Bashing other white people doesnât make you better
By Roshni Riar, Staff Writer
âWhite people are the worst, I swear.â
If you think of yourself as a progressive, informed individual, thereâs a possibility you may have heard, thought, or uttered the above statement at one point or anotherâwhether youâre a person of colour or not.
Thatâs okay, I understand if youâve felt that wayâI know that I definitely have on more than one occasionâbut I think itâs important for white people in particular to understand that verbally tearing down other white people isnât enough in the way of support for people of colour. Thereâs a huge difference between recognizing harmful behaviours and simply calling things out in an attempt to âcancelâ somebody. That difference is essentially action versus inaction.
There isnât anything particularly productive about elbowing your friends of colour and sighing, âWhite people, right?â If youâre white yourself, youâre still protected and veiled by the privilege that you are calling out. Itâs great that you can recognize inappropriate behaviour and address the fact that white privilege may have something to do with said behaviour, but that same white privilege allows you to feel free to call things out without genuinely feeling or understanding the implications.
If you want to be an ally and truly understand why something might be offensive, the most important thing to do is to listen to the people of colour who are trying to explain whatâs unacceptable to you. Listening might not feel like an active stand against racism, but it really is. It allows you to be all the more informed in your fight against discrimination.
Flying off the handle in an attempt to look supportiveâsuch as exclaiming how awful white people are and how ashamed you are to be one of themâmakes it harder for someone like me to have an informative conversation with you. Furthermore, you might think that saying those kinds of things is what a person of colour wants to hear, but it could put a person of colour into an even more harmful situation if someone with a negative bias overhears your conversation. While youâre protected by the colour of your skin when you speak your mind, someone like me is automatically viewed as stereotypically hateful and resistant to accept the Western society that I âchoseâ to be a part of. For bigots and racists, it doesnât matter who in a group holds which opinion; if they sense hostility then they will justify any further discrimination using that.
Instead of trying to one-up other white people to prove that because you recognize their shitty ways, you are therefore better than them, I think listening and taking in opinions and experiences of people who have truly felt racism is the first step toward being a supportive ally. Action, such as supporting your friends of colour and attending educational talks and marches, staying informed, and allowing people to check your hostility when it isnât necessaryâthese are much more important than calling someone âanother backwards, uninformed white person.â
If someone has enough conviction to be racist or discriminatory in any way, then they probably donât care that youâre calling them out. Save your words and insults for when they really matter, like when your friends need them during a protest or in a time of despair.
