What are White People so Afraid of?

Hey Party People,

It’s Black History Month! If you’re like me, you probably didn’t learn shit about Black history when you were in school – through the public education system or at post-secondary (unless you intentionally enrolled in African studies). I admit I didn’t know much up until the last couple of years. I didn’t even know there was a Black History month, or why it was important to acknowledge it.

Before I dive in today, I encourage you to jump back to two posts I made last year at the peak of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests after the very public murder of George Floyd. The Unveiling expressed my personal turmoil as I was confronted with the realities of racism and my beliefs that it was just a “US problem”. Do Your Own Work followed the next week and encouraged us to explore our own personal feelings (as white individuals), to understand our beliefs about systemic racism and the role we consciously or unconsciously play in upholding the inequalities of our systems.

With the commencement of Black History Month I was reminded of last year. So many people passionately joined the BLM movement, posted a black square on social media, and had the best of intentions to start having challenging conversations. But where are we now? How much has the movement’s momentum slowed? I think that many people’s good intentions have stalled at just that, intentions, but I also believe there are a number of worker bees doing the work behind the scenes both Black and white. 

Someone recently asked me, in a very kind and curious way, “what have you done? Since you encouraged us, as white individuals to do our own work, what steps have you taken since last year?” I was so happy she had asked me this question because it brought me back to what I said months earlier and it held me accountable. At first, I thought, shit what have I done?! Over the past 6+ months I admit that I was not as committed as I was at the peak of it all, but I was responsible for spearheading a discussion that led to the creation of a  new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee at my work. It created to begin to address the lack of representation at the Board, committee and staffing levels. I also applied to participate in a Working Group on Racial Equity with the Calgary Foundation. I interviewed for this group but reluctantly pulled my name from the roster, because at the time I was not in a position personally to invest the time it warranted. Through this experience though I was also informed of an Ally working group that would be starting up in early 2021. This group I have every intention of participating in. I have read a number of books, watched documentaries, followed new social media channels (new for me), and tried to maintain some connection to this need for change.

Have I become an expert in racial relations? Heck no. Have I changed the perspectives of all my social circles? Not even close. Am I confident in the issues that remain today that need to be dismantled? No, I still need to learn. The key though is that I still stand for change and I still want to learn. This movement is my jam and something that I am truly passionate about. For others it may not be, and that’s ok, but I do encourage you to ask some questions. Last night I watched the documentary “I Am Not Your Negro,” and in it, it described (I’m paraphrasing) that much of the resistance and anger that was portrayed by white people throughout the Civil Rights Movement, and into today, is the fear white people have of themselves. They fear looking at their own shortcomings, so instead they project their fear onto the Black population (or others) and blame their problems on them. Ultimately, it recuses whites from having to acknowledge their own shit. (If you feel triggered by this idea, it usually means there is some truth behind it. Our defenses are only alerted when we feel threatened).

I think there is some serious truth to this perspective. I truly believe that people fear difference and shy away from the things they don’t understand and instead of being inquisitive, they retreat into what’s comfortable. Segregation spurred this behaviour early on because it created “an Other”, a group that was separate from the white norm. White communities did not know how Black people lived, what food they ate or how they built community. They weren’t viewed as the same but instead completely different. And different is scary to many people. Without understanding Black communities they could be portrayed as less than human, as an Other, undeserving of equal opportunities to education, social supports, or basic human rights.

So I ask what are white people so afraid of?

How different are circumstances today? Are we integrated? Are we accepting and respectful of each other’s differences? Do we deny there are differences at all? I don’t have the answers to these questions because its not my experience and voice that is denied.

But I would like to encourage each one of you this month to create space and open your hearts and minds to a new perspective. Participate in Black History Month.  

Now let’s get some beats poppin’! Here’s your party jams from a couple aspiring artists!!  

YouTube –  Whoa – Sean Fiji

Spotify – Better – AllxDay

With Gratitude,

-S

P.S. Your learning for this week. Have you heard of Micro-Aggressions? These are performed by white people when speaking to Black persons where they think they aren’t doing any harm but in reality, their words/actions are freaking offensive.

Check out this article by Huffington Post. There’s a video and a list of 13 Microaggressions Black people deal with all the time. Read through I bet you’ve probably uttered some of these phrases or even done these things before (with the best of intentions, but now you can do better, because you now better.)

Ex. When white people touch a Black person’s hair — or just do it without permission. I personally never would have thought of this experience as negative. Consider how would you feel though if every room you entered someone felt the need to make a statement about your appearance and physically TOUCH you. Like can you NOT?!