Thank you so much for the advice! I would love to take you up on your offer for book/reading recommendations.
Hi ‘non! Can’t reply privately since you’re on ‘non, so a lil context for my followers: how can white people be the best allies they can be without falling into the white savior trap? (I’m US-based, so this is gonna be US-centric, just for context)
The thing about white people is that we love to talk about ourselves and how we fit into the world. Idk why that’s a thing, but white folks who are beginning in ‘raising consciousness’ have a tendency to ask–what can I do? How can I help? These aren’t bad questions, but they center the white person, and often rely on poc to provide the answers (imagine getting questions like this every day for a year, and then imagine the effort it takes to give the race 101 primer every time you’re asked. exhausting). Learning about race and racism is important, and so is unlearning the subtle racism that’s in grained into us since we’re born.
The thing is, as a white person, you gotta do the work. It’s hard to know where to begin! There’s a multitude of stuff written about race and racism, and it can be overwhelming when you’re just beginning to learn.
There’s also a lot of vocab and concepts we use when we talk about race, and part of learning about racism is learning what all this means. ‘White privilege’ gets used a lot, and the classic essay “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” is probably the best primer on this concept.
This essay was written by a feminist thinker who was white, so let’s turn to writers of color from here on out. bell hooks is one of the most influential feminist writers–in her work, she discusses how feminist movements have historically left people of color (both men and women) behind. I’d recommend her book Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center as an excellent place to begin: read especially the preface and the first chapter.
Other non fiction that I’d highly recommend (might have to do a little library or bookstore hopping for some)
Edward Said, Orientalism: Discusses fetishization of Asian culture by whites, and how Asian people are reduced to stereotypes and othered in the Western mind
Progress can Kill: How Imposed Development Destroys the Health of Tribal Peoples: Report on how policy around the world steals land and health from indigenous people
Luke Cole and Sheila Foster, From the Ground Up: On environmental racism and justice movements in the US
Gene Roberts and Hank Klibanoff, The Race Beat: How the press (both black and white, large and independent) covered and shaped the Civil Rights Movement in the US
The History of Mary Prince: Slave narrative of a woman enslaved in Bermuda.
Ok and FICTION MY FRIEND. Off the top of my head:
Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give (YA inspired by Black Lives Matter, and it’s amazing. If you read one thing off this list, this should be it)
Anything by Octavia Butler (Black scifi and speculative fiction)
Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God (Black realistic fiction)
Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony (Pueblo)
Ayad Akhtar, American Dervish (Pakistani-American)
And since theatre is my area of specialty, plays:
Alice Childress, Wedding Band
Lorraine Hansbury, A Raisin in the Sun
Ayad Akhtar, Disgraced
Rebecca Gilman, Spinning into Butter
Suzan-Lori Parks, Topdog/Underdog
August Wilson, Fences
Nilo Cruz, Anna in the Tropics
Lynn Nottage, Ruined
This is quite the list, and I’ve barely scratched the surface! It should give you some titles to look at, and hopefully reading a bit will help point the way to further reading. A note--this is all stuff I have read. The list of stuff I haven’t read is massive, so additions are welcomed.
My last tips for a white person wanting to learn about race, racism, and where they stand: shut up. Take a backseat, and listen to what people of color are saying. Always challenge your own thoughts: examine your knee-jerk reactions; figure out where other people and their opinions are coming from; and accept that there’s a lot you don’t know and understand. Keep an open mind, make it a point to practice empathy.
And once again, above all: listen. The white savior approach is to come in believing that they know all the answers. You don’t know all the answers. That’s not a personal attack, it’s just fact. Unless you’ve lived something, you don’t know it. Which is why empathy is so important: listen and understand where people are coming from.
I’m not gonna go into acts of resistance here. But educating yourself, raising your consciousness, and learning to listen is resistance in itself. Nobody alone is going to save the world. But learning to become a more open and compassionate person is a small step in the right direction.