Me and White Supremacy
I can't recall giving much thought to racism until the new wave of protests escalated after the surreal death of George Floyd. I was inside the "not-racist" box, thinking it was a fixed identity of mine and no further work was required. My silence, or 'white silence', is a way of protecting the system, which only intensifies segregation among races.
As my awareness grew larger with the recent incidents, I started seeing the word "education" and "work" brought up to reinforce the anti-racist movement. The desire to learn and to become a positive force against the patriarchy led me to immersion in books, podcasts, and interviews.
The book Me and White Supremacy by Layla Saad, exposed a reality, my reality — white supremacy as a system of oppression that benefits a race at the expense of the others.
The book is organized in a 28-day-challenge with prompts and exercises questioning assumptions and experiences from a privileged standpoint. Although one might believe that legal changes abolished white privilege, the social construction of race still positions one as superior to the others.
Peggy McIntosh, an American feminist and anti-racism activist, came up with 50 examples that identify white privilege in day-to-day life. Here are a couple of examples from the list:
I can, if I wish, arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time;
I can go into a music shop and count on finding the music of my race represented, into a supermarket and find the staple foods which fit with my cultural traditions, into a hairdresser's shop and find someone who can cut my hair;
I do not have to educate my children to be aware of systemic racism for their daily physical protection;
I can talk with my mouth full and not have people put this down to my color;
If I declare there is a racial issue at hand, or there isn't a racial issue at hand, my race will lend me more credibility for either position than a person of color will have.
I encourage you to read the full list here. It is only by identifying and questioning white privilege, uncomfortable as it might be, that is possible to tear it down.
"What negative experiences has your white privilege protected you from throughout your life?" This is one of the questions Layla suggests to reflect upon. Because my life is not being threatened daily due to my whiteness, I have not been engaged in difficult, but necessary, conversations about racism.
The lack of exposure and understanding of white supremacy might lead to white-fragility, a concept first introduced by Robin DiAngelo to explain defensive and victimized reactions triggered by a bare minimum of racial stress.
“White fragility prevents you from having a conversation about racism without falling apart. If you cannot talk about racism, especially about the ways in which you have been unintentionally complicit in racism, then you will never be able to go beyond a mere superficial understanding of racism.”
I'm eager to change my rigid perspective on racism — racists are bad people; not racists are good people. This viewpoint inhibits proactive change and discourages the necessary work to truly see the flaws of a segregated society.
Dr. Ibram Kendi suggests portraying the word 'racist' as a descriptive rather than a pejorative one. It identifies a person who is favoring a racial-inequality policy, consciously or unconsciously — a reality that can be changed through self-awareness.
As I'm writing, a mix of feelings rushes through. One being the lack of competency and leverage to cover something I don't get to experience — racism. But I won't be silent. Hence, shutting up speaks the unspoken message of accepting systemic racism and protecting white supremacy.
Reflect on this one: "How has your silence been complicit in upholding racist behavior?"
“I was taught to see racism only in individual acts of meanness, not in invisible systems conferring dominance on my group.”
Most people don't go about their days spreading hate speech against black. Nor they self-proclaim being superior to other races. The belief of white superiority can rather be an unconscious and hidden one, shaping thinking patterns and ways of acting, without actually being spoken about. The truth is we are conditioned to see the white race as superior because of a white-biased history, underrepresentation of blacks on the media, asymmetrical institutional power, a mostly white-curriculum in schools, and so on. It does not help to embrace color-blindness — "I don't see color. I see people." When refusing to look at the color, we refuse to see white privilege and pretend all races are treated equally.
White exceptionalism is the belief of being different from the rest — I am an exception to white supremacy, I am one of the good guys. This belief does more harm than good. It prevents me and you from doing the work and being responsible for our conditioning.
Layla lists a few examples of how white superiority shows up on a daily-basis: primarily reading books, learning, and buying from white people. These sets of actions reinforce the pattern of the white race being a more valuable and capable one. I mainly read white authors, am taught by white professors, follow white leaders, listen to white television, and so on.
For this reason, I will commit to acquiring information from different sources. Mainly, I will read more books written by authors from a different race than mine. I challenge you to embark on a similar journey — learn, question, change, and repeat.