Many White individuals have been engaged in public condemnations of racism since May, when George Floyd was murdered. It’s tempting to see all this activity as a new age for America, a surge toward racial justice. It could be – unless our behavior remains at a superficial level.

For example, when our local newspapers publish a story on arrest practices in our own communities, are they interviewing the White police chiefs, or are they interviewing the people who have been arrested?

Does the paper carry stories from White folks who say, “Racism is not a problem here,” and “We all mingle together and get along fine.” Or are they seeking out people of color to interview?

If it is a White-dominant community, has the newspaper researched the history of labor, housing, and educational policies that led to that demographic? Have they done articles to educate the public on that history?

Sometimes we need to remind our newspapers to tell stories from the perspectives of those who have been in our blind spots, hidden from view. Newspaper and TV reporters need training in White fragility as much as we do. It’s not just for people who like book club discussions. If we are going to dismantle racism, we need to challenge the media in our own backyards to examine the inherent racism of their own practices.

The NFL is apparently planning to open its season by playing the Black National Anthem before it plays the Star Spangled Banner. Fans need to understand that  unless the NFL addresses the losses that Colin Kaepernick suffered at their own hands – in wages, in legal fees, in career statistics, in public standing – singing Lift Every Voice before a game is meaningless. Unless the NFL Commissioner and everyone under him is willing to engage in the same anti-racist learning experiences that the rest of us are doing, the organization will remain complicit in society’s racism.

Have we asked the White managers of our own little league and high school sports teams what they are doing to confront racism within their organizations? Now that we understand more about the ways in which racism is entrenched in every aspect of society, the challenge is to educate those who feel they are untouched by it.

We have many opportunities to look at systemic racism in our own communities: fighting for higher wages for hourly workers, helping to elect minorities to local councils and boards, working to educate our own health care providers on racism in the health care system. We might encourage our local Audubon society or hiking club to address racism in outdoor recreation. School systems and public libraries need our help in amassing the resources needed to give children a thorough education in the history of this country, including the history of slavery and the thousands of people from the Black community, Latinx community, and Native American community that have written books, essays, music, dance, and poetry to express their family and social experiences.

When White people continue to feel that racism is not a problem in our own communities, we easily give into the temptation to not vote “because it won’t change anything.” That statement comes from privilege, from living in a society that has been constructed around White people. No matter who is elected, we understand the social structure will stay the same. Not voting means we don’t understand and don’t feel the urgent need for structural change coming from our siblings in non-White communities.

If we truly want to honor the lives of Black people who have been made to struggle every day in ways that we have newly begun to appreciate, then we vote, and we vote in a way that will bring about the changes Black people need to see – and Muslims, and immigrants, and Puerto Ricans, and Native Americans, and poor people. Either we vote to continue their existence as it is, or we vote to elevate them and deconstruct the system that keeps them on the margins.

At this point in the revolution George Floyd inspired, we can begin to understand the difference between showing solidarity and being an ally. Wearing Black Lives Matter shirts and hats, holding protest signs against racism, kneeling here and there, saying the names of the black victims of police brutality, putting signs on our lawns – these are visible acts of being an ally.

However, if we listen to Black people, solidarity demands more. Solidarity means helping to interrupt the structures that have allowed this racist society to go on existing for 400 years. Those structures are all around us in our own communities.

Between now and November, we can be showing our solidarity in two ways. First, we can notice when companies, organizations, and institutions right in our own back yards are paying lip service to racism without addressing the problem in their own ranks, and we can find a way to bring it to their attention. In this way, we can raise awareness of race prejudice in many more aspects of public life, carrying the movement deeper and deeper into the system.

Second, we can focus on voters and voting rights. Voting for people that condemn racism, people who clearly intend to act to change systemic racism, is a priority for solidarity with the Black community. We need to encourage other White people to vote for candidates that promote racial justice. We can also check on access to voting for everyone in our own communities, find out about the security of our local voting systems, and contribute to national efforts to eliminate voter suppression.

This article was inspired by Reverend Traci Blackmon, a nationally known Black leader and racial justice advocate, who said this morning, “Solidarity for me is going into that polling booth and voting in ways that honor my life. If you won’t do that, then none of the rest matters.”