Silence on Racism: My MTG-Related Experience

I’m part of a Facebook group with a handful of Magic players. We used to play EDH every week, and we still message each other from time to time debating rules, lines of play and new cards.

But three or four years ago someone sent a message in that group with a racial slur.

For the record, we only have one Black person in that group - let’s call him Tezzeret. The rest of us are white, including the person who sent the message with the slur. We’ll call him Domri.

I saw the racial slur right after it was sent - and I froze. I sat still looking at it, almost bewildered. “What? Why?” I thought to myself. Then came another message from the same person. “Oops. Sent by mistake.” And that was it.

About four hours passed before anyone in the group said anything.

Nothing.

Complete silence.

Until Tezzeret finally put Domri in his place - the 1 Black person in our group called him and the racism out.

I followed up with a long message backing up Tezzeret - I talked about how I don’t allow racism, how I make efforts to keep racist people far away from my life and how we can’t allow racism in our group or anywhere else. Everyone else (except Domri) replied with messages echoing my sentiments. In so many words, Domri was told to take a hike, and he left the group.

Back then Tezzeret was my closest friend in that group, and he still is today. I’ve celebrated huge tournament finishes with him, birthdays, engagements, and we have more good times to come.

But to this day, my hours-long silence still eats away at me. I know that today I would act much differently and would immediately step up to defend Tezzeret or any other Black person. I’d do the same if the message was aimed at another race, if it was sexist, homophobic, a slur towards an LGBTQ person, or any other type of abrasive insult aimed at demeaning or dehumanizing another person.

As long as I remained silent that day, I was sending the false message to Tezzeret, Domri and others in the group that, at a minimum, I tolerate racism. Tezzeret and others in the group could have thought that I was being silent because I agreed with Domri or shared his racist sentiments - which couldn’t be further from the truth.

The truth is that the message made me angry, disappointed and downright speechless - to say the very least. But for those hours that I remained silent, I was actively tolerating racism.

Let’s think about that. Tolerating racism. A quick search on the meaning of tolerance pulls up this definition:

“To allow the existence, occurrence, or practice of (something that one does not necessarily like or agree with) without interference.”

For those four hours, I allowed an attack on one of my closest friends, on his family and on other people who share his skin color and ethnic background. By not saying anything, I was passively saying that racist slurs are OK. And that’s a BIG DEAL.

That’s spineless.

That’s racist.

IT’S YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO SPEAK UP

The next time you see or hear somebody saying something saying or doing something even slightly racist, you have to speak up and condemn it.

Here in 2020, we’re living in an age that is particularly divisive and very negatively charged. In the U.S., there are a lot of white people who feel that they’re marginalized, and that their freedom of speech is being taken away. As a result, they’re speaking louder than ever before. They’re trying to debate what it means to be racist (many are even saying overtly racist statements!)

They’re trying to defend their right to speak freely without actually listening to the voices of those who have been and continue to be systemically and overtly oppressed - and killed - by racism.

You may have some of these people in your family. You may currently have some friends who fall into this category. And in many instances, they’re not going to be easy to argue with. They’re not all going to shrink and run away like Domri did. Many are going to lash back at you and try to defend themselves when you confront them about their racist beliefs. They may even insult you.

Who cares? Be resolute.

Whenever and wherever you see or hear racism, call out the guilty person and condemn their racist behavior.

No matter how loud or how argumentative that person may be, tell them that you don’t stand for racism. Tell them that what they’re saying or doing is wrong and unacceptable, and that you won’t tolerate it. Tell them that they’re wrong, and that they have an opportunity to think differently. Demand that they do better. Hold them accountable for their words, thoughts and actions. If they don’t change, cut them out of your life until they do change their ways.

And when you see people being silent, hold them accountable too. Ask them why they’re being silent? Ask them if they stand against racism, and if so, encourage them to shout out to the world know where they stand. If they have racist views, then tell them they’re wrong, and demand that they think differently.

WHERE WILL YOU GO FROM HERE?

Will you allow others to embrace racism, or will you stand against them and encourage them to change? Will you remain silent, or will you make an impact?

Fighting racism isn’t easy, but one of the most important ways you can make an impact is by holding others accountable when they say or do racist things. You may lose some friends along the way, and you’ll definitely get into some heated arguments. But it’s all worth it to help the world level up.

And truthfully, you’d be surprised by the power of your influence - even on those who seem to have the loudest and most stubborn voices. You may not change their beliefs now, but by saying something, you’re at least planting a seed for change. That person may highly respect you, and what you think of them may really matter to them. And as we all know, we have a tendency to want to emulate or impress people we highly respect.

Yes, everyone has a right to think or feel the way that they do. But that right is NOT absolute. and there is no debate that racism in any way, shape or form is wrong, immoral, inhuman and pure evil. Again, to say the very least.

Don’t make the same mistake I did when I was silent in my Facebook group. Don’t let your silence cause you to be racist. Don’t let your silence make others feel unwelcome, unloved or unappreciated. Don’t let your silence allow racism to burn bright.

Never, ever, ever miss the opportunity to make a positive impact in the fight against racism. Stomp out racism whenever and wherever you see or hear it.

No exaggeration - the world is counting on you to do it.