By Victoria Leistman, Sierra Club Dirty Fuels Organizer
At my first anti-racism training, I watched a fellow white woman dissolve into tears in front of me. "I just wish I could rip my skin off!" she cried out, interrupting a challenging discussion about white privilege. All the participants watched quietly as the Black facilitator calmly deescalated her and restarted the dialogue around how we are each socialized into holding race-based biases.
Later, it struck me how her tears had turned all attention to herself. Whether she intended to or not, she moved the focus away from the discussion on institutionalized racism to the distraction of her guilt. She couldn’t bear to think through the impact of her cry, and fully expected the Black trainer to make her feel better. It’s a painfully perfect example of white fragility and centered whiteness -- mechanisms white folks use to continue to hold power.
Learning and Unlearning
Terms like “white fragility” and “whiteness” may be new to you. So too, may be the acknowledgment of your own privilege and of institutionalized racism. In the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder, there is now greater social pressure for white people to learn about how they benefit from systems set up to harm Black people and people of color. But your education cannot end with social media posts and attending a few protests, even if those things are new to you as well.
Our individual practice of unlearning behaviors that perpetuate a culture of white supremacy is imperative to actually showing up for racial justice in a meaningful way. As you learn, it’s valid to feel a lot of things: sadness, guilt, anger, uncertainty, etc. But however uncomfortable you may feel, please remember that this movement does not exist for your catharsis. Now is not the time to reach out to your friends or acquaintances of color to discuss your recent enlightenment. Or worse, apologize. Instead, sit with these feelings of discomfort and understand that it is an integral part of learning and unlearning.
A New Kind of Protest
In recent months, we have seen the nation rise up in support of Black Lives Matter. Here in Seattle, the Silent March called for by Black Lives Matter Seattle King County saw 60,000 people marching silently in the streets for justice against police violence. With each new protest, we have seen both waves of support and criticism, and amongst those comments have been white people expressing doubts about the movements’ tactics.
I know that many of you reading this blog are committed activists and are politically engaged. You have an analysis of current events. You see problems and you want to help. That is all important. And, even though you may think you’re an expert organizer, it is not your place to criticize how Black people are leading this movement. It’s not yours. If Black leadership is not asking for your opinion, please do not offer it.
When white people make critical comments, they are questioning Black leadership. They are not trusting that Black folks are organizers, have plans, and have a vision. They assume that after 450 years of oppression, Black folks need to be told how to move on their own liberation.
Protest is not prescriptive. There may be tactics or ideas you don’t one hundred percent agree with. Ask yourself why. Is it because agreeing with those tactics would challenge your privilege, your comfort, or the worldview that has allowed you to benefit and people of color to suffer? Identify your own growing edges and see where you might engage further to allow your position to evolve.
Rather than criticize, it's important for white people to help out! We must remember that the idea of one leader telling many followers what to do is entrenched in white supremacy culture. Rather than looking for one leader, and asking permission to do simple things, white folks should think for themselves about what would be the most helpful way to participate in the movement. What resources and skills do you have to offer, and how can you meet articulated needs?
Being One of the “Good Ones”
As you commit to learning, you will go on a journey to examine how you have benefited and perpetuated racist systems in this country. But people of color don’t need to know about your journey, or what you feel along the way. And you should absolutely not expect a reward for it.
It feels like there’s a competition amongst white people at the moment to prove that you can say the correct things, to show people that you are “woke” enough. White supremacy culture drives an unnecessary sense of competition and urgency that will just lead folks to burnout instead of committing to anti-racist practices for the long haul. There is no proverbial Good White Person badge to earn at the end of your training because the training doesn’t ever end.
The work of undoing racism in ourselves and our institutions --and in Sierra Club for that matter -- is lifelong work. I know I have more to learn every single day. It is important for white people to talk amongst themselves, educate one another, and share spaces to debrief on how things are landing for them. This work isn’t charity. It is integral to our shared fight for collective liberation.
This revolution might look new to you, but this battle is centuries old. Do the work on yourself, in your community and follow Black leadership in this fight for Black lives.
Additional relevant reading:
‘Confronting racism is not about the needs and feelings of white people,’ Ijeoma Oluo, The Guardian
‘Dear white people: being an ally isn’t always what you think’, Deepti Hajela and Leanne Italie, Washington Post
Photo by Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona on Unsplash