When I say white supremacy, most of you are going to imagine people running around in white pointy hoods setting crosses on fire. You might also imagine people with shaved heads spray painting swastikas or racist slogans on the sides of buildings. It’s true that these are the most extreme forms of racism or white supremacy, and it’s true that these actions are condemned by society, and that these actors are pushed to the fringes of political discussion. But does that mean that racism and white supremacy are gone too?
The answer I have been obviously building towards is no.
Racist and white supremacist ideas are not gone. They’ve just become more subtle and more sneaky, and because we have these extreme stereotypes that are held up as standards of racist ideas, the more nuanced ones have been able to filter their way into mainstream discourse without anyone really noticing. This includes Carleton campus.
It’s a problem.
So how do these white supremacist ideas manifest themselves? Basically, we live in a culture where white people feel they have the right to take the lead in any discussion, about any issue, even if it does’t affect them. In this culture, these opinions are held in equal, if not higher regard than the opinions of those who are actually affected by the issues in question.
Here are a few examples:
White people who suggest that it is offensive or racist for black folks to use the “n-word” in reference to themselves or to other consenting black folks. You know what is racist or offensive? You as a white person thinking you have the right to tell a black person how to reclaim their history and identity, or what language they can use to empower themselves. Not all black people agree with the use of that particular word, but that’s a conversation that has to be had within the black community. We as white people don’t have any right to impose our opinions or restrictions on anyone except ourselves.
White people who feel that they are the best people to be the face of cultural groups on campus where the culture is primarily made up for racial minorities. If you are the president, chair, head, leader, supreme overlord, or any other such officer for one of these groups and you are white, that’s a problem. Racialized communities need to be given the opportunity to empower themselves, not have their battles lead for them by white people. What’s more, if you’re white, you don’t face many of the same issues that 95 per cent of the people in your group face on an often daily basis. How can you be the best face to speak to issues of racism or xenophobia when you don’t have to deal with these problems yourself? It all builds to this idea of the “white saviour” complex, which can be just as harmful as doing nothing at all.
Now, I know a lot of you are thinking this: “If we should let racial minorities make their own decisions, and advocate for themselves, then why are you, a white student, writing this?” Well, there are a couple reasons.
One of them is that if a racialized person were to say the exact same thing, they would be attacked with allegations of “reverse-racism.” If I hear one more ignorant white person claim reverse-racism, I will blow my stack like fucking Chernobyl. Reverse racism is not a thing, folks. It’s really not. But I could write another op-ed on that alone if I wanted to.
The main reason is that I am entirely fed up with having to watch marginalized communities justify themselves to ignorant people. It is not the responsibility of minority or marginalized peoples to educate you on how you are oppressing them. It is the responsibility of the majority, in this case white people, to educate ourselves and each other on the problem and to stop perpetuating it. It’s what I’m trying to do today, and it’s really not that hard. We are privileged enough to come to this university, with access to thousands of books, hundreds of professors who specialize in a phenomenal variety of subjects, and the Internet, even if you don’t have it at home. When you have access to this much information, ignorance is no longer an excuse. It’s a choice, and it’s not acceptable.
So what can we do right now to stop perpetuating white supremacy? First off, get educated. Period. That’s mandatory. Second, learn the difference between co-opting a cause (which is oppressive) and supporting a cause (which is positive). Whatever opinion your black friends have on the “n-word”, accept it and support their right to have it. Don’t take a side. Just accept the fact that it is their decision to make. And you can be a member of a cultural group that you are not racially aligned with. You can volunteer, go to meetings, help with events and whatever. That’s supporting. But if you try to take the lead, you disempower them, and you take the power out of the hands of those who’s opinions and experiences are shaped by actually dealing with these issues every day.
Racism is a problem. It’s a problem that has existed for a long time without being fully acknowledged. White students have to start that process. And no, it won’t happen right away. But it has to start now, and it has to start here.
