“YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE TO CENTER YOURSELF TO SHOW EMPATHY”
“Those who need the most care have repeatedly been burned by the good intentions of people who claim they are here to help. Because of this, the marginalized become tasked with an additional burden of weeding out the self-interested…
Her feeble attempt to utilize white privilege for good underscores that many white allies have yet to fully grasp the weight of their unearned social position. In typical colonizer fashion, Balogh believes that her white body elevates the cultures — that she can communicate more in the traditional garb of these tribes than the women to whom the heritage belongs.
Herein lies the hollowness of “raising awareness.” If that’s where it ends, it amounts to nothing more than exploitation because, ultimately, Balogh gets to return to the safety of whiteness.”
Well-intentioned people need better examples of how to be involved in ways that are actually about the people they are trying to help. I feel like I and the people who grew up around me were trained to look at causes partially as things to talk about at parties, to put on our resumes, to wear as badges
