Why I Don’t Write about White People
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I’ve been writing on Medium for about a year and a half now. Over that time I’ve written about the need to listen to Black women, protect Black children, and tend to mental health issues in the Black community. My insistence to write about Black people and Black issues has gotten a few comments on my stories as well as my social media posts.
You talk about Black people, but what about white people?
How does this thing apply to white people?
As a white person, I think…
When you say white supremacy is bad, you’re not talking about me, a white person?
What about white people?
What about me? Me? Me? Me?
Usually I delete these comments and go, but y’all just keep coming so here’s the attention you ordered. You want to know why I don’t write about or to white people? This is going to surprise you.
I’M NOT WHITE.
I’m not, and as the old writing adage goes, “Write about what you know.” So I do. I write about being Black and Southern Blackness and Black womanhood. If you want to hear about white people, go to those who write about those things, but I am not one of them.
What I do write about is whiteness and white supremacy. On the rare occasion I write about white people, it’s usually about history, demographics, statistics, or facts.
Whiteness and white supremacy are both concepts in critical race theory — one of the many theories I’ve studied over four years in college. Whiteness is a concept that explains the race and culture of white people. It is the concept by which those of us who are not white, are measured.
White supremacy is the system by which whiteness is normalized and dominates our society. This is a system that affects all of us so I write about it. If you want more information about these topics, click on the links I provided or search Google Scholar for free peer-reviewed literature from people whose work revolves around these issues.
Google is free, and there are so many people out there willing to educate you. Don’t get mad at me because I’m not one of them.
