Dear white people: UK senior Sophia Rosing has shown us we need to wake up and do better.

I can’t say I’m shocked to see the kind of behavior we all witnessed last week coming from a University of Kentucky student who was born and raised in Kentucky.

The amount of racism I witnessed as a white person on the UK campus in the 2.5 years I lived there — and as a resident of this state all my life — is insane. No region of the state that I have lived in was free from blatant or passive aggressive racism, as much as we all would like to think. I can remember many fraternity parties in someone’s basement where people sang along loudly to rap music no pauses for the N-word, Many white men who would say the N-word followed by, “It means friend,” or “My friend gave me the pass,” in my presence.

Knowing this about my state, alma mater, and hometown of Owensboro got me thinking: How did we get here? We all know the roots of racism dug into the ground hundreds of years prior to now, but that brings my second question:

Why?

Why are we comfortable with our fellow Kentuckians using this kind of language, whether it’s in a violent context or not? The better question is why do we just shake our heads, say it’s a bad thing, and then wait for the next instance?

Are any of you not tired of moving on from the hate tarnishing our old Kentucky home? I am.

One of the main answers, as it turns out to many of the deep-rooted issues in society, is one five-letter word that makes the world go round: Money.

It’s no secret higher education institutions across this nation, including the University of Kentucky, were founded on inherently racist principles because people of color were not allowed to apply. Although the first black student enrolled at UK officially in 1948, the university’s social hierarchy continued with segregated sororities and fraternities at the top, a place they have remained for generations.

If all universities have this past history, why is the University of Kentucky continuing to ignore its past instead of beginning a path to right its racial wrongs? Other universities have begun to acknowledge their histories and sources of funding, but not UK. How much of the $43.5 million dollars the university received in donations this year came from organizations that are complicit in systematic white supremacy? This is an unspoken reason many are not as repulsed as I and many others were by the actions of Sophia Rosing and the university’s reaction.

Where do we go?

A reluctance to be honest about the past means this kind of racial violence will continue to go unseen and unpunished.

So, what now? We’re aware of this knowledge, if you weren’t already, and you may ask what can YOU do. You’re only one person, but there’s plenty you can do as one white person around other white people.

Where you can start is looking inside yourself. Reflect on your past actions, the past actions of your ancestors, and the implications they have on people of color today. You may not be able to change the past, but you can move forward by choosing to no longer be complicit.

I think many people believe they aren’t racist because they don’t walk around sing-songing the N-word like Ms. Rosing. But staying silent when someone says the N-word is complicity. The university is complicit by continuing to take money from organizations with histories of discrimination against people of color. Complicit racism is racism.

I want to end by calling all white people to not let this be the standard we set for others. Educate yourself on how to be a better ally. Do not be complicit. We should not be comfortable with this occurring in a society we claimed to have desegregated decades ago. Show people of color in your community the change white people are capable of. Do as much as you can, the best way you can. All anyone expects you to do is try. Everyone starts somewhere, but I think starting today would get you on the right track more quickly.

Work alongside others to create change.

Kayla Ruth is a Kentucky native and UK alum currently working as a creative communications freelancer remotely from Louisville