Racism and the Fear of Sameness

In honor of Black History Month, 2023, I am sharing this post from Black History Month 2022. With renewed anger directed at Black people, Black history being taught in schools, and the attempts to again legislate erasure of Black achievement, icons, and ancestors, the message here remains necessary.

As Black Americans celebrate Black History Month by reminding the rest of America that we have always been in this country and remain integral to its existence and its success, white Americans are being reminded that…Black Americans have always been in this country and remain integral to its existence and its success.

The sameness of the preceding sentence is purposeful to highlight that in America, the “sameness” of Black and white America is ubiquitous in small and large ways. The sameness is also what fuels white supremacy, white nationalism, and systemic racism.

Black and white people are the same. Despite statistical differences in every category white scientists study, the overriding conclusive fact is that Black and white people are the same in the same way that all humans are the same.

That is not to say that our cultures are the same, or our likes and dislikes, but rather that as humans there are no real differences between us.

And even if we move away from the scientific definitions and explanations of who we all are, Black and white Americans remain remarkably similar.