Election 2016 is causing a reckoning.
I'm white. I've always been white. There was that one time as a kid where I thought I might be adopted, but that ended quickly. I still don't know what brought that phase on, but I think it had something to do with learning that there were two adopted kids in my class.
The thing with whiteness is that it's REALLY flexible. Irish, Polish, Italians, Scots-Irish, even Spaniards didn't used to be considered particularly white at certain points in American history, and now they all more or less are. I'm hoping that we can reach a point in history where whiteness no longer matters (as in, no longer has power over people), but until that time, I have to reckon with my skin color.
My way to combat this election is to figure out ways to give away my whiteness. No, I'm not flaying my own skin (and I'm also not shaving my head, though that remains as an option for future action). What does that "give-away" look like? I'm not entirely sure, but I imagine the clearest parallel is Matthew 19:21 "Go, sell your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then, come and follow me."
I am policing my own language more so as to try not to commit any microagressions. Trying to be thankful for my privilege. Supporting charities that defend marginalized groups and figuring out what more I can do. Learning to do with less so as to have more to give. Calling my congressmen and senators to voice support for bills that don't directly impact me but sure help others I love.
I've been thinking recently about what I can change so as to be able to inhabit my whiteness in ways that allow for more agency for my non-white-identifying friends and colleagues and that don't automatically reinforce structural racism. That means using "I" less and listening more. It means having patience, and grace, and hearing difficult and painful things.
One of the biggest things that I can do as an academic is to cite non-white, non-straight, non-abled academics in my work. So my dissertation is going to include a lot of them.
I'm white. I'll always be white. But now I inhabit that whiteness in horror.
I'm white. I've always been white. There was that one time as a kid where I thought I might be adopted, but that ended quickly. I still don't know what brought that phase on, but I think it had something to do with learning that there were two adopted kids in my class.
The thing with whiteness is that it's REALLY flexible. Irish, Polish, Italians, Scots-Irish, even Spaniards didn't used to be considered particularly white at certain points in American history, and now they all more or less are. I'm hoping that we can reach a point in history where whiteness no longer matters (as in, no longer has power over people), but until that time, I have to reckon with my skin color.
My way to combat this election is to figure out ways to give away my whiteness. No, I'm not flaying my own skin (and I'm also not shaving my head, though that remains as an option for future action). What does that "give-away" look like? I'm not entirely sure, but I imagine the clearest parallel is Matthew 19:21 "Go, sell your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then, come and follow me."
I am policing my own language more so as to try not to commit any microagressions. Trying to be thankful for my privilege. Supporting charities that defend marginalized groups and figuring out what more I can do. Learning to do with less so as to have more to give. Calling my congressmen and senators to voice support for bills that don't directly impact me but sure help others I love.
I've been thinking recently about what I can change so as to be able to inhabit my whiteness in ways that allow for more agency for my non-white-identifying friends and colleagues and that don't automatically reinforce structural racism. That means using "I" less and listening more. It means having patience, and grace, and hearing difficult and painful things.
One of the biggest things that I can do as an academic is to cite non-white, non-straight, non-abled academics in my work. So my dissertation is going to include a lot of them.
I'm white. I'll always be white. But now I inhabit that whiteness in horror.
No comments:
Post a Comment