Hello darlings -
Welp, the world is on fucking fire and we deserve to burn.
For my Black friends and colleagues: I see you. I support you in whatever position you take, in whatever role you want to play (including no role) in this uprising, in whatever you want to say. You aren’t alone. You belong. Take the power. I’ll be there with you.
I firmly believe this: neutrality in these times means that white academics support white supremacy. I see it in my life. I see it in path dependency in our history. I see it in our academic institutions, which reproduce and accelerate racism while pretending to care about diversity and inclusion. Racism is all of us. We disarm it by confronting it. Black lives matter and we need active work to affirm this.
What can white people do? We need to be anti-racist, not just non-racist. Below I’ve outlined some of the things that I’m trying to do, as a white woman with an enormous amount of privilege. I DO NOT have the answers. I am learning. If (WHEN) I get something wrong, I hope my friends and colleagues will tell me and give me a chance to learn. But learning is on me. Here are some things we can do to be allies.
We can support our Black colleagues by listening. Center Black voices. Center Black women’s voices. Put them in the center of your life. Read their work. Want to know something about BLM and police violence? Here’s an amazing thread to start with. Follow Black scholars on social media. Pay attention when they tell you that something is off, offensive, or ignorant. Be willing to admit you are wrong. One way that racism plays out in the academy is that we dismiss the expertise of our Black colleagues, including by refusing to learn from them and their experiences. Stop that shit. Be willing to apologize if you are wrong. Learn from your mistakes.
We can support our Black colleagues by doing our own fucking homework. Don’t make your Black colleagues do the work to educate you about something. We are academics: do some fucking research on your own. Don’t demand that Black people give you their time to answer your questions. Look for resources. Read a fucking book.
We can support our Black colleagues by making them one of many, not one of few. This includes both being proactive to support the hiring, retention, and PROMOTION of Black people, whose work is often ignored or undervalued. But also, use your voice to amplify and echo your Black colleagues’ voices. Don’t exist in a world where the only people who talk about racism are those who suffer the costs of racism. Talk about racism in your classes. In your department meetings. With your friends. With your family. As Ijeoma Oluo says, “If you are white, and you don’t want to feel any of that pain by having these conversations [about race], then you are asking people of color to continue to bear the entire burden of racism alone” (So You Want To Talk about Race, page 51).
We can support our Black colleagues by calling bullshit on racist garbage. Don’t be the fucking asshole that lets someone email “all lives matter” to your department. Don’t perpetuate dumbass garbage like ‘it is easier to get a job in academia if you are Black’ or that our Black colleagues are unfairly paid more or don’t deserve the positions that they get or that it is easier for them to publish work. That is fucking bullshit. Call that shit out. When you think something along these lines, pull that thought out, examine the root of it, and call it what it is: your own fucking racism. Recognize that anti-racist work requires collaboration with our Black colleagues, but that they won’t necessarily trust us. Trust takes time. Show up. Earn that trust.
We can support our Black colleagues with our bodies. Go to protests. Support protests. Stop police from harassing Black people. Stand between Black people and the police. Record interactions. Seriously. Fucking practice it. Channel all your “speak to the manager” outrage into calling out any racism around you, in protecting the lives of Black members of our communities. This includes on our campuses, where we don’t have to worry if someone will think we don’t belong, call the cops on us, or bar us from accessing our offices or classrooms. Recognize the privilege of our bodies.
Whatever the fuck you do, do not be a Dave.
XOXOX)
Mirya