"Don't just do something, sit there."
– Sylvia Boorstein
Be careful of action bias in your social justice and antiracism work.
The bias that leads you to "do something" because you're supposed to "do something".
The bias that leads you to believe that because you did something – one thing, or maybe two things – that the work is over.
The bias that leads you to believe that someone can or should or will give you a concrete list of "do's" and "don'ts" that you can laminate and hang by your desk as a guide to continue doing something.
The bias that leads you to dismiss ongoing intentional and selective reading and listening and media consumption and self-educating and immersing and learning and evolving and self-assessing as "not doing anything" or "not doing enough".
The bias that leads you to conflate performative allyship that is visible and commentable and likable with the true, deep, consistent self-development work that isn't as visible and laudable and commendable.
The bias that leads to boxes being checked and status quos status quoing.
The bias that provides you with allyship cookies and pins.
The bias that mocks self-reflection and meditation and self-actualization and committing to who you truly want to be.
The bias that perpetuates inequity and injustice.