If you're a white person wondering what to do during the George Floyd protests, I have some advice

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The reaction to protests in Minnesota and New York demanding an end to police brutality after the killing of George Floyd shows that Black Americans are facing two epidemics: Covid-19 and racist violence, both killing people of color at a disproportionate rate.

Floyd died on May 25 shortly after being handcuffed and pinned to the ground by Derek Chauvin, a white police officer who had his knee on Floyd’s neck for nine minutes. In a video of the incident that echoes the 2014 killing of Eric Garner, Floyd was shown repeating, “I can’t breathe. Please, I can’t breathe.” Chauvin has since been fired and arrested.

I wish I was surprised. Yet as a bespectacled Black gay nerd who grew up in a poor, largely minority neighborhood in Houston, I remember my mother and I having The Talk. It’s the lesson that every black parent tries hard to instil in their kids to keep them safe from the police: be respectful, say “yes sir” and “no sir”, and be sure not to make any sudden movements.

It didn't help me one summer evening after I encountered two white men while walking through the Museum District. They attacked me, raining down punches and kicks that left me stunned, dripping with blood and missing half a tooth. I stumbled up the street, tears flowing, until I saw a police car. I tried hard to remain calm as I told the officer how I'd been beaten up.

“If you weren’t out spreading AIDS, you wouldn’t have gotten your ass kicked,” the cop said. He then drove off, leaving me trembling with frustration.

In retrospect, I'm lucky he was just verbally abusive. It could have been much worse. This experience fueled a desire in me to fight for everyone who is made to feel like they don’t matter.

Working as an activist, I’ve met white people who ask me what they can do. I tell them: If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. Your silence will not protect you and it definitely won’t protect people of color.

So it is not enough to claim you are not a racist in the face of state-sanctioned violence. Even Amy Cooper, the white woman who called police on a Black man in Central Park after he asked her to keep her dog on a leash, began her unapologetic apology with “I am not a racist.” As Ibram Kendi, author of How to Be An Antiracist said, “Denial is the heartbeat of racism.”

It’s crucial that you move from “not racist” to becoming an antiracist. This begins with acknowledging that growing up in a racist society means you have taken in those ideas and that they have shaped your thoughts, feelings and actions. This doesn’t make you a bad person.

After you’ve accepted that, make a commitment to fighting for racial equity and move to action by challenging racist words and actions from people you know, donating money to civil rights organizations like Color of Change, Minnesota Freedom Fund Inc. and Fair Fight; signing petitions by groups like MoveOn; giving your children books featuring diverse characters; posting antiracist articles on Facebook; writing letters to the editor of your local newspaper urging justice; calling your city council members and demanding better oversight of the police department; calling the offices of progressive candidates to volunteer; and making sure you're registered to vote so you can vote Donald Trump out of office.

Now is the time for white people to act before one more black person is murdered for the color of their skin.

Michael Crawford is a writer and activist in New York City