05/01/2026
Men's Mental Health Vlog
Visual Description & Transcript below:
Hi, my name is Ayisha (provide visual description).
You may have heard of the term “anti-Blackness.” What does it mean, and how is it related to racism?
Racism is violence and oppression against people of color. One form of racism is anti-Blackness. Anti-Blackness occurs when individuals or institutions devalue the full participation of Black people in any part of human society. It’s important to note anti-Blackness can be recognized in folks of different racial identities. However, it comes from the same source, which is white supremacy. White supremacy reinforces anti-Blackness beliefs and attitudes in all racial groups.
One example of anti-Blackness is the school-to-prison pipeline. The school-to-prison pipeline is a term that means schools fail to provide the necessary educational or mental health support to their Black students. Those schools often have a zero-tolerance policy, which targets Black students unfairly in comparison to white students. They may hire cops as security, which has also been shown to target Black students unfairly. Even with minor violations to the school rules, Black students are 3x more likely to be suspended and expelled. They are more likely to be in contact with the juvenile prison system. School-to-prison pipeline criminalizes Black students. When these students become adults, they experience unfair targeting by the criminal justice system.
Another example can be seen in housing discrimination. Black folks are 50% more likely to be denied mortgages. If they are approved for mortgages, their interest rates tend to be higher in comparison to White folks – approximately 33 points higher. One Black couple shared their experience with house appraisal. Initially, the appraiser valued their house at $472,000. When a white colleague stood in for them during the re-appraisal, the house increased in value to $750,000. This type of housing discrimination reveals that anti-Blackness shows up across multiple systems.
Black folks, especially dark-skinned Black individuals, are trusted less and given less opportunities. This is called colorism, and is a part of anti-Blackness.
You may have heard people say, “I’m neutral about race,” or “I don’t see color.” Neutrality in racism is harmful. If we say “I am colorblind,” or “I don't see color,” we are causing harm.
Instead of being neutral, we must be anti-racist. This means we must be active in resisting racism. When we observe racism, we must actively intervene. However, being anti-racist does not grant white people or other groups the right to speak for or act on the behalf of Black folks. When we make policies or decisions that affect Black people, our responsibility is to make sure Black perspectives are involved.
What can white people do? Because society tends to pay attention to and invest in white voices, white people have the responsibility to intervene in racism. As a step toward ending racism against Black people, white individuals can diversify their social circles, and listen to experiences of Black people. White people can dig deep within themselves to understand how anti-Blackness affects Black people’s trauma and unfairly limits their access to society. It is important for white people to unpack feelings. One way is by consuming media on an on-going basis – fictional and nonfictional books, community dialogue, social media, articles, webinars, etc. – to become more self-aware.
We can also teach our children to be anti-racist because they are the next generation. Exposing them to different cultures and people is important. We can teach children to analyze examples of racism in the media and everyday life. We must model the process of unpacking our own biases so that children can be aware. These are all effective ways to raise awareness and intervene in racism.
