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In a powerful 1975 speech, Toni Morrison called racism a distraction. She said, “It’s important, therefore, to know who the real enemy is, and to know the function, the very serious function of racism, which is distraction.” Here's what she meant.
“It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining over and over again, your reason for being,” Toni said in her speech. Today, Take Trump’s recent AI video posted depicting the Obamas as apes, a racist trope used to justify slavery. His behavior is and has always been anti-Black. Remember his $85,000 New York Times ad calling for the execution of the “Central Park Five" in 1989?
“Somebody says you have no language and so you spend 20 years proving that you do. Somebody says your head isn’t shaped properly, so scientists are working on the fact that it is. Somebody says that you have no art so you dredge that up. Somebody says you have no kingdoms, so you dredge that up. None of that is necessary,” Morrison explained.
Her words encourage us to remember this: “There will always be one more thing.” Racism isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. For those of us imagining a Black liberated future, we can’t be distracted. The focus must be decolonizing our minds, serving our communities, and doing whatever necessary to collectively build a self-determined future for Black people.
Getting thrown off course by every instance of racism is racism functioning as it was designed. It’s a distraction from the mission we owe our ancestors, ourselves, and our descendants to continue.