As the slacktivists put on sneakers to march their way down Fifth Avenue, bold voices are calling out their convenient performative allyship. Michelle Alexander minces no words.
Our democracy hangs in the balance. This is not an overstatement.
Of course, it would be wrong of me, a white male lawyer, to disagree with a black female saint, but if I were permitted under the current rules of engagement to call bullshit, I might be inclined to do so.
But slightly less hyperbolic, Holiday Phillips offers some nuts and bolts ideas for how to stop being a performative ally and being a good white person in this time of need. Who, you ask?
Renegade sociologist — often found playing at the intersection of love + justice.
And she’s got stuff to tell us white folks.
I could go on.
These tragedies, just the most recent examples in a long history of violence against black people, have led to an explosion of attention on social media.
Still, as a black woman, instead of feeling inspired by this act of solidarity, I found myself feeling angry and afraid. Looking through my feed, I wanted to say to my white friends, “You’re here now, but where are you the other 364 days a year when anti-racism isn’t trending? When racism isn’t tucked safely behind the screen in your hand, but right there in front of your face?”
My first inclination was to tell her that I’ve not only done it 364 days a year for longer than she’s been alive, but that would have just been my “privilege” talking since I’m probably only alive because I’m a white man. Her point is that instead of wishing her, as a black woman, hope and prayers, she wants money.
Act with your wallet
This, I believe, is the greatest thing you as a white person can do to support BIPOC.** If you are disgusted by the centuries of state-sponsored theft from black, Asian, and indigenous people’s lands, then support BIPOC-owned businesses. Initiate your own program of reparations by actively looking for products and services you use regularly and finding alternatives created by BIPOC. And if you’re heartbroken by the exploitation of people of color in some of the poorest countries in the world, refuse to buy from the fashion and technology companies that continue to shamelessly exploit adults and children in their labor practices.
Of course, in order to have money to spend in support of BIPOC, you probably need a job. She’s got that covered too.
Call out people in real life
It’s easy to call people out when you’re hidden behind a keyboard. You know what’s hard? Calling out your boss when he routinely mixes up your two Indian colleagues, or facing off with your racist relative when they start talking about “immigrants taking our jobs.” If you can’t yet speak up, that’s okay, but recognize that fact and commit to doing your work so that, one day soon, you can.
Even if you don’t have two Indian colleagues, there’s got to be something your boss does that’s racist. If you don’t see it, it’s only because you’re racist too, you racist.
Inform yourself
It’s all too easy to focus on the people “out there” — the evil ones, the KKK, the neo-Nazis. Almost every sensible person believes these people and their views are deplorable. But because they are marginal and few in number, they have little power and influence over the mechanics of society. You know what does have mass influence? Systemic white apathy and privilege. And I’m sorry to say, if you’re white, no matter how nice you are, unless you’re doing serious and sustained personal anti-racism work, you are a part of the machine. Ask your BIPOC friends about their experiences of racism and listen. Engage in ways to confront your own biases. Read books on the history of racism in your country.
Are you one of those white people who read that TERF J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books to your kids? Why not Angela Davis?
But she does make one curious suggestion.
Do something that no one will ever know
Challenge yourself to do things quietly, like changing the things you buy, giving your platform to a BIPOC, or educating yourself on the history of racism without telling everyone about how educated you now are. That way, you know you’re really down for the cause — and not the cause of looking like a woke person.
But then, how will anybody know how woke you are and what you’ve sacrificed? So what will you do to make the world better or, as Saint MIchelle puts it, save democracy which hangs in the balance?
*Tuesday Talk rules apply.
**BIPOC stand for “black, indigenous, and people of color.” It might seem redundant, but that just shows you are racist.
H/T Chris Van Wagner
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We keep on hearing this word “allies”. But alliances are bidirectional. When one part tells another party what to do, what to say, demands money, on pain of being declared an enemy, that’s not not an alliance. That’s what’s called “tribute”.
SHG,
From the NYT article you linked to,
“Correction: June 8, 2020
An earlier version of this article misstated the timing of the Civil War. It was over 100 years ago, not over 200 years ago.”
A mere typo from Ms. Alexander? And, yet, “We must face our racial history and our racial present.” It would be funny, if it were not tragic.
All the best.
RGK
Only the privileged concern themselves with correcting obviously erroneous facts.
Attributed to Sheriff Roy’s aunt.
“Bless her heart. She’s so smart, in her own way.”*
*For those Yankees unfamiliar with southern speech patterns, this was a load of double ought buckshot out of a double barreled 12 gauge. With external hammers.
Did I mention the 20 gauge semi-auto I bought for the missus?
Now that is a story I want to hear.
I told him to load it with dust.
Does it have anything to do with a cat?
I have a cheap 20 ga Winchester here but it’s a cornshucker. Double ought buck. Usually the barrel is too long for use in a home, so sawed off to the max? I hate to do it but…
I’m an old geezer of 75 so please don’t get angry with me when I advise you to take her to the range.
The speed with which they went from “don’t kill black guys” to “give black people your money” might seem pretty fast to the unwary, but if you want people to give you their money, you have to seize the day.
If nobody’s buying, you ain’t selling.
Giving money is not enough. If you are following developments, you will see that “corporate America has failed Black America” by giving money and engaging in tokenism.
So, more like Carpe Pecunia, eh?
The whole reparations thing presents me with a quandary. I have Cherokee ancestry. Seriously. Unlike Senator Warren, this ancestry is actually proven with land records and wills and other death records and censuses. The great Cherokee chief Doublehead, active in the latter half of the 18th century, was my 7x or 8x great uncle. So I figure there’s some land in North Carolina (or perhaps East Tennessee) that is, you know, mine.
So how am I supposed to know what my reparations balance sheet looks like? What if I’m owed more than I’m paid? Is there a website where I can compute this? This is all so confusing and my privilege is no help at all in sorting it out.
If they give you Knoxville, what prevents your great grandchildren from claiming Nashville as well? I mean, who in their right mind wants Knoxville?
Bad things happen in Knoxville.
Y’all leave Knoxville and Nashville alone. We’ve got enough shit to deal with.
So Mud Lick is fair game?
Now there’s nothing wrong with Knoxville. There are some very nice spots there overlooking the river.
But you’re right that a nice chunk of Nashville would be better.
All-righty then…I need to be doing…
“… serious and sustained personal anti-racism work, (so I’ll not be) part of the machine.”
AND…
“(be) Do(ing) something that no one will ever know…
That way, you know you’re really down for the cause — and not the cause of looking like a woke person.”
Then all my sins will be forgiven, AND, I still get be part of the do-nothing-white-POS-‘part-of-the-machine’ club. Yay!
When you put it that way, it kinda seems stupid.
I don’t feel like much of an ally when I’m told to shut up and sit in a corner and read. I mean, I’m used to it and all, but I still don’t like being told what to do. At least give me a participation trophy for giving up the safety and comfort of my couch for the chance to get assaulted by cops.
Alexander wants book clubs, but we aren’t supposed to talk about how woke we are. What’s the point if I can’t signal my wokeness and feel superior to other people?
I wasn’t aware before that our democracy was all of a sudden in imminent danger. The stuffed animals I pretend are “members” of my MLM book club are going to be so excited when I tell them tonight. Do you think Alexander would join my club if I asked nicely? How woke is she really?
There you go again, “centering” this on yourself as if Equal Protection doesn’t just protect the minority from the tyranny of the majority, but put them in charge of the majority. This is why we can’t have nice things.
You should come visit us here at the ‘rest spa’. We have a nice room with plenty of stuffed animals you can play with.
You can even have some M&Ms. However, we only have the orange ones. We got them cheap, as they were all mislabelled “100 mg” (*cough* Thorazine *cough*).
Believe me, you’ll fit right in.
I have received a few propaganda pieces from black friends on FB that describe all the things their white friends should not talk about (and it is a long list). At the same time, “silence is violence,” so basically all that is left for legitimate “allies” is to parrot the exact propaganda line that is furnished to them, without modification, reduction or embellishment.
Come on, B, say it with me…I promise to be DIFFERENT! I promise to be…
Interesting that she is using BIPOC to stand for “black, indigenous, AND people of color.” Modern usage commonly seems to get rid of the “and”, because the black, Latino, and indigenous groups commonly exclude Asians. Look at Stuyvesant for an example.
Apparently suspicion of “supporting BLM for clout” will get someone fired at MTV.
To be fair, it’s hard to tell what won’t get you fired anymore.
Pushing back is futile. They need to be outflanked with their own tactics. Not just out of petty rivalry or even self-defense, but because they are destroying their own purported goals, and some of those goals are actually worthy. Whichever flavor definition of “racism” one prefers there’s a solid case for applying it to them. They are the mother willing to see the baby they claim as their own split in two in Solomon’s court.
Still working out how to do this without becoming them, though. I mean, it’s not an inevitable outcome as long as there are principles adhered to (which is a huge distinction), but it’s always a danger.
There is substantial worth in the goal of eliminating racism in general and with police, in particular. But there is a huge gap between eliminating racism and special pleading based on race.
Racism is the hatred of a group of people based on their race or perceived race. As so defined, it is indeed a great evil, and there is substantial worth in the goal of eliminating it. Which means we must dispense with the woke (or at least, their ideology) forthwith.
Adam Savage
“I reject your reality, and I substitute my own.”
Consider the history of the 20th century. Most of the misery was caused by white ethnic groups driven by grudges to slaughter other white ethnic groups. Demonic. Having been reared in a northern city divided into ethnic communities I had the awareness of the Irish, Italians, and Poles despising each other. And we Irish hated WASPs, specifically the British, down to our bones. Now that was taught! The black community was off to the side. There was a coexistence. Most or all the fathers worked, white and black. The workplaces were integrated perhaps to a large degree, especially the factories which were mostly unionized. And I am making the educated guess that while there was redlining, de facto segregation, black people there simply were not targets as they were for generations in the South. No one discriminated against green ($$). The races mingled freely in department and food stores, restaurants, and buses.
It was easy making friends with black girls my age in grade school. They understood my sense of humor, that I remember. I understood theirs. We were very individual. Like everyone else.
I have not run across a discussion of the seething white cauldron anywhere besides academic sociology-type publications of a certain age. I mentioned it some years ago to the stepfather of an unfortunate black client whom I was defending. He commented that the young man was facing racism in the charges. I answered, It seems to me that racism is nothing compared to how much whites hate whites. Which was not tactful. It was summoned up by his comment and he took it well, as an education I think, with eyes as big as silver dollars. Really? Oh yes!
So. Dear Holiday:
“What’s wrong with the world? I am what’s wrong with the world.” G.K. Chesterton
“The line between good and evil runs through the heart of every man.” Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
And believe in yourself. Thinking makes it so.