If this is satire, it fails bigly.

If not ...

Malcolm X tells a story about how a conscience-stricken white woman who had read his autobiography met him and asked, what can we do? Apparently Malcolm X hadn't thought about that, because he said, there is nothing you can do. Almost immediately, he said, he regretted saying this. So in a later edition of his autobiography, he said he wished he'd told her, educate yourself and your people.

Expanding on this, there are three things that just about anyone can do:

1. Uncover and challenge our implicit biases. No one is born racist, we are taught these biases at about the same time as we learn to walk, talk, feed ourselves, and use the restroom. We can take note of when we're thinking feeling or behaving in a racist manner, learn, and do better.

2. Educate ourselves and each other. Read / listen to what Black people are saying. Believe Black people. Share and promote these works. Challenge each other to do better. And when I say challenge, I mean to do this in an honest and compassionate way. Dr. David Campt, who writes here on Medium, has some great advice on this. He also offers some courses, webinars, and books, which I highly recommend.

3. Invest in the Black community. If you have a savings or checking account, move it to local credit unions or to One United Bank. Buy Black, and recommend great Black businesses.

And one more:

Watch out for how racism may affect your work and how you can do better. For example, if you're a teacher, challenge yourself on any biases you may feel regarding Black students, raise your expectations, treat them as intelligent and worthy learners. If you're in retail sales, treat Black customers as legitimate customers, not as potential "trouble." If you're a manager, offer development and promotions to qualified Black people. etc.

I don't know if this is satire or not, but please stop promoting the idea that allies are ineffective and worthless. Articles like this one have driven me to suicidal ideation in the past. I put aside these thoughts when Black people reminded me that Allies are needed, Black people don't have the numbers to do it all themselves and they shouldn't have to. Allies were instrumental in abolishing slavery, getting the civil rights, voting rights, and fair housing acts passed, and calling for necessary changes to this day. Call it virtue signalling if you like, but what is the alternative? Hunker down and give up? Sew some sheets together and join the other camp? I don't think so!