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In reply to the discussion: Silence Makes White People Racist [View all]OneGrassRoot
(22,920 posts)Last edited Sun Jan 4, 2015, 05:25 PM - Edit history (1)
As a white woman having been engaged in dialogue about racism and the flip side of that ugly coin, privilege, for 40 years, I've learned a few things that are common to my experience. I recognize my experience isn't universal though, so take it as you will:
1. "Far too many white liberals are racist by silence."
That sentence in the article is likely the lightning rod. I understand in the author's experience, the white liberals she's speaking of were defensive and combative in the discussions...not exactly silent.
But for the white liberals who truly remain silent in the face of what many clearly see as gross, obscene, blatant injustice, there is a big difference when confronting/accusing them about personal racist behavior versus getting them to acknowledge the SYSTEMIC racism.
Overt racist behavior is easier to prove and confront, although thanks to Limbaugh and Fox, even flat-out racists who proudly proclaimed it in years past now deny they are racist (since Obama's election). I have no problem calling out people I know well, and whom I know for a fact are hardcore racists. Subtle racism and privilege is much, much harder to prove on an individual basis and is usually an exercise in futility to try to tell someone they are racist.
Yet facts speak to systemic racism and oppression easily and clearly. Most reasonable people can get that.
I do agree that, once you're aware of the systemic injustice, to remain silent in the face of it is consent of that system...just as remaining silent when you're in the same room where bullying and abuse is taking place is implied consent of that abuse.
I understand why people may remain silent (fear), but I do stand by my view about silence in the face of systemic racism, once aware, is consent.
It may seem like a subtle difference, but it lands quite differently (personal attack versus focus on systems), and meaningful dialogue and changes in views often take place as a result of approaching the discussion that way.
2. "Damned if you do, damned if you don't."
That's a common observation, too, and I totally understand that.
I think it's important for white people who DO want to speak up but are afraid to perhaps keep this in mind:
-- Stand WITH PoC, don't speak FOR. (I have this on my wall: "You will always be white, so do something with the privilege you're given. Make room at the table, then step back. Your voice has been heard for a long time now; it is now time for those who have been silenced to speak."
-- I can speak to privilege, which is something I have experienced, so I can work to try to raise awareness of that within the white community. I haven't experienced racism (but I sure have observed it, up close and personal, KKK style), so I won't speak of it as though I have walked in the shoes as a PoC, but I can easily speak to the systemic nature of it.
-- We have MANY ism issues to contend within the US (and globally) today, but I agree with PoC who understandably get upset when these protests start to drift away from the focus being purely on racism. Intersectionality may be fine to form alliances, but we need to focus. Personally, I believe racism is humanity's core wound, so that is definitely my focus.
-- It's not about white people alive today taking BLAME for slavery (because that always comes up, don'tcha know) or other oppression, but it IS about taking responsibility for any role we may play in perpetuating SYSTEMIC racism. It's insidious, both the systemic aspect and the implicit bias that affects most, if not all, people, of all skin colors.
I respectfully would like to add that many PoC I know have subconsciously, after generations of living within a racist society, taken on this same bias, believing that they are inferior in some way because that is still very much part of the daily environment in media, advertising, education, etc. The multigenerational damage of racism is extraordinary, and we have never had the safe space to discuss this in the US. All we hear is "it happened ages ago, get over it."
That's why I definitely advocate for a Truth & Reconciliation Commission.
And I think the same subconscious bias happens with many white people, especially politically aware liberals. I don't think they're lying when they say they don't hold racist views -- I think they truly don't realize it because it has become almost instinctual now considering how entrenched it has been in all of our institutions since the founding of this country.
Given how many people are now struggling financially, the last bastion of this argument about the effects of systemic racism seems to be with white people who are embattled economically and feel they have zero privilege. They really get pissed when I try to firmly but gently point out that they do have an advantage over PoC in a similar economic position.
It's about the system. Yet I also believe a cultural transformation is necessary before any systemic change can happen. It is THAT entrenched and deep with many people, of all skin colors, and truly don't even realize it, imho. We're not exactly the most self-aware society, and as I said above, we haven't had the safe space to really, really talk all of this out as communities. Dialogue, back and forth...listening.
Racism in the US is like a boil that has been festering under the skin since the Civil Rights Movement...as that certainly didn't heal the boil, it just pushed it beneath the skin. Well, the pus is oozing out now, which I happen to think is good. It needs air and sunlight, not silence and apathy, even if we're afraid and uncomfortable. That's the only way to truly heal it.
Time is of the essence. People are dying every day as a direct result of racism, both systemic and personal manifestations of it.