The Angry Black Woman is hosting the first (and possible only) Carnival of Allies. All posts are due May 5th!
This got me thinking about those white folks who exist in that liminal space where they are against racism but don’t understand how it works and get defensive, hurt, and freaked out when folks point out how they benefit from it without trying…I am wondering how you turn that kind of person into an ally. I’m wondering if maybe I cannot simply because, when they read my words, they are so filled with defensiveness and perhaps guilt, nothing I say can get through. If they can’t listen to me, can they maybe listen to other White people?
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I call a Carnival. The Carnival of Allies. Where self-identified allies write to other people like themselves about why this or that oppression and prejudice is wrong. Why they are allies. Why the usual excuses are not good enough. I figure allies probably know full well all the many and various arguments people throw up to make prejudice and oppression okay. Things that someone on the other side of the fence may not hear. Address those things and more besides.
And when I say allies, I’m talking about any and every type. PoC can be (and should be) allies to other PoC, or to LGBTQ people if they are straight, or any number of other combinations. If you feel like you’re an ally and have something to say about that, you should submit to this carnival.
ABW probably has a point, and good luck to her.
On the other hand, I see the language that some people use when trying to “turn others into allies” as a significant barrier. As an example, on this blog accusations of racism are slung around quite easily and freely. It is generally acknowledged that most people (or most white people) are racist, and that it’s not a huge deal to be accused of racism: just listen, think about it, acknowledge it if accurate, and move on.
Among other circles that I frequent, accusing someone of racism is a great way to ensure that nothing useful will come of the conversation. It’s one step up from calling someone a Nazi. It’s like starting a conversation with, “Fuck you.” These are folks that consider themselves to be anti-racist, and indeed will acknowledge systemic racism in society, or even behaviors of their own that unintentionally oppress others…but in addition to their worldview being slightly different from yours, their vocabulary is also slightly different.
The approach that I’ve seen on this blog tends to be to go ahead and call them a racist, then link to Amp’s “How not to be insane…” post as a means of explanation. Which has the effect of pissing them off, putting them on the defensive, and then trying to have a reasonable conversation with them. IMO, that’s inefficient.
That your definition of racism is the “correct” one, while theirs is “incorrect”, is entirely irrelevant.
Yep, quite complicated all of this ally building is. Lots of pitfalls to fall through and such.
To use a buddhist metaphor, sometimes the “ally” conversations seem a bit like taking someone that’s interested in meditation…. and putting them in a retreat where they’re expected to meditate for 8 hours daily and get whacked with a stick if they move. Which, BTW, is NOT what happens. In fact, it’s almost an infinite gradation between novice and expert.
But in the realm of race, it appears that there are fewer gradations: or, more accurately, that there is an infinity of gradations because we’re all human, but a very very limited number of terms with which to define them accurately, so the gradations disappear in conversation. One tends to either “be” an ally or “not be” an ally; and so on.
In all seriousness, I often wonder whether some Supreme Semantics Ruler Decree that gave the whole area of discourse a dose of more descriptive and commonly understood lingo wouldn’t do amazing things to improve the whole process. I mean, as Bjartmarr said, the existing vocabulary issues are pretty problematic.
damn, posted accidentally and it won’t let me edit. But what i was going to say in the next paragraph was that this is an excellent idea and I look forward to reading it.
ABW asked
and I think the answer is clearly “yes.”