Giving Compass' Take:

• Joe McCarthy unpacks what a global fight against racism - as proposed by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern - would look like on the ground. 

• How can funders begin to contribute to this movement? How does is racism manifested in your community? 

• Learn about barriers to important discussions about racism. 

Following the Mar. 15 terror attack in Christchurch, New Zealand, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has called for a global effort to root out racism and bigotry, according to the BBC.

She said that the background of the terrorist, who was born and raised in Australia and traveled the world, shows that bigotry is an international threat that requires international coordination to overcome.

The United Nations has long campaigned to eliminate racism and xenophobia, and recently adopted a new resolution that outlines a strategy for achieving this outcome. The global organization releases reports on the various forms of xenophobia, invites everyday people to fight racism in their daily lives, and advises governments on policies that promote tolerance and inclusivity.

As the UN acknowledges, defeating racism, wrapped up as it is in nearly every aspect of society, is no easy feat. But there are broad steps that can be taken in the short and long term to get there.

The first step, according to historians who spoke with Global Citizen, is to actually acknowledge the depth of racism in modern life and its historical precedents.

Horne used the US, where white supremacist violence has surged in recent years, as an example.

“The US was the first apartheid state,” Horne said. “We should not see it as incidental or accidental that Africans were enslaved, that Native American land was taken, that immigrants fresh off the boat from Europe got benefits and there only recently has been a global struggle to change that.

“Until we face the mirror and confess to our own sins, with regard to the ugly history of this country, I don’t think we can move forward,” he added.

Acknowledging this history also means recognizing how it actively shapes the present moment.

All around the world, racial and other inequities take many forms.

Racism on a structural level means that marginalized communities are more likely to face poverty, environmental pollution, violence at the hands of the state, and discrimination in health care, the workplace, and education.

On an interpersonal level, racism shows up all across social media and in the daily real-life interactions people have. The terrorist who killed at least 50 people in New Zealand was heavily influenced by white supremacist subcultures online, according to the New York Times.

Read the full article about a global fight against racism by Joe McCarthy at Global Citizen.