withrevolutionarycries:

liquornspice:

respectissexy:

How much of a White ally are you?

HOW RACIST ARE THE WHITE PEOPLE I COME INTO CONTACT WITH?

Every now and then, I’m asked (usually by someone White) if I think all White people are racist. The answer to that question is, “Yes, and … ” because, frankly, it’s a matter of degree. Oh, it’s not the degrees most White people would imagine for themselves, but it is a matter of degree. Each of those degrees tells me how much I can trust you.

For me, those degrees are:

• 0 - Non-human: assigns neither meaning nor value to usual markers of race; stare in wonderment
• 1 - John Brown: willing to take up arms against White people who attempt to harm a person of color; treat them as Black
• 2 - White Panthers: committing resources and support to people of color; reciprocate
• 3 - Jane Elliott: taking the fight against racism to White folks; support
• 4 - MC Search: can talk about race and racism without showing their ass; engage but challenge when necessary
• 5 - “Colorblind”: typical well-meaning White person; be friendly but don’t talk about race
• 6 - Archie Bunker: believes stereotypes but doesn’t hate us for them; be polite but keep my distance
• 7 - Rudyard Kipling: believes they are superior; avoid
• 8 - NYPD: would not think twice about harming a person of color; stay alert
• 9 - KKK: would go out of their way to harm a person of color; run away
• 10 - Southern slave owners: would inflict any and all manner of degradation and dehumanization upon a person of color; emigrate

That said, the last thing I need is for you to make this about you and your fee fees and be all, “OMG! I’m only a 4, but I want you can trust me more! How do I get down to at least a 3? How can I get you to see me as not like Those Other White People?” Don’t bother me with that shit. Whatever work this reveals you have to do, don’t burden people who haven’t asked for it. There are plenty of anti-racist resources online and in real life that are willing and able to help you. Nobody owes you personal instruction in Being A White Ally 101. 

But it would be nice to get a “Thank you” every now and then for the stuff I do share.

This might be co-opty but I couldn’t help but notice this is really useful when dealing with men too. Degrees of sexism:

• 0 - Non-human: assigns neither meaning nor value to usual markers of sex or gender; stare in wonderment
• 1 - okay, I’m not sure what the equivalent here would be
• 2 - Outspoken feminist - like Garland Grey or the guys behind the Men Can Stop Rape campaign, devoting significant amounts of resources and support to fighting sexism, helping women, checking their own privilege.
• 3 - Feminist ally - guys who aren’t all-the-time feminist activists but understand the issues and help out on the micro level. insists on enthusiastic consent even if their female partners tease them or say that asking ruins the moment. these are the guys who have the guts to tell their dude friends that the way they’re talking about a woman is disrespectful, and take the resulting flak
• 4 - Sorta-ally - this guy can talk about gender and sexism without looking like an asshole, but still needs to be called out on his privileged behavior sometimes. typically, he is very good at talking about sexism with his feminist friends, but unwilling to brave the discomfort of calling out his friends when they make rape jokes
• 5 - “I just think everybody should be equal” - typical dude. believes men and women are equal, of course, but feminism makes him sort of uncomfortable. likely thinks sexism is dead or very rare or doesn’t exist in America. still believes things like “women are more nurturing and emotional” and “men are just hard-wired to need sex more/be more aggressive.” might stop making rape jokes if you explain to him why he shouldn’t, but this is because they hurt people’s feelings, not because he understands rape culture
• 6 - makes rape jokes and other sexist jokes. believes you are too uptight or sensitive. zero self-awareness about privileged behavior. doesn’t think Axe commercials are degrading to women. attributes lots of institutional and cultural sexism to biological factors that nobody will ever change, i.e. “men ogle at women inappropriately because they can’t HELP it.” Here there be the most routine forms of douchebaggery - “Nice Guys,” rampant mansplaining, ill-informed evopsych lectures, “but what about the men??”
• 7 - believes that men are actually superior to women (possibly for religious reasons) or better suited to leadership, or that feminism is actively oppressing them. Here be “Men’s Rights Activists” and rape apologists galore.
• 8 - active, angry misogynists. emotional abusers, sexual harassers, people who devote their lives to advocating for policies that are harmful for women (Rick Santorum, Pat Robertson, most pro-life and anti-contraception advocates), the people who send hateful emails and threats to feminist bloggers on the internet. when they actually get violent, they turn into:
• 9 - rapists, wife beaters, and other perpetrators of misogynistic violence. Eminem, Chris Brown, Julian Assange
• 10 - serial rapists and murderers, human traffickers and pimps, those people who kidnap a woman and hide her in their basement dungeon lair and torture her for years

Like…you knew you was wrong, but you had to insert your basic ass white lady thoughts anyway.

Not to mention, your analysis is just…boring, unhelpful, one-dimensional, and wrong. Chris Brown and Julian Assange are not assholes for the same reason nor are they dangerous in equal ways. Please leave the analysis of sexism to folks with actual complex understandings of the subject ie. not your cis white lady self.

This conversation was about racism. You derailed to center your white pendeja ~*feminist*~ shit.

It’s the last day of Black History Month, I have no patience for this fuckery. You are hereby ordered to sit down and stfu.

*bangs gavel*

 

White opinion: SORTA co-opt-y? How about you fucking stole it, asshole. Come up with your own shit, don’t steal from POC. Something that we white folk have been doing for what? Forever?

(Source: eshusplayground)