Are You Learning All Your Anti-Racism From White People?
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.
They are regurgitating second and third hand histories and building on the work of Black people while raking in the coins - what does that sound like to you? I’ll wait…
I’m not saying lived experience is everything, not at all, but why not buy Nikole Hannah-Jones’ “1619 Project” book which combines lived experience with academic rigor?
My pet peeve? Even in anti-racism work, some white people can’t help centering themselves. And it’s wrong.
I’ll be honest. Even though I feel this way, I often find myself conflicted. Part of me thinks it’s better for white people to have a starting point they can cope with and that’s where books like DiAngelo’s come in.
However, a larger part of me sees work like hers as profiteering, plus - and this is important - white people don’t understand whiteness half as well as Black people do.
Here’s why I say that:
As a white person, you don’t have to interrogate whiteness - it just is. As a Black or Global Majority person, understanding whiteness is a matter of safety, so we know it like the backs of our hands. That’s been the case ever since the first African was trafficked to the Americas - we had to learn fast, and we’ve had to stay alert for the past several centuries. We can never relax.
Now, I admit that Black and Global Majority writers will present a perspective white people don’t often get, one that’s not intended to coddle whiteness. But isn’t that better and more useful if you really aspire to be anti-racist? I believe it is.
My challenge to you and to anyone who really wants to dig deep into being anti-racist: pick up one of those difficult books you’ve been avoiding. Attend an anti-racism or DEI training session led by a Global Majority speaker who will tell it like it is. I guarantee, you’ll take a big leap forward in your anti-racism education.
Thanks for reading,
Sharon
I’m running a poll on LinkedIn to get a sense of who’s reading this newsletter. Pick your choice here. Thank you!
© Sharon Hurley Hall, 2023. All Rights Reserved.
Cover photo courtesy of Canva.
I am an anti-racism writer, educator and activist, Co-Founder of Mission Equality the author of “I’m Tired of Racism”, and co-host of The Introvert Sisters podcast.
I appreciate the conversation as I do think that there is absolute merit in thinking about who is leading these conversations around whiteness. You're correct; as Black bodies, we understand whiteness very well but our experiences are relegated to the sidelines of narratives like White Fragility.
In essence, the emphasis as you have shared shifts from our stories and centres the white body experience. I also agree that it then becomes a 'cash flow' so to speak for those white bodies who 'decide' to do the work, with Black bodies and those lived experiences becoming secondary to the white experience.
It can be difficult to balance all of the critical participants in the work of dismantling white supremacy, while simultaneously challenging anti-Blackness.
I’ll be honest. Even though I feel this way, I often find myself conflicted. Part of me thinks it’s better for white people to have a starting point they can cope with and that’s where books like DiAngelo’s come in.
However, a larger part of me sees work like hers as profiteering, plus - and this is important - white people don’t understand whiteness half as well as Black people do.
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Thank you for this. I, too, have felt conflicted. Your point is so well taken about lived experienced of Blackness and whiteness AND I have thought: If reading DiAngelo's work is the way to get white people on board, SO BE IT. If that is the entryway...it's better than nothing.