The Unveiling
Hey Party People,
It's not a party right now. It’s a time in the world where there is a
struggle for power, a struggle for representation, and a struggled for equal
rights. I’m confused, I’m hurting and I’m sick to my stomach watching accounts
of racism flood my social media feeds. And yes, I immediately understand my
position of white privilege with this statement, that where I see and
experience racism is through my social media, space I can turn off, avoid, or
turn away from. It is not my lived experience, unlike so many others.
I’ve been watching and made aware of how very prevalent and real racism
still is in our world, and it pisses me off and hurts my heart. In all the
messaging I’ve heard in the past couple of days, this statement struck me the
most,
“Racism hasn’t gotten worst; it’s just being filmed.”
W.T.F.
I have lived in a world where I thought we were passed this, that we had
grown as a society to respect one another. Sadly, I was wrong. What I’m learning
is that I was living in my safe bubble of white privilege and practicing what is
called “colour blind racism” where I speak in a way that ignores differences rather
than acknowledges it as real. Ignoring the
differences amoung us dismisses another’s lived experience which is not helpful.
What I’m now unlearning and becoming aware of is a system that was not designed
for equality but designed for those who created it, the white population. I am
in a space that I’m calling my “Unveiling”; a space where I am being confronted
with the harsher realities of the world in which I live.
As a white person, you may feel strong emotions and resistance to the
concept of white privilege and feel the need to defend your position, defend
the idea that you’ve worked hard for your life. You did and you have. But the
concept of white privilege is not a concept that puts you down, it's
highlighting the inequalities in a system that does not serve us all equally,
but instead prioritizes the white population. Can you honestly believe every
opportunity you’ve had in your life would be the same for a black individual?
For an indigenous youth? For a member of the LGBTQ community? Consider, just
for a moment that your life was made easier because the system was created by
you (white individuals). I mean why wouldn’t it be?
The concept of white privilege is not an idea to put white people down,
or again say you don’t work hard for your life. It’s a concept to highlight
that so many others have not been given the freedoms or opportunities you have
had as a white individual. This is not your fault, but it is your, our, responsibility
to begin acknowledging a system that prioritizes people by the colour of their
skin, and how that benefits or hinders an individual’s experience or opportunity.
I will share a story of my ignorance from a few years ago to provide
some perspective of my ignorance. I was dating a black man and we had become quite serious. I
thought I was going to marry him and we talked about integrating our lives,
education and career choices, politics, and family and I thought we were equal.
I saw us as equals with the same opportunities for our lives, but he knew
different. He did not live in the same world as me. He tried to explain to me
time and time again that he needed an IV league education to get a decent job.
He tried to explain to me he could get beat down or shot by walking the streets
in California. He tried to explain to me that simply his name at the top of his
resume put him at a disadvantage. And I disagreed with him. I said, “it's 2017
that stuff doesn’t still happen.” Note how I was positioning my lived experience
and assuming he would have the same. This was me acting from behind my veil of
white privilege, not understanding or acknowledging the experience he lived day
in and day out. This was me being naïve to a world I did not live, a world I
did not understand, a world I wanted to believe didn’t exist. I truly believed
he was overreacting and told him he did not need to prove himself. That he
didn’t need to be scared. Little did I know he was speaking his truth, the
truth about his experience, and what he knew was true for him as a black man.
Who was I to tell him how to feel when I had no idea what it felt like
to be judged or targeted by the colour of my skin? There are different worlds
that we live in, and if we don’t see that, we are part of the problem. This
brutal and unequal world exists, it’s real and we need to acknowledge that.
The hard part for us white people is that we must unlearn what has been
ingrained in us. We must unlearn our entire life’s worth of teachings, opinions,
and systems. This won’t happen overnight and it’s going to be uncomfortable
because it's different. I feel sick to my stomach as I write because I’m in such
turmoil as my picture-perfect privileged bubble is falling away. The veil has
been ripped off and the ugliness and reality of racism are being exposed, it's
being filmed. And it’s terrible that life after life must be lost, must be
taken, for us to finally take notice.
I’m here to say, don’t look away, but look at it.
Feel uncomfortable.
Feel guilty.
Feel angry.
Feel scared.
Feel sad.
Feel sick.
But also,
Feel hope.
Feel peace.
Feel love.
I’m not going to leave you with a
party jam today but instead some social media pages to follow and a couple resources
to watch.
Instagram:
Netflix
Documentary: 13th
I have also started reading White
Fragility by Robin J. DiAngelo that has helped me begin my unlearning
journey and helped me see how my life, my surroundings, and my institutions are
designed to benefit me, a white individual.
UPDATE from original post: It has become apparent to me how inappropriate it is for Robin J. DiAngelo, a white woman, to be speaking on and benefiting from her writings and teachings on racism. How can she truly understand, as a white person who has never experienced racism, the harm and injustices that Black people feel? She simply cannot. If you don't get it I encourage you to jump over to Austin Channing Brown's Instagram page and listen to a conversation she has with Rachel Ricketts on the launch of a second book by Robin DiAngelo.
If you want to read about racism, let's read from those who understand it. If you want to support the cause, buy their books or donate to Black charities. We can do better.
With so much gratitude, let’s stand together,
-S
P.S. I strongly believe in the voices that are
rising up right now and stand by them. But I also have friends who are on the
police force, who protect and serve. They are also afraid right now, afraid to
go to their jobs in the midst of uprising violence. They want to stand by this
cause in peace and bring people together. There are police and cops that can
see the problem but is there a space for them right now? Its not ok that they
are also experiencing hatred and hear f*ck the Police slurs over and over. This
does not bring us together, this does not create change, but only creates a
further divide, more fear, and more unrest. Stand up for what you believe it
and speak your truth but know and understand everyone has their own story.
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