We Have Work To Do
(Transcript from Tiktok:
“This is just a friendly reminder, to myself and others: If you see a white woman doing problematic things, it is our job, as fellow white women, to pause, and figure out the ways we are similar to her, and not just distance ourselves so we can feel better about ourselves like we’re “one of the good ones.” That’s all.”)
The message in the video above specifies white women but can be applied to the white community as a whole.
White culture tends to lean toward individualism – a privilege not granted to any other racial group. White individuals are not often deemed as representatives of their race. People of color are frequently cast as representatives of their communities. For example, as Black men are overrepresented in the world of professional sports, it is often assumed that Black men, as a whole, are athletic, or enjoy sports. When a person of color commits a crime, criminal behavior is attributed to their race or their culture. White people are permitted to separate themselves from one another.
White people are permitted to say, or indicate, “Those other racist white people aren’t with us,”, “I’m not like them. I don’t claim them.”
The prompt in the video, to ask ourselves how we are similar to, or identify with, “problematic,” white people is also a prompt to see ourselves not just as individuals, but as a community that we improve together.
Do you identify as white? Do you see yourself as being a part of a community, in terms of your race? Share your thoughts with us in a comment below.
-Your Friends at Undoing Racism
