Listening to Black Voices While White
For white women, one of the hardest things is to shut up and listen.
Here is the same disclaimer I included on another article about race, because apparently it’s necessary, at least if some of the comments I’ve read this week are anything to go by:
No, it is not racist to single white people out for their racism. White people are the dominant group, the default, and they have certain privileges and power as a result of the colour of their skin. Our society is biased towards seeing white people (especially white men) as inherently trustworthy, competent, and not to be questioned, in a way that non-white, non-male, non-whatever-our-society-sees-as-the-default people aren’t. White people perpetuate and benefit from this racism, even if they don’t intend to — and that’s why it is important to specifically mention white people. They are the gatekeepers of racism; again, we may not want to be, but our tacit acceptance of a society that benefits us at the expense of non-white people means that we just are. Now that we’ve dealt with that distraction, let’s focus on the actual problem.
In this age of female empowerment (yeah, I know, we ain’t there yet), it’s encouraged for women to speak up on their experiences and argue their corner if someone tries to shut them down. Given the preceding…
