9 Practices of Black Feminism
that white women can employ
“Our uncomfortableness is primarily derived from our guilty sense of ‘being white.’ The normative taken-for-granted race-privilege is impossible to side-step” (Jane Haggis and Susanne Scheh, “Meaning Well and Global Good Manners”)
1. Accept that you’re white.
Being a white person and acknowledging that you have a race is incredibly important. Normalizing yourself as raceless others everyone else. Whiteness was created as a system to oppress the Other. Accepting that you were born into this is the first step in understanding privilege. No one cares about the fact that you may be 33% Russian, 20.5% Lithuanian, 15% Norwegian, etc. The fact is: you are white.
2. Be aware that not everyone may want you around.
White allyship is sometimes seen as fleeting. Don’t be upset when people don’t trust that you’re sticking around for the long haul. Since you’re white, there’s always the fear that you’ll stop caring about this movement. Maybe you’ll change your mind or maybe you’ll feel it’s too dangerous. People being cautious is a tactic of protecting themselves. Don’t take it too personally. Your continued allyship will prove to people that you’re truly down. Also note: ally is a contested term and rightly so since it has so much baggage.
3. Respect the space that you occupy.
The spaces that were created to empower black women were not created for you. The spaces were created as a political tactic for motivating, healing, and challenging the norms of society.
“[E]ndorse a call for inclusion and diversity within feminist organizations” — Nancy E. Caraway
You can be part of that motivating, healing, and challenging. Sometimes you shouldn’t be though. That’s alright. Allow yourself to sit in the space and observe, work, and talk to black women. Don’t take the space. It is not yours. It never will be yours.
4. Embrace the challenge of black feminism.
You may already be a feminist. You may not be. First, try to learn to be a feminist. Second, learn that race, class, and sexuality impact that feminism. Third, challenge yourself to accept that the way that you see the world is not the way that others see the world.
5. Powerlessness is powerful.
To be present in black feminism, it’s okay to take a step back. You’re allowed to not always be in charge. Actually, I recommend that you stop trying to take charge. Letting black women take charge shows that you understand black feminism. Black feminist narratives can stand alone, without your white historiography.
6. Understand this is a lifelong process.
Being an ally is not something that one day you can just decide is no longer “your thing”. Once you commit to fighting, changing your mind is weak and also works against all of the work you did. Racism and sexism is a lifelong battle that black women have to face. Be an active ally. Take note of what’s going on around you at all times. Note, and call out, systems that are working against women. Maybe it doesn’t affect you, but it doesn’t mean that you can turn off your allyship if it’s inconvenient.
7. Read. Read. Read.
Is this self-explanatory? Read (black feminist theory). Read (black feminist literature). Read (black feminist media).
8. Utilize your privilege.
Utilizing white privilege is incredibly important. White women’s socio-location is always in a position of power. Privilege is not only about money. Privilege comes in many forms. Knowing that “the stability of whiteness — as location of privilege, as culturally normative space, and as standpoint — is secured and reproduced” (Frankenberg 1993, 242). Whiteness is a privilege, but it can also be used. Apologizing for your privilege gets you nowhere. Speaking about racism in all white is important in order to further the progress of black feminism.
9. Do the work.
If you’re down for the cause, work to make sure black feminism is incorporated into every aspect of your being. Take the theory you learned, employ the black feminist practices that you’ve encountered, use your privilege, and keep doing it every day for the rest of your life.
Works Cited
- Caraway, Nancie E. 1991. “The Challenge and Theory of Feminist Identity Politics: Working on Racism.” In Fronteirs: A Journal of Women’s Studies 12, no. 2: 109–129.
- Frankenberg, Ruth. 1993. “Epilogue: Racism, Antiracism, and the Meaning of Whiteness.” In White Women, Race Matters: The Social Construction of Whiteness, 236–243. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
***Please note some of the images send you to links that I found, but you have to click them to bring you there***
