...dammit, where was I? Let me see...Errr..."As a racialised blah blah, something something, yaada yaada"...Oh yes: as a person with socially-constructed advantages who is trying to do anti-racist work in a system that's predicated on my complicity, there are a few things I've learned (and am still learning) both from the work of others and from personal experience about how I can grow, and reduce the risk that I'll inadvertently make things worse.
So here's my quick rundown for 'white' people who already 'get it' enough to be actively involved in anti-racist movements, or are thinking about doing so:
1) If you are invited to join a project (or any type of group, room of people, committee, panel, list of speakers, round-table meeting...) ask the organiser for an approximate gender and ethnicity ratio. And if it isn't reflective of local or national diversity (as a minimum), politely inform them that you will accept provided this is addressed, and offer them support in doing so, if they need it.
2) If you're asked to contribute to or lead on something race-related, find out if others in your organisation with more experience (both personal and professional) have been asked first. And if not, suggest they are asked. And if there aren't any/many people racialised as Black, Brown or othered-to-white in the team, then see #1. Know that some people might be tired of being asked, fatigued from doing it their whole life, just busy with other stuff, or offended that they are expected to do so simply because of their identity. People might be glad that someone else is using their labour in the struggle. And other people might want to do it, but have been ignored by leaders, or not feel welcomed to or that they belong enough to step in.
3) If someone takes the time, effort and risk in trying to help you understand a mistake or misstep you've made, actively listen to them. Say thank you. Repeat to yourself that 'intentions are secondary to impact'. Then reflect on it on *your* time (they've already done enough on their time, both with you - just then - and almost certainly for as long as they can remember). If you don't fully understand or agree, go and read some more on the topic before settling on your opinion (remembering that you are living in systems, both neurologically and sociologically, that are designed to reinforce the opinion you started with). If they are happy to continue the discussion with you, make sure you do the reading work before you return to it. Remember, you are not entitled to their time, labour or engagement, no matter how much you may feel like you are 'on the same side', or your 'intentions were good', or 'another person-of-colour told you differently' etc. Go back to that text you read about self-importance being a central tenet of patriarchal whiteness (or as bell hooks puts it, the 'rituals of power that assault self-esteem'). Have a chuckle at yourself, and do better next time.
4) Accept that someone explaining their point to you, and then suggesting a specific text for you to read if it's apparent that you are not an expert in said area, is AWESOME. It is the opposite of arrogance and impoliteness, despite your emotional reaction to feeling like the centrality of your opinion (and by extent, who you are, and your place in the world) has been questioned, shaken, dismantled, or discredited. This is the foundation for growth, not attack. Do not 'kill off the emotional part of yourself' (bell hooks), but seek to understand it, and its power to nourish and liberate (Lorde).
5) Remember and acknowledge that any life or career benefits (whether tangible or intangible, direct or indirect, intentional or incidental) that you are a recipient of due to your anti-racist efforts are only possible *because* of the historical and current subjugation and oppression, deaths, lives, resistance, activism, solidarity and scholarship of black and brown, Jewish, Traveller, indigenous, Muslim, and other peoples grouped into oppression by dominant forces. Know them and cite them. Share, and amplify them. But most of all, connect your humanity to them, and read them not just as anti-racist activists, but as philosophers and poets of the human condition in its entirety. My own starting point for reading James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, Toni Morrison, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, for example, was perhaps towards the academic, but their impact is far deeper, shape-shifting and formless, than I can articulate (though I might try in another blog).
6) Re-read the work around the concept of the 'white saviour' and the problem with altruism. Stand with, not for. Stand side-by-side as default. Stand forwards when called, and backwards (or off) as and when required. Take risks, and know that the stakes are lower for you.
7) Re-read and read more about decolonisation. Try to manifest a decolonial turn in your approaches, communication, behaviour, reflections, and heart. Do not work alone. Do not compete. Instead, share yourself with others, and collaborate. Foster community, for individualism has its roots in colonial philosophy and will only reinforce the arbitrary boundaries and oppressions that got us here in the first place.
8) Continue to engage with art, scholarship and research from people of all backgrounds, including non-white/European heritage, read their words, listen to their voices, and follow them on social media. But remember that being an activist/ally/accomplice requires you take action. You must act. It's a doing, not a thinking. Similarly, anti-racism is neither an identity nor a destination; you never arrive, you only strive.
Lastly, if you make any of the above 'mistakes', or others, do not stop your work through fear, guilt, or despondency. We're all human. Use directional, not binary, thinking. Accept it, apologise, and do better next time. Society needs you.
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