Op-ed: Breaking the Silence

Written by Maria Guramare ’21 & Salomé Garnier ’22

Version française disponible ici

First and foremost, the Harvard College French Club stands in solidarity of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and way too many others whose lives have been taken in atrocious, inexcusable circumstances brought by systemic and institutionalized hate. We join people of color, in America, Europe, and all around the world, in the fight for equality and against racism.

But beyond expressing our solidarity, we want to take a stance, and express our unwavering support for action and change that must go beyond the United States borders. We will use this space to remind our fellow Europeans that racism is still very much present on our continent and must be fought just as radically as in the United States. In this message, we do not speak in any way in the name of Harvard or other members of our club. 

First of all, we affirm that silence is not acceptable. Being silent in the current world context doesn’t mean one is deciding to “stay out of it.” In the fight against oppression, staying silent is equivalent to taking sides. Refusing to take a stance means allowing oppression to continue. Our passivity hurts those who are actively suffering. Not being informed or educated on these topics is not a valid excuse anymore, given the amount of resources available to form an opinion. 

Wherever you are in the world, there is a way to fight against dehumanization and racism. But change comes first and foremost from individual behaviors: it is critical that we start with ourselves. We need to challenge ourselves. Reflect on how our own biases and actions may contribute to global injustice, and on how our silences and indifference may mask our complacency with a system that benefits some of us. It is long overdue and absolutely necessary for us to engage in difficult conversations with our loved ones, with people who disagree with us, and with those who are victims of oppression. We must act with thoughtfulness and conviction, because there is little value in changing our social media presence and public discourse if we haven’t done the internal work of thoroughly questioning our own mentalities.

We need to realize that the recent deaths of African Americans at the hands of the police are not isolated events, but rather representative of the broader phenomena of systemic and deep rooted racism, and racial inequality. The death of George Floyd was the trigger for today’s widespread protests, but it is only the tip of the iceberg. 

But we would like to insist that, as Europeans, we cannot ignore recent events in the US on the basis that they are not occurring “at home.” Our response should not just be empathy, or a distant show of support, for black people abroad. Even though our news feeds may not include videos of people of color being murdered within our borders without having posed a threat or shown resistance, we cannot turn our heads the other way, or pretend it is not our issue to deal with.

In France, and in all European countries, people of color receive differential treatment and unequal opportunities in comparison with their white compatriots, for reasons that have nothing to do with their capacities, their character or any factors they have influence over. Many of them battle more than one type of discrimination: the intersectionality of race with gender, social class, sexual identity, and more, causes the legitimacy of multiple aspects of their identity to be permanently questioned – their legitimacy in society and as human beings.

For those who may still doubt them, our statements are not just derived from opinions or self-assessments: the INSEE has published numerous rigorous studies coming to those conclusions. For instance, a study shows that identical applications for jobs and housing with names that have a Maghrebi or African connotation receive significantly lower positive response rates, sometimes twice as low as the exact same applications using “traditional French” names. Young men “perceived as Maghrebi or Black” are 20 times more likely to undergo police controls. For those who think we don’t have a racism problem anymore: in a 2018 study, over 76% of French citizens asserted that a “vigorous fight against racism in France” is necessary. So what are 76% of us doing at this moment ?

We all have opinions, biases, and presumptions about people of color, whether we act on them or not, whether we are aware of them or not. We need to call upon ourselves to acknowledge this. Next time we catch ourselves making generalities about a subgroup of the population, it is our responsibility to be aware of what biases are at play, and to actively rethink views that we might have unconsciously adopted by default.

Admitting our lack of education on these issues is uncomfortable, but it is the only way to remedy our obliviousness. Let’s stop being defensive about what we need to improve.  Recognizing and acknowledging one’s privilege doesn’t mean losing material possessions, jobs, or diplomas. It means being honest enough to admit that, though we may deserve what we have achieved, some of us have been helped to do so by an entire ecosystem. Some of us may have begun our lives at the start line, while others have started far behind it, by no fault of their own. We must acknowledge that other humans out of the 7 billion cohabiting on this planet may be equally deserving as us, but that some of us get headstarts and pushes that are non negligible for individual success.

Similarly, asserting that “Black Lives Matter” doesn’t mean that non-black lives don’t. Rather, it means realizing that Black Lives are threatened and harmed each and every day, and, in the US, that they are endangered more than others. As many have already remarked, if a house is burning, firemen aren’t coming to rescue all of the houses on the street at that moment, because all houses matter. They’re going to concentrate their efforts on the one that is burning, because it is the one that needs it most. An overwhelming proportion of people consider they are morally cleared because they are not personally disesteeming Black lives, but they stay silent as those lives are being slaughtered, destroyed, or never given a chance. The analogy translates if we think about what lives are being diminished and threatened in Europe and around the world today – different histories and geographic locations necessarily entail different forms and focuses of racism, but the inherent structure of racial discrimination still applies.

The bottom line is: an absolutely vital step that we must all take towards anti-racism and equality is to reflect, educate ourselves, and question the ways in which we might be the problem. And then, we must use whatever means we have – financial support, social media platforms, voices – to be an integral part of change.This is about modifying our views and progressively letting go of biases, because what is at stake is the lives of other human beings and the way they are treated in this world. We must step up for all of those who are just a little bit afraid to leave their homes every day because they are never completely certain that they will make it back. We must speak up for those who face looks of fear and suspicion every time they enter a room, just because of the way they look. We have a responsibility to be indignant for those who won’t get that promotion, because a white person with the exact same resume happens to want it too. We need to strive to make sure that being born equal is a promise that we can keep to everyone.

Trying isn’t enough anymore, but not doing anything should not be an option either. In Europe just as much as in the United States, it’s too late to make excuses, and it’s too late to pretend that the problem doesn’t exist.

Whether you’re still unsure “what this is all about” or how you might be part of the problem, whether you want to contribute but don’t know how, whether you think what we have just exposed are our “opinions” and not a human rights emergency ; please take a look at the following list of resources for more information about current events in the US and racism in France, videos to watch, articles to read, places to donate, ways to be an active ally, and tips for carrying out difficult conversations. 

Thank you for taking the time to read our statement. What are you going to do now?

Conversation guide: questions to ask yourself, questions to ask your friends and family

• How do you see racism at play in your country in everyday life? What are more subtle ways in which racism can impact people of color around you without you noticing?
• What biases do you have against people of color? Could these biases have detrimental impacts on people of color you work with, go to school with, or simply interact with? 
• How do you think the color of your skin has advantaged or disadvantaged you throughout your life? What opportunities opened up to you or did you miss out on because of it? Are there times in your lives that you think you benefited from being white (if applicable)?

• How do you behave when you observe racist behavior or words? In what way have you ignored this behavior in yourself or in others in the past? How do you plan on responding to these behaviors in the future?
• Why is it important for everyone to work towards ending this injustice? What are you committed to doing outside of reposting or following trends, that shows your convictions and reflection over these issues, and represents tangible contributions?