When was the last time you looked at yourself in the mirror and asked, ‘am I racist?’. We like to think of ourselves as progressive and politically aware, but what if we’re more racist than we think?  

No matter our intentions or beliefs, the society we live in presents whiteness as the desirable norm. This means that on many levels, we often do too, and we routinely act in ways that reinforce this. If we don’t look at racism as something that goes beyond our individual beliefs, we make it harder for ourselves to disrupt a racist status quo. As both individuals and as a society, we have an engrained fear of being labelled racist or even starting conversations about race, but perhaps addressing this fear head on is exactly what we need to do to achieve equality. 

For more information, visit unsw.to/CheyenneBardos

This talk was a part of Fresh Blood, an event of short talks in the 2022 Festival of Dangerous Ideas.