Things have been tense lately, neh? Sometimes shit gets rough and awkward, ESPECIALLY when talking through and working through issue of race and identity. I just want to make available a potential cheat-sheet of links to consult especially when I post things that may make you want to knee-jerk say “YOU’RE WRONG T.J.” or “BUT I’M NOT BAD”.
I do, as much as I can, understand where you’re coming from. You don’t want to be a bad person. Nobody wants to be a bad person! Especially about something like race/racism/generalized fuckery.
BUT…. it’s incredibly important to recognize that white people DO benefit from structural racism in this country (No, not everyone benefits equally! No, this doesn’t mean you didn’t work hard! No, this is not erased by the fact that you may have come from a white ethnic group that was not seen as white in the nineteenth century. Yes, this does mean racial privilege, which DOES irrefutably exist, is mediated by other intersectional identities like class/gender/orientation/favourite member of 1Direction). I know it’s hard to see yourself as benefiting immediately, historically from oppression, especially when you try not to throw rocks at brown people, etc. But you do. You benefit from a daily structural system that you generally are invested in NOT SEEING. So before you get salty at me and post your incredibly, incredibly, incredibly unoriginal #notallwhitepeople response (or your “how will i learn if you don’t explain it to me?” or your “people would be more on your side if you were nicer and not so hostile” post–believe me, you are NOT original), here are some helpful links that I ask, as your friend, to read from beginning to end, before you hit that salty reply button. SERIOUSLY.
I AM DOING FREE LABOUR FOR YOU RIGHT NOW AND POSTING LINKS FOR YOU. READ THEM. THANK YOU:
Let’s just start here: http://www.cirtl.net/files/PartI_CreatingAwareness_WhitePrivilegeUnpackingtheInvisibleKnapsack.pdf
NEXT:
SECTION ONE: On derailing by needing to be a special individual and not thinking about how whiteness benefits you erryday:
1) http://www.flowerhorne.com/blog/2013/12/20/not-all-white-people-and-derailing-conversations
2) http://thoughtcatalog.com/kovie-biakolo/2014/10/9-insufferable-people-who-derail-every-race-conversation/
3) http://thoughtcatalog.com/kovie-biakolo/2014/09/9-predictable-comments-all-pocs-are-super-tired-of-hearing/
SECTION TWO: On intersections of race and other things, ESPECIALLY THE FIRST ONE:
4) http://thefeministbreeder.com/explaining-white-privilege-broke-white-person/
5) http://transgriot.blogspot.com/2013/06/as-white-lgbt-person-you-still-have.html
6) http://www.glaad.org/blog/gay-will-never-be-new-black-what-james-baldwin-taught-me-about-my-white-privilege
7) http://groupthink.kinja.com/this-is-what-i-mean-when-i-say-white-feminism-1498799007
SECTION THREE: This is not my goddamn job. YOU NEED TO DO THE WORK.
8) http://www.salon.com/2015/04/14/black_people_are_not_here_to_teach_you_what_so_many_white_americans_just_cant_grasp_partner/
9) http://racismschool.tumblr.com/post/15823127398/why-asking-poc-to-explain-is-a-problem
10)http://www.socialjusticeleague.net/2012/04/the-revolution-will-not-be-polite-the-issue-of-nice-versus-good/
11) http://groupthink.kinja.com/on-tone-policing-why-its-bullshit-and-why-you-need-to-1148310719
This list is NOT EXHAUSTIVE. But it is an excellent place to start. You may want to keep this nearby, just in case you feel a knee-jerk coming on. I welcome you to respond freely and openly on social media with me, but I will not brook being asked to do the labour of holding your hand, prioritizing your feelings over mine, or continuing to buttress the inequity that prioritizes your life over mine. I won’t. That’s not meanness. That’s autonomy (Kujichagulia, if you’re into your Kwanzaa principles).
I want to be open and respectful with you, but these are my ground rules. And I’m stickin to ‘em.