Thursday, February 18, 2010

struggle to find their place in social justice efforts

This is a guest post by IzumiBayani, who blogs at Musings of a 20-some Year Old Multiracial Kid. He describes himself as "100% Japanese, 100% white, 25% deaf, oppressor and oppressed."


This blog does a pretty good job of opening discussions about "the ways of white folks, i mean, some white folks," basically by talking about stupid shit (fairly well-intentioned or not) that white people do in everyday life. That sort of discussion is necessary, but I believe that "some white folks" deserve particular consideration -- those straight, white males who participate in social justice efforts.

I’d like to make one thing very clear to these white people: you should not use swpd and other social justice spaces as a source of self-validation. If you want to participate here, ask yourself why you want to be in a space that should really serve people of color (PoC) and some white women (WW). This is especially not a space to relate your experiences and sob stories about being ignored in these spaces.

I have a very good friend, and for the sake of this post, I'll name him Ecirb. He’s in his upper-thirties, and he self-identifies as a white heterosexual male. How he grew up is important to who he is and his current situation, but that doesn't matter in the context of this discussion because he looks like a white guy. Ecirb is an Ethnic Studies Major and I am glad to say that he’s a social justice advocate (not that I'm the end-all to determining who is and isn't an advocate).

He and I talk about many things, but recently our discussion has been centered on the perception of white people in general social justice spaces. Just a warning, this is a multi-layered, complex situation to deconstruct, but I am going to try. In addition, I'm not saying that Ecirb's situation applies to all white hetero males in social justice, but I think there are very important lessons to be drawn from his experience.

Here’s a small sampling of some of his experiences, as best as I can recall them, and since Ecrib claims that these are “facts,” I will try to be as objective as possible. These experiences should be helpful in clarifying the proper role of white hetero men in social justice efforts:

  • Ecrib and I use a lobby area for Ethnic Studies students. With a couch and some public computers, it’s a wonderful space to congregate and talk about social justice issues and our classes. Ecirb tells me that when he is alone with one of his friends (in this case it happens to be a woman of color), she is open and very interested in what he has to say. But when other's walk in, she becomes aloof, almost as if she doesn't know him.
  • One time, he walks into the room with a friend of his who appears to be a black hetero male, and the room suddenly goes quiet. Ecrib's friend points to him and says, "He's cool."
  • Ecrib feels ignored in class, and when he’s not, most of his comments are met with resistance or quick dismissal.
  • He’s very up-front with his opinions. If you’re being a bigot, he’ll say so to your face, because that's how he deals with it.

There is one thing that I make clear to Ecrib every time he complains about these things. No matter who he is, the fact that he appears to be a white male makes it difficult for him to operate in a social justice environment. I constantly tell him that his phenotype conjures up for most PoC an entire lifetime of negative experiences, and that is something he cannot help and must overcome. I think he gets that, but it’s also easy for him to forget the privilege he has to walk around and not have to worry about how his physical appearance itself is enough to incite painful experiences.

The consequence is that he must prove himself. He has to work harder to be taken as legit, and to make friends in this department. Now, Ecrib has no issue with the fact that he has to work harder, and neither do I. This is the consequence of centuries of oppression: that excellent people such as Ecirb must work hard to become basic friends with excellent people such as the PoC in our Ethnic Studies Department.

However, a problem I see is that some PoC and some WW don’t give him a chance to prove himself. I understand that it's safer to assume the worst with white people. It's a safety mechanism, and I do it too. But to shut out people like Ecirb, to suppress/ignore what he has to say because of who he is, is detrimental to everyone.

In fact, not giving Ecrib a chance goes against what we’re fighting for. Ending the isms will take every individual, and it’s counter-productive and ignorant to exclude anyone on the basis of what they look like. Take the hint people! He's majoring in Ethnic Studies in his late 30's. Maybe he knows more about bigotry then you do just from how much longer he's been alive? Maybe so, maybe not, but it’s difficult for me to ignore the wisdom of age.

This situation requires a careful balancing by everyone. It took me a long time to realize that I have to give white people a chance to prove themselves, and white people also have to understand that it’s an uphill battle to prove themselves. And just like some white people aren't worth talking to because they're so stupid and racist, some PoC and WW aren’t worth talking to either. You do not have to prove yourself to these people because there is nothing you could say or do to change their mind.

I don't tell Ecrib this often enough, but he needs to stay humble. No one is asking him to lead us out to the promise land. In fact, he can’t be a dominant leader in a social justice movement because of his identity. This space is for PoC and to some extent WW. He can support, but he can't lead. That invokes the White Savior Complex. White male arrogance can easily ruin his credibility and get him thrown off the boat.

In addition, people like Ecrib need to realize that their real work isn't with a community of PoC; their responsibility is among white people, men, and straight people. He has the advantage in those spaces, so that’s where his privilege of assumed credibility can be used to his/our advantage. These are spaces where he can effectively be a leader.

There is much work to be done by both groups. The social justice movement needs to get its shit together just as much as white people do. We all have room to learn and grow.

Again, I want to emphasize that even though I’m writing about people like Ecrib on swpd, and even though this conversation needs to include everyone involved, this is not a space for white people to tell PoC that they need to be more accepting of white people. A discussion of how dominant identities can better fit into the space of social justice would be more pertinent.

At the same time, what can we as PoC’s and women do to balance staying safe and giving dominant identities a chance?

25 comments:

  1. great post. Some POC and WW are afraid to give white males the upper hand, so sometimes there's some disdain and dismissal expressed toward white males in social justice.

    we need to remember they're our allies, not our enemies.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This post contains an impoverished conception of social justice.

    What, social justice only applies to women and people of color?

    This completely ignores the struggles of class and ableism. It replaces social justice with identity politics, which results in the trading of oppressor/oppressed essentialized identities.

    Such positions prevent the development of a wider social justice movement by splintering identities, rather than building solidarity around a common vision and common goals.

    For instance, the author writes: "In fact, [Ecrib] can’t be a dominant leader in a social justice movement because of his identity."

    So identity replaces vision, commitment, purpose, and character. In effect, this replaces one form of exclusion for another. That ain't social justice.

    A radical social justice movement should not be based exclusively on oppressed identities but on the inclusion of all people committed to the struggle to eliminate oppression, injustice, exclusion, inequality, and domination in all its forms.

    Peace!

    ReplyDelete
  3. http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/02/18/texas.plane.crash/index.html

    this article goes out of its way to say that this man who intentialy struck a building with his plan was NOT a terrorist, why? because he is white

    ReplyDelete
  4. I would love is Macon could clarify if this is true, "If you want to participate here, ask yourself why you want to be in a space that should really serve people of color (PoC) and some white women (WW)." The reason I was attracted to SWPD as a WOC is because I thought it was where a white guy, Macon, has a space for other white people where those white people could get straightened out. Otherwise it feels like preaching to the choir.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Fantastic post! Cited it here: http://irenesdaughters.wordpress.com/2010/02/18/learning-to-love-white-guys/

    ReplyDelete
  6. Bingo,

    I'm not sure what to say about the "WW" part of that sentence, but I can comment on the rest. I hope that this space "serves" POC in that it generally works towards alleviation of their oppression. I also moderate comments partly with POC in mind; I want the space to "serve" them in another way -- by being a space that's relatively free of obnoxious racism (overt or covert, aggressive or passive-aggressive, etc.). I do hope that this blog can be a space where white people can "get straightened out" with racism, but I don't try to make this a space that feels safe for them -- POC safety is primary for me. I hope that somewhere in all of that, a lot of different people, both WP and POC, are finding the blog useful.

    ReplyDelete
  7. @ Pinkie and OP

    You're both kinda right. For now, Ecirb can't can't be the dominant leader of POC, and if the OP has to keep reminding him to be humble, then maybe there's another vibe Mr. Ecirb is puttin' out around POC that he doesn't notice. Wouldn't be that big of a stretch.

    At the same time, this doesn't mean a white hetero male can never be at the forefront of, say, POC social justice efforts. Recall that Hollywood drastically hindered that notion with [insert Films-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named here]. Ecirb's classmates are probably dreading his writing a memoir/novel about them, and then have it become the next, I dunno, "Memoirs of a Geisha"?

    Also, Ecirb's tense and frustrated feelings closely mirror those of Rebecca "I am not a White Bitch" Rankin. But the OP makes an excellent point: "I constantly tell him that his phenotype conjures up for most PoC an entire lifetime of negative experiences, and that is something he cannot help and must overcome. I think he gets that, but it’s also easy for him to forget the privilege he has to walk around and not have to worry about how his physical appearance itself is enough to incite painful experiences."

    Bingo. White privilege tells white folks, "So yeah...sure, your presence may bring up some seriously negative memories for POC--you know, from mostly actual personal experiences--but you don't have to worry about any of that. However, if some POC is making you feel uncomfortable with their mere presence, simply because of your mostly preconceived notions, then you have every right to be outraged and do whatever you think is necessary to 'neutralize' them."

    WP who interact increasingly with POC are going to find that what WP do actually does stick to them. They will realize that many different WoC--for example--who see them from a distance often quickly cross the street or lock their car doors (yes, we actually do that). And it shouldn't be an insult so much as an eye-opener: we don't see you the way you see you, so it might behoove you to know how we see you, why we see you that way, and finally understand that surprise, surprise...how we perceive you actually does matter, and that you actually should worry about it.

    Ooh...can't have that!

    (Seriously, I often wonder if that's the real reason why some white folks deliberately avoid associating--in-depth--with POC. Like they'd rather die slowly and painfully than learn how they're seen by "the other side.")

    Anyhoo, IMHO, it sounds like Ecirb [subconsciously] wants things to go back to when his skin wasn't an issue, so he can more "comfortably" study other people whose skin is still an issue.

    ...maybe that's that possible "vibe" I mentioned earlier.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I agree with Pinkie. Social justice is more often dominated by identity politics and not by important characteristics. (Like commitment, integrity, tolerance, etc.)

    With the development of various attributable complexes as well as mistrust and stereotypical assumptions (from White Savior Complex to knee-jerk reactions to white people -- particularly white males -- participating in social justice) that excludes many people based more on the perception of their opinions and beliefs, than on any actual experience with them as an individual and as a group, has in effect hindered these movements by keeping them racialized, or genderized, or whateverized. Basically, by thinking white people are wrong automatically, you are not only removing them from the conversation, but you are preventing the movement from succeeding in the first place because exclusion only deepens the ignorance that leads to prejudice.

    Tim Wise is a good example of a white man participating in social justice without dominating the space/debate, and is perceived as a trusting voice in the movement.

    Even though the post asks us not to say that minorities need to be more accepting of whites, I think that is an important thing to discuss. If tolerance and equality -- and egalitarianism -- are the goals, then how does mistrust accomplish them?

    Instead, we should be seeing and not-seeing each other. Not-seeing what race you are, but seeing what humanity you possess.

    ReplyDelete
  9. @ Mason

    Beautifully stated. You get kisses.

    ReplyDelete
  10. re: "Ecrib feels ignored in class, and when he’s not, most of his comments are met with resistance or quick dismissal."

    I think that one can only feel ignored if one is expecting attention to be paid. Ecirb ought to question that expectation and the value he might be placing on it. I'd say to "Ecirb" that his listening in class is a contribution that goes far beyond most of what he wants to say. And by "listening," I mean really hearing respectfully and showing that what he hears from others is something he takes to heart.

    In discussions at my school, I see my speaking role as one of directing other white people's attention to what PoC are saying and to what the typical white supremacist response might be. As a white person, I have learned something about how white people respond in, say, a discussion about racism, and I focus what I have to say on acknowledging and questioning those typical responses. But even that puts the focus on white people, so most of the time I am listening. And I am also aware that a quiet, listening WP can also be seen as acting out a kind of "I choose not to contribute" entitlement. So yes, it's an effort to find a place in social justice movements. In a society where nearly every institution is set up to make WP (and especially WM) comfortable, I think that a situation in which that paradigm is challenged ought to be challenging or disorienting or uncomfortable for WM.

    ReplyDelete
  11. @Zek J Evets re: "If tolerance and equality -- and egalitarianism -- are the goals, then how does mistrust accomplish them?"

    Mistrust doesn't accomplish them; accepting PoC's mistrust as a consequence of white supremacy and working to establish a new kind of trust based on that reality accomplishes them. That's our task as white people.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I'm more with Moi and bloglogger on this one. When I do social justice work in mixed-race groups I don't expect a pass on my Whiteness. Nor do I see any reason to believe that women get or deserve any more of a pass on Whiteness than men do. My theory: Trust is not something you get because you want it, trust is something you earn. If I cannot earn people's trust by my behavior, I don't deserve it. (And, candidly, sometimes I don't deserve it. I've caught myself all too many times in the assumptions of privilege.) Why wouldn't a person of color who has just met me not make assumptions about me based on what I look like? Why should I get all huffy if someone treats me as an unknown until proven otherwise?

    ReplyDelete
  13. I agree with bloglogger.

    It sounds like people want to skip over the slow, hard work scenes to the happily-ever-after montage of the social justice effort...no doubt to a Hans Zimmer or John Williams score.

    Tim Wise, bloglogger, and Macon are all decent examples of white folks doing their darndest, and they will be the first to admit they "get it wrong" every now and again. It's called hu-mi-li-ty, and it's the real thorn in the ass irking the white folks who tend "get it wrong" every now and mostly again.

    Take the whole POC mistrust issue. To reject POC mistrust is to reject what caused it...which in turn makes a person wonder why the hell you'd get involved in social justice in the first place.

    And this is what I meant earlier about knowing "the other side". A WP coming onto the social justice scene is refreshed, energetic, and optimistic because they've had their Amazing Grace moment (you know...*Was blind, but now I see*...). They're gung-ho about building a bright future with POC, eager to plant white lips on brown ones in social matrimony.

    In short, they're looking for the "Kumbaya" moment--whether they realize or not. And this feeling of "expected" togetherness is so warmly intoxicating that not once do they stop and think of how they just might be greeted by "the other side."

    In a society where whites are always advertising themselves as perfectly awesome, they've unwittingly assumed POC co-sign.

    So the core mistake I'm picking up on from folks like Ecirb and Rebecca "I am not a White Bitch" Rankin is the desire to be loved (Rankin) and respected (Ecirb) by POC.

    Social justice fashion tip: Stop trying to get POC love and respect--it's not the mission. Quit looking for your "personal enrichment"--it's not the the mission. Stop questing for exoneration, validation, acceptance, and/or a self-esteem growth spurt. It's not the mission. Cease pleasuring yourself to midnight fantasies of a feel-good moment "at the end" with a slow clap from the conveniently nearby audience who doesn't know you, but feels compelled to avidly applaud you anyway.

    Because it's not about what social justice will do for you, but about you simply doing what's right...and any bearded, wizened, half-naked blind sage on a misty mountainside worth his salt will tell you it's the most thankless work in the universe.

    Accept that precious little tidbit, and you'll find your place.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I don't see any reason for any of us to be pushing POC toward trusting white people more. As far as I'm concerned, people of color can take as much time as they want getting ready to trust me.

    This is only partly because it's just not white people's place to make these sorts of calls (and I appreciate the OP making that point). It's also because, really, when we start putting the onus on POC for any aspect of the fight against racism, we're fucking up.

    I've had an entire life full of white privilege, and I've actively participated in that privilege. If after that I never get full acceptance in social justice circles, that's not unreasonable. If any particular POC decides to give me a partial pass on that, great. But let's not act like they have an obligation to do so. That's making the healing of wounds caused by racism the job of the survivors, rather than the job of the perpretrators.

    ReplyDelete
  15. "However, a problem I see is that some PoC and some WW don’t give him a chance to prove himself. I understand that it's safer to assume the worst with white people. It's a safety mechanism, and I do it too. But to shut out people like Ecirb, to suppress/ignore what he has to say because of who he is, is detrimental to everyone."

    I disagree.

    To me, this sounds like a very basic issue of trust.

    Trust must be given freely. It can't be coerced or forced.

    If those of us that are white want to do anti-racist work, I believe that we must start by trusting POC to set their own boundaries.

    I get that it can hurt to be rejected despite our good intentions, but given the amount of privilege white people walk in, I don't think it's too much to ask that we suck it up and deal when we are rejected in POC led spaces.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Damn, there's a lot of goodness going on in this thread (Moi and bloglogger especially)!

    Yeah, I'm sorry about your friend IzumiBayani. But the onus to heal the harm done by whites wielding their privilege is not on POC or even on WW. Sorry. Your white friend doesn't get to dictate the terms upon which he is accepted by POC. That he--and to some extent you--thinks he does is yet more white privilege thinking.

    Before he gets all butt hurt about not being accepted, let him meditate on the true harm (not just to feelings, but to life and limb and livelihood) done to POC and WW by whites. Once he comes to some acceptance about that, the very reason POC and WW are rejecting him and his ilk, then maybe he can bring something to the table besides his white skin.

    ReplyDelete
  17. This is a great post.

    It really brings back my college days as an Anthro major, taking lots of classes cross-listed with various women's studies, lgbt studies, and ethnic studies departments, and being active in various social justice movements.

    One thing I think can be difficult is that, in college, your emotions can still be pretty fresh. You don't have a whole lot of experience dealing with adult situations (and I say this as someone who left home at 16 and didn't finish college till I was 24).

    This isn't to say that I don't think it's valid to feel ignored, or to be hurt when you're not treated with the courtesy you think you deserve in a social setting. But it's something that's going to happen in life, regardless of your personal or perceived identity.

    I guess what I'm saying is that sometimes it's important to not take Every Little Thing as A) a deliberate slight, and B) as being related to your perceived identity within a group. Sometimes people just do rude things, or don't think, or interrupt, or act dismissive, or whatever. It's not necessarily because you're a white guy.

    However, I will say this, re the long standing issue of White Guys In Women's Studies Classes. And which I dealt with on the flip side as one of the few white people taking ethnic studies classes.

    Sometimes it's better to just LISTEN. I tend to like to participate a lot in classes I take, so this was really hard for me. But remember that you are there to learn, and often to learn in a whole other way than other people in the class. You're not there to show off your expertise or explain things to people or even to prove what a Good White Person you are. And the only real way to learn about this stuff (especially the between-the-lines stuff that is never going to be on any exam) is to shut the fuck up and LISTEN. Receiving rather than Contributing. It can take a long time, and it's a lot less rewarding than going into pontification mode. You're not going to stand out in anybody's eyes or win points with the cute girl in the corner.

    But a long way down the road, possibly years later, you're going to understand things in a much deeper way, far beyond that particular class or even your whole college career.

    ReplyDelete
  18. "This completely ignores the struggles of class and ableism."

    I don't think it really does. I think the spirit of the post still applies to movements that don't deal with race or gender/sexuality politics.

    For instance, I can hear. My boyfriend's mom is deaf and very involved in deaf politics. While I've been fascinated with that particular social justice movement for years, and read all I can get my hands on about deaf culture, but I generally try to pipe down and let her take the lead. I'm not going to charge into her life and pontificate to her about what deafness means or what rights I think she should have.

    This is exactly parallel with the appropriate place for a white person in racial justice movements, men in the women's movement, straight/cisgendered people in queer/trans movements, etc. As someone who does not share the identity of the oppressed group, you pipe the fuck down and let others dominate.

    Of course, it gets complicated when you identify as being a member of the group, but others don't see you that way. Or when you start dealing with intersectionality. As a queer able-bodied middle class white woman, where can I lead, and where should I walk more softly? How do particular identities shift those guidelines?

    ReplyDelete
  19. @Moi re: "Because it's not about what social justice will do for you, but about you simply doing what's right...and any bearded, wizened, half-naked blind sage on a misty mountainside worth his salt will tell you it's the most thankless work in the universe."

    Beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  20. @Moi: "Because it's not about what social justice will do for you, but about you simply doing what's right"

    There aren't enough ways to say how right you are.



    @SaraC: "Receiving rather than Contributing. It can take a long time, and it's a lot less rewarding than going into pontification mode."


    Exactly. It's "less rewarding" in the sense of the ways that the educational system typically rewards certain types of behavior--mainly individualistic, competitive, performance-based contribution.

    But it's far more rewarding in the long run to practice greater awareness of self and others by, as Sara put it, "shut[ting] the fuck up and LISTEN[ing]". Rewarding for the people around you, because you're taking steps in the right direction rather than all over them.

    ReplyDelete
  21. @jim, re: 'It's "less rewarding" in the sense of the ways that the educational system typically rewards certain types of behavior--mainly individualistic, competitive, performance-based contribution.'

    To some extent there's a reason for that: it's easier to tell if someone knows what they're talking about if they're talking. The peculiar thing about conversations about privilege, though, is that the easiest way to tell that a white person doesn't really know what they're talking about is if they're spending too much of the time talking.

    I also think, though, that an incentive system that only values showing what you know as an individual does play a role in setting us up for these situations.

    What if teachers who graded on participation only gave credit if you drew on something someone else had said, in a way that gave that person credit for at least some insight? How would that change the talking-over-each-other aspect of class discussions?

    ReplyDelete
  22. What if teachers who graded on participation only gave credit if you drew on something someone else had said, in a way that gave that person credit for at least some insight? How would that change the talking-over-each-other aspect of class discussions?

    I really, really like this.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Your most legit sentence in this post is "He can support, but he can't lead."

    I think that's the root of most problems with whitefolks in social justice issues.

    ReplyDelete
  24. I'm sorry, any WM will have to work extra-hard in order to prove to me that he's anti-racist. I give WM more slack as they at least have tasted some form of oppression. I'm sorry, While Males, I'm going to first assume you're either racist or blind to your white privilege no matter what capacity they are working under. In fact I would be especially suspicious of those "liberal whites" working for the social justice of poc.

    I know this is not what the poster wanted to hear but I don't know a single white male in my real life who's really anti-racist. Living in Seattle, I know plenty of white liberals who pays lip service to social justice and votes Obama, yet revel in their subtle racism and privileges of whiteness. "Post-racial America" is their mantra while busy sending their kids to private schools.

    I'm sorry WM - you have let me down too long for me to pretend to have any expectations. I don't hate any WM (or anyone really), but thus far I have yet to find a WM I can call my real friend.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Wow, so interesting.

    As a WW, I worked in the "sustainable development" field in Guatemala for 15 years and came up against these same issues for similar historical and contextual reasons, every day. My intellectual Guatemalan friends host a deep seeded hatred for my country and our politics and they used the term "gringo - gringa" to refer to all of this. I have to say that I've never been able to make peace with this baggage or that word but I have done plenty of introspective questioning of my motives for working in Guatemala. None of this has stopped me from getting involved in social justice movements but the race - privilege issue is always on the table.

    ReplyDelete

Please see the "commenting guidelines" before submitting a comment.

hit counter code