*Sings* It's the Most Wonderful Day of the Year...

Happy International Day to Eliminate Racial Discrimination!

"The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is observed annually on 21 March. On that day, in 1960, police opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration in Sharpeville, South Africa, against the apartheid "pass laws". Proclaiming the Day in 1966, the UN General Assembly called on the international community to redouble its efforts to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination."

Source: http://www.un.org/events/ref40.htm

It is up to white people to end racism. To do so, we need to be aware of whiteness and the unearned privileges that go with it and how they serve to limit the opportunities of others. This also applies to straight people and homophobia, ablism, sexism, and all other inequalities and prejudices.

If you are curious about the idea of privilege, you might want to read this article by Peggy McIntosh, Unpacking The Invisible Knapsack, which is a classic article about unearned white privilege and one that changed my life when I read it.

Here are some other articles on privilege:

White Privilege

Ability Privilege

Straight Privilege

Heterosexual Privilege
(a different article than above)

In light of that, this is an interesting post. The title is How to Be a Real Nice Guy, but it could have been titled How to Be a Real "Nice Guy", "White Person", "Heterosexual Person", "Abled Person" or any other "Person of Privilege".

Some of this may make you feel defensive if you are white, or heterosexual, or male, but it's nice food for thought.