Are You Learning All Your Anti-Racism From White People?

And should you be? I don't think so, and here's why...

Hello friends,

Before you get your knickers in a twist at this title, know that if you’re reading this you’re not in the group I’m asking about.

I’m talking about the white people who say they’re not racist, but don’t feel comfortable learning from the people who have the most experience of racism - Black people and other Global Majority people.

The people who will read Robin DiAngelo’s “White Fragility” but not Reni Eddo-Lodge’s “Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race”.

The people who will attend DEI events and conferences singularly lacking in melanated speakers.

The people who want their anti-racism education packaged in a way they find palatable.

Not so side note: Here’s my problem with the DiAngelos of this world: they often have no lived experience of what they are writing about. They may know something about whiteness (though see my thoughts below), but they know nothing about experiencing racism.