White Allyship and #BlackLivesMatter

A white friend of mine, who professes himself to be a progressive, has been posting a lot lately about how the #DefundThePolice slogan might be going too far, that maybe there isn’t really a disparity between lethal force used against white and black citizens, and telling people that White Fragility is a bad book. It’s not borderline, it’s real bad.

He’s been called out on this by many people, including people of color, every time. Each time he descended further and further into his own rationalization for things that other people are “too woke” or doing “groupthink” and focused on “thought crimes.”

I was on his case again today and, rather than look inward, he unfriended me. It just goes to show you that even if you support progressive causes, you might change your tune when confronted with things that make YOU feel uncomfortable.

He loved Warren, but the ideas coming out of #BlackLivesMatter and White Fragility harmed his worldview so much that he was convinced that everyone who disagreed with him was stupid, or victim of peer pressure, and ultimately he has begun cutting people out of his life that call him out on it.

Anyone can be victim to this — on the left or the right — especially when it’s personal. We must all be vigilant, we must all listen, we must all respect the experiences of others, and we must all be ready to acknowledge that we might be wrong and that things we’ve held dear for a long time might be wrong. It’s the only way we will grow and the only way we will help others to do the same.