4 basic rules for being a better white ally
Guys, I quit updating this blog.
You wonder why? Ya know, I feel quite incompetent to write a social justice blog. Seriously … often I had ideas for entries of my own, but then I got discouraged. Other social justice bloggers are just so much better and quicker and most important – SMARTER than me. Uh huh! Compared to them I'm just a lame copy cat. And that's not what the world needs. The world needs heroes of progress. Social justice bloggers should be heroes of progress. So I'm of no use here.
But, before I leave, let me share some insights with you:
4 basic rules for being a better white ally.
No # 1 - Hell yes, humility, baby!
I learnt from the web, that there are a lot of obnoxious whities thinking, being a white ally would make them somehow special – or even worse – superior!
Maybe I was mislead, but not this mislead!
Being a white ally is not about being proud and strutting around bragging. It's all about humility! It's about being constantly aware of the crimes committed by the whites in the past, present and – yes – in the future. I'm German. I wouldn't say that Germans are great white allies. But I think, being German can help developing humility ... For decades, if a German actor got a role in a big Hollywood production, he ended up playing the villain … Everybody knows why … And we damn deserved it … So Germans have a certain tendency to feel self-conscious about their … history … Self-consciousness is the first step towards humility.
Being a white ally is our duty – not something that makes us morally superior or some crap.
No # 2 – Don't forget: You're never done.
Being a white ally means, you're never done with unlearning racism. Racism is engraved into white man's education and media. We practically take it in with the milk. You have to unlearn racism as long as you live.
You have to accept that we'll always be only the lesser evil but never the good guy.
Deal with it fellow whitey.
No # 3 – Make no assumptions (thanks Bastard Planet ;-) )
Make no assumptions about people and cultures you don't know and probably will never understand with the grasp of your cute little white brain. Assumptions was the roots of all the toxic stereotypes. You have to accept that people of all races are human beings with human rights but you also have to accept that they have a culture and history – completely different from yours, a different mind set, different values and goals. Accept that you might NEVER understand their thoughts and feelings and that it's okay this way – that they are okay this way – that they simply have the right to be the way they are and to obtain success and happiness. You must know, colorblindness is another form of racism. You can't say, that these people are just like you – only with more or less distinct different physical traits, 'cos by saying so, you strip them of their history and culture and their racial and ethnic individual identity. You don't respect them since you belittle their individuality. You're doing that since this individuality is something you're scared of – something you can't control.
Do you know why people make up stereotypes? Of women? Of people of color?
They do it out of fear. They stereotype people with the hope in mind to be able to calculate their thoughts and actions. Sounds crazy? But it's true!
So be fearless – make no assumptions – NEVER!
No # 4 – Get off your racist glasses – no magic trick!
A bad experience you had with a person of a different race you had with proximately 6 persons of your own race.
I'm experiencing this over and over again. And always fucking again I have to put off my racist glasses. It's a simple trick but it feels like magic.
Okay you had a bad experience with person of a race different from yours. Now you think, you see a dreaded stereotype verified and you are reeeeeeeeeaaaaaally down and confused.
Let me help you getting off your racist glasses ... How often did you experience this situation with a person of this race?
And with HOW MANY people of YOUR OWN race did you experience the exact same thing? Bingo!
You went through the same situation with lots of peeps of your own race and one person of a different race but you only saw this other, foreign person like a big fat purple elephant in the middle of the crowd.
Good bye guys, wish you great bloggin'. Spread the love!
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