas of Illinois and Andrew Butler of South Carolina. According to "The Caning of Senator Charles Sumner," courtesy of the Senate.gov site, under historical highlights, Sumner categorized Douglas in his speech to his face because Douglas was there as a "noisome squat and nameless animal, not a proper model for an American senator." Senator Andrew Butler, who was not present, received more elaborate treatment, mocking the South Carolina senator's stance as a man of chivalry. The Massachusetts senator charged him with taking a mistress who, "though ugly to others, is always lovely to him. Though polluted in the sight of the world, is chaste in his sight." "I mean," added Sumner, "the harlot of slavery." Butler, again, was not present. But his cousin, who was a member of the House of Representatives at the time, heard about it. He came into the Senate chambers, snuck up behind Sumner, and beat him senseless with a metal-tipped cane. It is the only time that a United States senator has been physically attacked in chambers. Of course, it almost occurred on January 6th, but the senators were able to escape during the insurrection. But this attack on Sumner stands as the only time that a senator has been physically attacked. Sumner barely survived, but he couldn't return to the Senate for two years while he recovered. He was reelected during this time, but the state decided to leave his seat vacant while he recovered to remind the entire Senate and country about the crime that had been committed against Sumner and the democracy.

Although Senator Charles Sumner never fully recovered from this savage beating, he returned to the Senate after a few years and pushed Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War for full emancipation. After the war, Sumner, like his friend Thaddeus Stevens, fought hard to provide full, equal civil and voting rights for the freedmen. And he believed that this was not just the right thing to do from a moral perspective, but also a basic principle of American republicanism. Because he believed that without fully equal status for all citizens, our form of democracy would not survive long term. He also partnered with Thaddeus Stevens to block ex-Confederates from regaining power. And he pushed for aggressive reconstruction plans that sought to implement full equality in the South for the freedmen.

Here was another visionary who foresaw that structural and systemic racism would take hold and continue into the future, threatening the actual viability of our democracy if these drastic actions or so-called radical actions that he and Stevens pushed for were not enacted. And because he had the gall to push for the right things, he was also viewed negatively. He was a courageous visionary who should have his statue all over this country instead of people like Jefferson Davis. Again, the legacy of right should displace the legacy of wrong. Charles Sumner sacrificed his privilege of health, safety, and legacy to be a true anti-racist ally.

And finally, there's John Brown. John Brown was born May 9th, 1800 to what he called poor but respectable parents. His family had roots back to the colonies as his grandfather, Captain John Brown, had fought and died in the Revolutionary War in New York, September 3rd in 1776. He grew to be a very deeply religious man who saw slavery as the evil that it was. And he believed himself to be an instrument of God raised to strike a death blow to American slavery. A sacred obligation, he believed. And he also believed that to defeat this evil, it would have to be by any and all means necessary. He cited the Declaration of Independence that his grandfather had died for as stating that all men are created equal. So America was not only violating God's law in his mind, but its own as well. He felt that since all peaceful means had been exercised, but had not been effective in eradicating slavery, it would take violence to end it.

Brown first became known nationally during the Bleeding Kansas campaign that I talked about earlier, which again was this violent period in the 1850s where there was this territory-level armed battle, almost territory civil war between abolitionists and pro-slavery forces over whether Kansas would be a slave state or a union state. He commanded anti-slavery forces, including his sons, in battles all across Kansas against pro-slavery groups, winning most. In October 1859, John Brown led a raid on the Federal Armory at Harper's Ferry in present-day West Virginia. His goal was to capture the armory, arm the slaves, and lead a rebellion south to liberate all slaves from bondage, and thus end slavery in the United States once and for all. He and his men were able to seize the armory. But his group sustained heavy losses. They were subsequently defeated and captured by forces that actually included Robert E. Lee. Brown's sons were killed, and Brown himself would be convicted of murder, of treason, of inciting a slave riot. He was hanged on December 2nd, 1859, the first person executed for treason in the history of the United States. The Harper's Ferry raid and John Brown's trial were national news and increased an already tense and escalating situation between the North and the South and the South's eventual succession from the Union of the United States just a year later. And of course, the eventuality of the American Civil War. During the Civil War, Brown became a hero, a martyr, an icon in the North. And Union soldiers marched to the song "John Brown's Body." Newly freed African Americans also sang the same song and treated Brown's memory as if it were saint-like. Like Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner, here was another visionary who foresaw the structure of systemic racism continuing if drastic, if not radical, action was not taken to end slavery immediately and abolish it and instill full equal status for African Americans. And because he had the belief, the faith, and the courage to do something so drastic, so radical to liberate people and end the evil of slavery, Brown has not only been correctly described as a heroic, martyr visionary, but also demonized as a madman and terrorist. He stood up for what is right. And his image, along with Stevens and Sumner, should be on Stone Mountain instead of Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, and Stonewall Jackson. The legacy of right should displace the legacy of wrong. John Brown sacrificed his privilege of life and family to be a true anti-racist ally. This is what true allyship is all about.

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It's time to begin your transformation to anti-racism today. Begin by erasing your ignorance about racism. Don't allow the 500-year-old lie and fraud of race to control your thought. Read *The Color of Law* by Richard Rothstein and learn about the very real disparities that this lie and fraud has driven in our society as a direct result of the racist federal, state, municipal efforts in tandem with civic organizations and churches and neighborhood associations colluding together to lock black people in perpetual squalor. Educate yourself about anti-racism and the fact that the word ally means you are willing to personally sacrifice your privilege to drive change and break down systemic and structural racism. And it will take sacrifice. Because the systems and circumstances that exist today that are so well described by Richard Rothstein in *The Color of Law* were built by the privileged people in this country. And thus can only be destroyed by the privileged people in this country. And this means sacrifice. Sacrifice.

Being an ally is not about empathy, hope, and support. No matter how many companies, publications, or organizations try to make it sound like it is, it is simply not enough to be a shoulder to cry on. Being a true ally is about building the character, courage, and resolve to act. Don't call yourself an ally unless you're willing to sacrifice and take action. The United States didn't tell France and the United Kingdom during World War II, "We empathize with you. We feel your bonds. Our hearts go out to you. You're in our thoughts and prayers as your people are dying." No, the United States sacrificed money, resources, and ultimately American lives and took action to fight for their allies. Look, I'm not asking you to be superhumans. I'm not even asking you to be Thaddeus Stevens or Charles Sumner or even John Brown. But you also can't be like those so-called allies on that Zoom call icebreaker. You can't just stay quiet. Be anonymous. Blend in. Stay out of sight, not of view. Don't engage. You must stand up and be seen. You must declare to people what you're all about and be counted as an anti-racist ally. Start by declaring and demonstrating this to your friends and family. Commit to your personal transformation journey and start learning about racism and about privilege. Again, allyship is not about empathy, support, and hope. They work great for a Hallmark card, but they will not do anything to destroy institutional and systemic racism. It's like Dr. King said, "Only light can drive out dark." Well, what I say is that only action will drive change. You must take action by educating yourself like the 60-year-old white engineer who decided to take black history classes at a local university to accelerate his journey of anti-racism. You must take action by using your platform like the small business owner who changed his logo of his brewery to celebrate differences and declare his and his company's allyship and commitment to anti-racism. You must take action like the 30-something-year-old husband and father who educated himself on white privilege and talked to his parents and asked them to start learning and changing and acknowledging or he wouldn't bring his kids around them. You must take action by building the audaciousness like the 20-something-year-old who threatened to quit her job unless her company started doing more to adopt anti-racism versus what she felt, even as a white female, was weak diversity, equity, and inclusion because it simply wasn't enough to drive change. You must take action by joining our coalition, like the 100+ ARCC members who placed their pictures and their statements of commitment to anti-racism on our website to inspire you to start your journey to anti-racism. Or the 50-something-year-old white guy who wanted to come on this podcast to tell his story and his commitment to allyship action and inspire others to step up right now. This is what allyship, true allyship, is all about. This is what anti-racism is all about. These people did not hide in plain sight. They didn't stay quiet and blend in to protect their high-ranking job or their place in status or society or wealth or even their place with their family. They sacrificed to be true allies.

As I've said before, the biggest impediment to eradicating racism is not the racist. It is the non-racist who calls themselves allies but won't acknowledge the reality of structural and systemic racism or personally sacrifice to take action and break down the systems and structures that allow racism to endure. There is no middle ground. You're either on the side of racism or you're on the side of anti-racism. And non-racism and fake allyship, designer allyship, anything that's not true anti-racist allyship is on the side of racism. You don't have to be perfect. You don't have to be superhuman. You don't have to be Thaddeus Stevens, Charles Sumner, or John Brown. You just have to be humble enough to acknowledge your ignorance. Accountable enough to drive yourself to learn. And brave enough to take action. Join ARCC. Adopt anti-racism. Build the courage and confidence to personally sacrifice your privilege and learn to be a true anti-racist ally. Like our next guest coming up after the break, my good friend and ARCC member, Dan Maus.

The Arc of Change podcast is brought to you by the Anti-Racism Commitment Coalition. Visit us at joinarcc.org to learn more about ARCC and join our movement.

Welcome back. As promised, I'm welcoming in another great friend and fellow ARCC member, Dan Maus, to share his story. His journey to be anti-racist, as well as his perspective on the need to personally sacrifice privilege to be a true ally.

Dan, how are you, my friend?

Dan Maus: I'm fantastic, Donzel. How are you today?

Donzel Leggett: I'm doing very, very good because you're on the show with us, and I want to thank you right now for joining the show proactively for all the great perspective that I know you're going to share. All right, man. Well, let's get into it. So first, Dan, how about telling our audience about yourself and about your background?

Dan Maus: First, Donzel, thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my anti-racism journey. I was born in central Minnesota and our parents owned and operated a dairy farm. Our community was, to my recollection, all of European descent. I attended my first two years of college at the University of Minnesota in Morris, a small college in a small, homogeneous town in western Minnesota. I transferred to the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, where I studied and got my bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. The engineering student body was also very homogeneous, mostly white males. I spent my entire career with General Mills. I had the opportunity to live and work in northern California, Toledo, Ohio, and in northwestern Michigan. Other than my years at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, I've always lived in the suburbs. I had the opportunity to travel frequently to many locations across the United States and Canada. But my most interesting traveling experiences have been to Irapuato, Mexico, to Brazil, and to China. My relocations and travel opened my eyes to different cultures and races around the world.

Donzel Leggett: That's really great summary, Dan, and it gives us a good perspective leading right into our next question. What was your first experience with what we call race or racism or discrimination?

Dan Maus: It's an interesting question, Donzel, that I've reflected a lot recently. As I mentioned, the community in which I was born and raised was of European descent. I do not recall of a single person of color in my class or even in my school. We were only able to see about three to four TV channels at any time, and the business of farming didn't provide much opportunity to watch much TV. So I really didn't have too much exposure to other races and other nationalities. The news was typically focused on local events, and we were typically in bed before the evening news aired. So we had no exposure to race, racism, or discrimination, or so we thought. Wow. As I reflected on my upbringing, I now realized the exposure to race that we did have. It was not uncommon for my father or one of the neighbors to make negative comments about blacks, referring to them as "colored people" or "darkies." These comments were always negative and degrading to people of color. Another group they spoke negatively about were Mexicans. Even though many farmers took full advantage of those migrant workers each spring, at very low wages hired them to pick rocks from their fields. In other words, to do some of the difficult, dirty work for them. I began to better understand race and racism throughout my working years at General Mills, as I began to work with people of many races and ethnicities. However, I'm embarrassed to say that the majority of my experience of racism and discrimination did not happen until the past couple years, as racist acts have become more readily available to be seen on TV and on social media.

Donzel Leggett: Wow. Dan, I'm sure that those in our audience really appreciate your honesty and sharing your perspective and in your history. And, you know, as you know, this particular episode, I'm really focusing a lot on understanding anti-racism and in particular, understanding privilege. And we'll talk a little bit later about the word ally, but first starting with privilege. What does white privilege mean to you?

Dan Maus: That's a really good question. I've been learning a lot about white privilege the last year or so as well. But I used to think privilege was a word used for individuals who came from money, especially those that grew up in a household where money was not an issue. When someone told me that I had privilege, I explained to them how I, as a child, woke up at 5:30 in the morning to ensure we had the cows milked before I got on the bus, or how we wore hand-me-down clothes that my mom purchased at garage sales. Or how my brothers and I had limited opportunities to participate in extracurricular activities. Or how we never had a family vacation. Or how I paid my own way through college. In recent years, I've learned what white privilege really means. White privilege means the color of my skin was not an obstacle for me when in public settings, when applying for college, when interviewing for a job, when eating at a restaurant or buying or driving a car, or when doing any other activity we do on a regular basis. It means that I have not had to worry about what would happen during one of the several times I've been pulled over by police. About a year ago, a friend of mine who was born and raised in Mexico and now lives in Minnesota called me and asked me how to teach his daughter, who had just gotten her driver's license, how to respond if she was pulled over by the police to ensure that she would be safe. And unfortunately, I told him that I could not help him because even though we have three children that I've taught to drive, that's a conversation we've never had to have in our house, not even once, because they are all white. In addition, Donzel, as a white, cisgender, Christian, middle-aged male, I've never been treated poorly because of the person I am or because of my gender, my sexual preference, my religious preference, age, or because of the color of my skin. White privilege is not well understood by those that have the privilege. It requires the initiative to learn, study, and to expand our communities, the groups of individuals we work and associate ourselves with, in order to fully realize and accept what it means. I tell you, I've heard so many stories from colleagues that have experienced clear acts of racism in recent years, which not only did I never experience, but I never even saw before because I was colorblind. I hear people say that they teach their children not to see color. Well, if people do not see color, then they do not see the racism that's happening around them. They may not even realize the stereotypes and microaggressions coming out of their own mouths. So that's what I've learned about white privilege over the last few years.

Donzel Leggett: Dan, that was such an influential and passionate response that I think provides really good insight for folks. 'Cause like you said, it's not something that's commonly understood. And this difference is not saying that you were born with a silver spoon or that you didn't have tough times, you didn't have to work hard. It's not talking about that. It's talking about what you described. And that is there is a difference when you are a white cisgender male here in the United States. The treatment is certainly different and you don't see it if you don't see color. So thank you for that. And that leaves the next question, which is all about this word ally, which is a word that's being used a lot. It's kind of a buzzword right now in terms of folks who want to be a part of the fight against racial injustice. But again, it's like privilege. Many people are confused as to what this word ally means. What's the definition of ally from your perspective when it comes to getting involved and being an anti-racist? And has that definition changed since it was first introduced to you?

Dan Maus: I love that question. And yes, it has changed. Just talking about my experiences, I always defined the word ally as a friend to those in need. So to me, an ally was always someone who was there for you when times were difficult or when times were tough. They provided sympathy or empathy. They were there to talk to you. You gave them a shoulder to cry on, so to speak. But while those things are all important, I've learned that an ally is someone that will go to battle with you. And in fact, I had some recent reflections. Think about how the term ally is used in the context of war. In war, an ally is someone who's fighting with you side by side, fighting the same battle. The word ally, I've heard it used as both a noun and a verb. However, allies must do the work. That's the most important element that I've learned. If you want to be an ally, you must go to battle with and in support of those marginalized groups. I can honestly say that I have not been a great ally in the past. The good news is that it's never too late to learn and to change. And it's never too late to take actions to support those that need the support. Following the murder of George Floyd last summer, a murder which, as of this day, I've not watched in its entirety because it's too painful for me, I chose to work harder at my ownership for people of color and for those other marginalized groups. I chose to get involved in support of blacks. I chose to leverage my strengths to partner with organizations that are doing the work. In other words, what do I do best? What skills can I bring to help those groups that are involved in those fights?

Donzel Leggett: Dan, does that also help explain why you joined ARCC? And maybe you could talk about that and make any connections with what you just said, but also, where are you on your anti-racism journey?

Dan Maus: Yeah, I'm early on my anti-racism journey for sure. You know, I just mentioned the murder of George Floyd last summer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It shocked and angered me. I cannot believe what I saw with my own eyes. This is my home state where I've lived much of my life. And I've always thought of Minnesotans as these nice people. It makes me question, are Minnesotans really that nice? It caused me to do more listening, and I mean real listening, you know, listening with my heart as well. The CEO of my company stepped forward within the business community last summer and said, "It's time that we as business leaders and as companies do something to help put an end to systemic racism." And he indicated that General Mills would take the lead. So that was my cue, that was my initial cue. I contacted a couple leaders within my company and informed them I needed to help in any way I could. I immediately became an active member of what is now called the Minnesota Business Coalition for Racial Equity. In addition, I saw your video last summer talking about what the black community really needs from allies. In other words, not calling you and saying, "How are you feeling?" but really getting involved to make a difference. And then in the fall, Donzel, you remember you called me and asked if I would help ARCC develop and deploy the strategic plan, something that I've done many, many times before for both business and nonprofit organizations. So that was my way in. Honestly, Donzel, if you had not asked me to help, I'm not sure I would have a role in ARCC the way I do today. So thank you for getting me onto the team. My anti-racism journey is just beginning, as I mentioned earlier. I've never felt I was a racist. But I was clearly not anti-racist. And at best, I may have been non-racist. Now, that being said, no one, myself included, is in a position to label themselves as a non-racist or an anti-racist. Only people of color can identify us as such. They're the only ones who can label us as non-racist or anti-racist. Too many of us think that we can proclaim who we are when we're not seen that way in the eyes of others. So, you know, it's the observations of our words and our behaviors and our actions that influence how they see us and which of these labels they want to place upon us. We cannot label ourselves. So that's why I'm involved in ARCC, and I'm so, so excited to continue this work.

Donzel Leggett: Dan, fantastic. Again, another passionate response straight from the heart. And, you know, earlier in this episode, I talked about allies. I also talked about sacrifice. And that really, to be a true ally, one has to sacrifice their privilege. If you have white privilege, you have to sacrifice that white privilege. And you just spoke about the fact that true allyship is all about taking action. So you have to sacrifice your privilege and you have to do something. Can you share other specific examples? You've told us a little bit about some of the things you're doing. But what other specific examples that you have of what you are doing that to sacrifice your privilege and to take action as an ally to eradicate racism and spread anti-racism?

Dan Maus: Yeah, thanks, Donzel. You know, I mentioned earlier the negative comments my father used to make about people of color. In the past few years before he passed away, I began to call him out on his comments and help him understand that the color of your skin does not make you any less of a person. I've also started to have discussions with other friends and family members that make similar degrading stereotypical comments. An additional step, although bold for me, was to begin to support anti-racism posts on social media. In the past, I took the non-racist approach of doing nothing to not rock the boat, so to speak. This included support for politicians during the past election that are supportive of all members of our community and all races, not just the white European descendants. So while this isn't much, it was a big step for me. It initially took me out of my comfort zone. The good news is that my comfort zone is growing and shifting, and one might think that I'm now more in the growing zone. You know, I'm continuing my active involvement in ARCC, the Minnesota Business Coalition for Racial Equity. I'm also engaging in a University of Minnesota Racial Equity Certificate course. So while my efforts are more behind the scenes, they're contributing to anti-racism efforts for broader gains. I have a lot of work to do. I intend to continue to educate myself through reading, podcasts, and other sources. One thing is for certain, I'm no longer relying on people of color to educate me. I'm doing that on my own. And while I'm not ready to take actions similar to John Brown or Thaddeus Stevens or Charles Sumner, I'm going to continue to do the work.

Donzel Leggett: Well, that's great work, man. And, you know, like I said earlier in the episode, we're not asking people to be, you know, like, you know, certainly we would love for anyone to try to live up to those three you just mentioned, Charles Sumner and Thaddeus Stevens, John Brown. But we're not asking for that. We're asking for what you said. Educate yourself. Take accountability for your own transformation. And then build the courage once you understand what anti-racism is to talk to those closest to you. It's tough and difficult, we know. But you have the credibility. And I'm speaking to the audience. You all have the credibility to talk to the people closest to you. They'll listen to you. And so if you've gone through the transformation, you have the credibility to help start their transformation. But it does take courage to talk to your father like Dan did. It does take courage to publicly support on social media. So thank you for sharing that, Dan. It's so important for everyone to understand. If we want to eradicate racism and spread anti-racism, it's going to take each one of us to stop tolerating it amongst the people closest to us. We have to set the example and then hold them accountable.

So Dan, one final question. Is there any final or lasting message that you would like to share with our listeners?

Dan Maus: Yeah, the most important to me is to please take the time to educate yourself. Act like you're a young child again and question everything. We can't just assume and take things for granted that we hear from our parents or from other family members growing up. We need to challenge what we see and hear. It's so easy to go through life simply believing what you hear from those folks or what you see on social media. It's also very easy to go through life in your comfort zone and believe because you do not directly see its impact on you that you do not need to worry about it. It's easy to say "that's their problem." Life doesn't work that way. Racism today is impacting all of us. It impacts us financially through our tax dollars. It impacts the education of all children, not just children and people of color. It impacts health care and education costs. Think about the riots across the U.S. last summer and the fear that that brought to so many individuals in so many neighborhoods. We as whites are impacted in those ways. So think about what our friends of color have lived through their entire lives and are forced to continue to deal with. So it's impacting all of us, whether we see it directly or not. Systemic racism has caused such a major gap between people of color and whites. And simply giving people of color equal opportunities today and moving forward is not enough. We must take actions to close that gap. And that will likely result in reducing the white privilege that folks like myself have. We must be okay with that. Because it is better for the collective we, and I know I'm fine with that. You know, we've all heard the saying, "It takes a village," and to be certain, it will take the entire village to bring an end to racism, which will enable us all to live in a safer and a stronger society.

Donzel Leggett: Dan, thank you, my friend. Powerful, powerful stuff that I know continues to feed me and my inspiration that ARCC is on a track to build a racism-free world by having coalition members like you who are willing to step up, sacrifice their privilege, and do the work as a true ally. Thank you so much. Enjoy the rest of your afternoon, and we will hopefully get you on again at another time. Visit us at joinarcc.org to learn more about ARCC. Donate to our cause and join the movement that will change the world.

That was a phenomenal discussion with my great friend and fellow ARCC member, Dan Maus. And I thank him sincerely for his passion, commitment, and courage to share his personal story and message to our audience.

In closing, I want to introduce something very important and critical to what we're trying to do here at ARCC. As you know, our vision at ARCC is to build a racism-free world by transforming people to be anti-racist. Our three-step process for transformation, which I've been detailing over the last several episodes, is proven to work but needs to be developed for large-scale deployment. So we're initiating a formal fundraising campaign with a goal of $300,000 over the next three years to secure the resources to fully develop, scale, and deploy our transformation process and thus accelerate the spreading of anti-racism. The ARCC Board of Directors has already pledged a $35,000 matching gift. This is a great start, but we need your help to change the world. Remember, there are many organizations focused on changing legislation to end racism, and this is needed. But there are few that are focused on changing and transforming people. And this is what differentiates ARCC. Society changes when people change. We're focused on transforming people to be anti-racist. Help us accelerate this by scaling our transformation process. Donate to ARCC now by visiting our website and double your impact with the ARCC board match and be part of the movement to build a racism-free world.

To find The ARCC of Change podcast with Donzel Leggett and learn more about the Anti-Racism Commitment Coalition or ARCC, please visit us at joinarcc.org. You can also subscribe to The ARCC of Change with Donzel Leggett on your favorite podcast hosting sites.

I greatly look forward to our next episode, an opportunity to inspire you to become part of the movement that will change the world by eradicating racism once and for all. Until next time, stay safe and continue to ask yourself, "Am I doing enough?" And remember that none of us are doing enough as long as racism and hate still exist. Thanks for listening and goodbye.

The ARCC of Change podcast with Donzel Leggett is brought to you by the Anti-Racism Commitment Coalition. To learn more about ARCC, donate to our cause, and join the coalition, visit joinarcc.org. Don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss an episode. And share this podcast to help spread our mission to change the world by ending racism once and for all. Thanks for listening. Until next time, stay safe and be inspired.