Fix racism by traveling

I was talking to a FB friend about racism and he believes that after traveling extensively he is free from racism. Here is my response:

what concerns me about your statements on racism is that you have a simplistic view on racism as if you can shed it on a whim. 'Travel the world and it will disappear' was one suggestion of yours. Another seemed to be if you just don't fill your life with hate you're good. From my experience it's much more complicated than you let on. From my experience and from others I have worked with our self-perception is sometimes tragically out of sync with reality. It's very difficult to see our own character. That is one of the biggest challenges in my life. We also have a different definition of racism. It's not a personal choice. That's only part of it. Racism is an embedded point of view and encompasses the world. I focus on our US version because it's so complicated. Thru time, as I mentioned before, people have believed the impact of racism was over. Your idea that you're not racist is not a new one. Many people have believed this. Do you believe you're not sexist too? What other ills have you shed by traveling or giving up hate?

Not racist

Thru the generations people have believed that they are not racist with various feats in mind proving that they have overcome that mindset. At times I also have believed that I am not racist because I was definitely different than others. I also see a world completely embedded with racism. I see my part in it. Even when I want to speak out against racism sometimes I have not. So I am contributing or at least not fully fighting racism. As Angela Davis said "it's not enough to be non-racist, you must be anti-racist". I fail in this. I also notice underlying racism in my day to day activities. I notice shadows of behaviors that are racist. I am becoming more aware of new concepts and definitions like intersectionality that contribute to racism. Awareness and interaction lead to freedom from the burden of white supremacy. I think we all need some honest feedback to get clear guidance on next steps. With the enmeshment of racism/white supremacy into our society and its' ever changing nature we continue to need to work on it and understand it. It's not a check box on a form