How Do We Stop Racism? Maybe We Stop Feeding It.

That hot flush that makes you react.

That sudden surge that makes you want to punch someone, shout back or tell them exactly what you think.

The tight feeling in your head. The clenching of your jaw. Your heart beating faster as you read something that you know has been written to provoke you.

That is emotional pressure.

And racism and hate-spreading feed on it.

Something inflammatory is posted. You react. You click. You comment. You share it to tell everyone how disgusting it is. Other people respond to your comment. You go back and respond again.

The algorithm sees engagement.

And where engagement generates advertising revenue, attention has commercial value.

We often think the way to challenge racism is to make more noise about every racist thing we see.

I think sometimes we need to do the exact opposite.

Don't react.

No reaction. No comment. No argument. No rage-share. No additional attention from you.

Because if something has been designed to provoke outrage, refusing to provide that outrage takes away part of what makes it valuable.

Will that stop racism completely? Of course not.

There will always be people who genuinely hold racist beliefs, and there are times when racism absolutely needs to be challenged, reported, documented or acted upon.

But there is a difference between taking purposeful action against racism and being emotionally pulled into reacting to it.

And that distinction matters.

It is easier said than done, I know.

Because that reaction isn't simply you deciding to type an angry comment.

The racism creates emotional pressure.

The reaction is the behaviour that follows that pressure.

That is where the Firm Ground® Methodology comes in.

Firm Ground® works by identifying the pressure driving behaviour, reducing its power and changing the behavioural response that follows.

I have worked with people who were extremely volatile and helped them stop reacting to the very things that once wound them up the most.

The trigger may still exist.

But it doesn't have to control the response.

You may not be able to stop racism today.

But I can help change how you respond to racism.

And if enough people who genuinely want change stop giving deliberately provocative hate the emotional reaction, attention, clicks and engagement it is looking for, we begin taking away some of its power.

If you are ready to create change by doing the opposite of what you have been doing, call The Pressure Assassin.