6 Creative Ways to Use the Internet to Fight Racism

The internet may have given us 4chan, but it’s also provided endless ways to fight racism without even leaving the house. Most everybody knows to donate to familiar organizations like the ACLU, but there are countless other creative methods for resisting oppression online. Check out some of them below.

6. Add Your Voice to Policy Conversations

Campaign Zero designs detailed policy solutions to the problem of systemic police violence. They’ve come up with “a comprehensive package of urgent policy solutions — informed by data, research and human rights principles,” and they want your thoughts: Read their proposed solutions here and contribute ideas or feedback here. They’ll answer with their updated response tracker here.

5. Use A.I. to Fax Your Congresspeople

The “Resistbot” tool launched in March and doesn’t require downloading an app: Just text the word “RESIST” to 50409, or else message Resistbot on Facebook, and the bot will figure out which Congresspeople represent you.

“Hi, I’m Resistbot,” it will say. “I’m going to help you contact your officials. What would you like to tell them?” Type a short message, and the bot will transform that into a fax and send it to the House or Senate; that means no phone lines jammed with callers.

Although it may feel uncomfortable to use such an informal medium to contact your representatives, Resistbot assures users that typos and off-the-cuff messages demonstrate to staffers that the note was written by a real person (as opposed to it being a copied form letter), which works in your favor.

4. Donate Every Time Trump Tweets

Donate for Donald is a donations platform that allows you to automatically make a donation in the amount of your choice every time Trump tweets (which, needless to say, is often). You can choose to donate to a number of anti-racism organizations, like Black Lives Matter and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

3. If You’ve Been a Victim of Microaggressions, Consider Sharing Your Stories

Help educate others by sharing examples of the many ways that racism can manifest itself. Websites like The Microaggressions Project provide a platform for people to anonymously submit stories about microaggressions they’ve experienced; submit one yourself at submissions@microaggressions.com.

2. Educate Yourself With Online Resources

There’s always more to learn. Many websites have compiled free online anti-oppression tools: videos, articles, podcasts, digital books, and other resources. Check out this extremely long list per the White Noise Collective. Resources are separated by dozens of categories, including “Understanding and Challenging Islamophobia and Anti-Arab racism,” “Orientalism & the Appropriation of Eastern Forms of Culture and Spirituality,” and “Herstories Addressing Whiteness and Female Socialization.”

1. Help Identify Nazis

You may know @YesYoureRacist as the Twitter user who helped expose participants in Friday’s white power rally in Charlottesville, though Logan Smith has been calling out racists’ hypocrisy online since 2012.

“If you recognize any of the Nazis marching in #Charlottesville, send me their names/profiles and I’ll make them famous #GoodNightAltRight,” he tweeted on Saturday.

And that he did, starting with this guy, who “voluntarily” quit his job after his name went public.

Follow @YesYoureRacist to look out for new pictures and help him identify faces; even if you’re unaware of it, you could know some Nazis in your life. Donate to Smith’s efforts here.