Systemic oppression can be tackl

Before any subtraction happens, there needs to be understanding – after all, you have to know all the constituent parts of the thing, or situation, that you want to change. Only then can you make informed decisions about which parts to take away. That’s because a lot of the things we want to change don’t exist in a vacuum; they’re complex systems that are more than the sum of their parts.

To demonstrate this point, let’s take a look at something that many people would like to change: racism. Author Ibram X. Kendi argues that all racism is systemic racism because the systems that govern our lives, like the justice system, are innately racist. Racism is so difficult to “subtract” because most people don’t fully understand how these systems perpetuate it.

When it comes to anti-racism, most people make the same old mistake: they seek to add rather than to subtract. For instance, anti-racism campaigners seek to add educational programs for underprivileged communities, or to add funds to fight systemic discrimination.

But while these additions might be effective, they will never be as effective as subtraction-based changes. Whereas these additions focus on helping people overcome the barriers to equality, subtraction focuses on removing the barriers to equality altogether. Removing these barriers is so much more effective because it releases, rather than adds, tension to the complex system of racism.

Let’s look at an example of this theory in action. One of the worst racial injustices of the twentieth century was South Africa’s apartheid regime, which was introduced in 1948. International campaigners tried to change the situation by adding support, such as money and resources, to anti-apartheid forces in South Africa. But this only added tension to the system – it scaled up the size of the conflict.

As a result, these additive efforts had little effect. By the late 1980s, apartheid was still firmly in place. So instead, campaigners began to focus on how they could subtract resources and support from the regime. Thus began a series of divestments from South African companies, as investors across America withdrew financial support for the regime and its industries. This released tension from the system because it diminished the force of the regime itself. By 1990, apartheid had begun to crumble.