Black Lives Matter Activist Offers Advice On How To Talk About Race

In the weeks since Donald Trump was elected, vandals have scrawled death threats on the door of a historically black church, a Trump supporter berated a black Michaels employee over a $1 bag and kids have gotten bullied because of their race and ethnicity.

All of these incidents point to racism, yet there are still people who won’t confront its existence. That is why Black Lives Matter Canada co-founder Janaya Khan created a video to guide folks through those difficult conversations about race with people who deny that it’s a real problem.

In the video, Khan explains that there are five roadblocks one might face when discussing race: derailment, minimization, reduction, tokenism and hurt. Khan notes that common statements that serve as roadblocks include, but are not limited to, “What about black-on-black crime?” “My boyfriend is black,” and “I feel really unsafe having this conversation right now.”

Khan guides viewers on how to respond to these roadblocks once they’ve identified them.

“The next time someone says ‘It’s not like black people are the only people dying,’” Khan says, “remind them that ‘No, they aren’t but black people are disproportionately dying in this country and all over the world. Can we at least talk about that?’”

Watch Khan’s full video above.

H/T Mic