check yourself: white privilege 101
On February 23rd Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man, was lynched while he jogged in his neighbourhood in Georgia. He was hunted down in broad daylight by a white supremacist father and son duo, and despite there being a recording of the execution these two murderers walked free without so much as a charge for months despite video evidence. It took a public outcry for justice to bring about charges, and the truth is there’s no guarantee they will pay for their crimes. White supremacy killed Ahmaud Arbery. Systemic white supremacy is why his murderers were not immediately arrested, it’s why Black people still can’t be certain justice will be done and it’s why the media often doesn’t adequately cover the murders of Black people. Ahmaud’s story is tragically common, it’s one of too many stories of racism killing Black people (as well as Indigenous people and people of colour). If you feel like this like an overstatement to you, I recommend you dive deep into the #BlackLivesMatter movement and look up names like #GeorgeFloyd, #BreonnaTaylor, #D'AndreCampbell and #RegisKorchinskiPaquet (all names I have learned that have been murdered since Ahmaud Arbery’s murder). This. Has. To. Stop.
If you’re like me, you heard Ahmaud’s story and you were heartbroken and angry. Maybe you felt helpless and thought but what can I do? How can I stop this from happening? This is how I felt when I heard Ahmaud’s story, but this is also how I felt before I heard Ahmaud’s story too. Last fall I experienced a rude awakening to the dark and destructive reality of white supremacy and racism in our society. It was a gut punch, followed by an almost paralyzing shame spiral. I was horrified to be seeing the world through this stark lens and I was mortified that I had somehow managed to avoid seeing how steeped our world is in white supremacy and colonialism until then. How could I have missed this? It was a dark season for my soul, to be honest I am still very much journeying through it.
I felt (and sometimes still feel) so deeply ashamed of my whiteness. The privileged and ignorant way that I have moved through my life with relevant ease and apathy to the problems I saw on my periphery makes me feel sick. I believed I was powerless to make change, and so I looked away in both conscious and unconscious ways. This changed when I finally woke the fuck up, I can no longer look away and do not accept that there is nothing I can do. In the words of Andre Henry, I now feel utterly provoked. I have stopped spending my time finding ways to absolve my white guilt and fragility and instead am spending my time trying to face it, examine it, own it and then move beyond it. I am still very much in my infancy with this work, but I am moving forward and this is what prompted me to write this post.
Maybe you’re having your awakening right now, or maybe you’re awake but stuck in the shame and helplessness loop. I’ve been there and this is a lot to reckon with. I want to invite you to take a deep breath and to take the next step. You’re not helpless and you can start to do the work of unraveling yourself from the systems of white supremacy and colonialism that we all find ourselves entangled in and by. Here are some ways I suggest getting started and see where they lead you.
Acknowledge that acts of racism are regularly harming Black and Indigenous people.
White supremacy is still killing Black and Indigenous people in 2020 and white privilege is allowing it to happen. Sit with that. Feel it. White supremacy is alive and well in our world today, and if you are white you are benefiting from it and (knowingly or unknowingly) upholding it. This is a devastating truth I am working to accept and understand more every day. It’s complicated and painful, but it must be confronted because white denial literally results in the oppression and death of Black people.
Educate yourself.
Take time to read books and listen to podcasts by Black and Indigenous authors and educators. Pay for their content, time, energy and emotional labour whenever you can. Educating white people is a burden. Here are some things I have read and listened to over the last few months that have impacted my journey to address my own racial biases and racism:
Books
I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Me and White Supremacy by Layla Saad (this book includes a workbook for processing)
The Skin We’re In by Desmond Cole
Until We Are Free: Reflections on Black Lives Matter in Canada by Rodney Diverlus, Sandy Hudson and Syrus Marcus Ware
Native by Kaitlin Curtice
The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas Joseph
Indigenous Writes by Chelsea Vowels
21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act by Bob Joseph
Podcasts/Streaming
Good Ancestors by Layla Saad
Medicine for the Resistance by Patty Krewac and Kerry Goring
The Next Question web series by Austin Channing Brown, Jenny Booth and Chi Chi Okwu
Hope & Hard Pills by Andre Henry and Alicia Crosby
All My Relations by Matika Wilbur and Dr. Adrienne Keene
Media Indigena by Rick Harp featuring a variety of brillant Indigenous academics and activists
13th documentary on Netflix by Ava DuVernay
Let’s Talk About Race a local conversation facilitated by GBF’s own Robin Lacambra talking with Stylo Starr, Sahra Soudi, Clairandean Humphrey and Queen Cee about the realities of race and the felt-sense impacts of the violence and murder of Black folx being sensationalized or silenced.
Trauma Porn & Communal Grief another local conversation responding to the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, this time facilitated by Rose-Ingrid Gracia with Bernadette Arthur and Kelly Germaine. All three of these women are veterans in the field of anti-racism activism, and they touch on the intersection of racism and religion/church.
Go public with your education.
Be courageous, get outside your own head/experience and start exploring racism and racial biases with others in appropriate ways. Do NOT ask Black people to explain racism or their experiences to you, they have been through enough. Talk with other white people or connect with organizations and groups doing anti-racism work. There are some amazing people doing this important work right here in Hamilton, sign up for their workshops/events and LISTEN without centering yourself or whiteness. Check out:
Sharing Privilege by Robin Lacambra via GoodBodyFeel.com
This is an amazing workshop/course that can be done with a group or on an individual basis. She offers a variety of ways to learn and grow, and she is such a compassionate guide for people doing their anti-racism work. I have taken Robin’s 4-hour course and attended a local panel discussion she hosted. You will learn so much working with her and this will kickstart your anti-racism journey without a doubt.
A Shared Table by Bernadette Arthur
This organization uses food, stories and art to promote cross-cultural community building that's diverse, inclusive and equitable. A Shared Table is currently hosting digital dine-ins so join them online and/or sign-up for their newsletter for future events.
Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion
HCCI is a community based organization with a mandate to create a welcoming and inclusive city and they host different events throughout the year. Look them up and join their newsletter.
Diversify your social media.
Follow all the authors and organizations above. Check out who they follow and add, add, add! Diversifying my social media has had such a big impact on me and I’m truly humbled by how much I have learned and still have to learn. Some more amazing follows would be: Rachel Cargle, Charlene Carruthers, Nikole Hannah Jones, Conscious Kid, Lettie Shumate, White Girl Learning, Lisa Harper, Black Coffee with White Friends, Jo Saxton, CKYourPrivilege, Dr. Christena Cleveland, Andre Henry, Chi Chi Okwu, Pamela Palmater, Kelly Germaine...there are SO many amazing teachers to listen and learn from.
Join me in listening and learning, my friends. This is something we can do, it’s the very least we can do. But let’s not stop there. Let’s let this reality break our hearts and break us open. Let’s wake up to our own racism, start the work of addressing it and start showing up—imperfectly and before we are ready because our ignorance, apathy and silence has contributed to the murders of Black and Indigenous people for too long. We have to do better because Black and Indigenous lives matter and white supremacy needs to end.
* As I said when I started this article, this is by no means an exhaustive list, it’s just a starting point for anyone ready to start doing their work. If you have more resources to share please do in the comments below. I am always looking for new teachers and ways to learn. Let’s do this!