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Work 4 Peace,Hold All Life Sacred,Eliminate Violence! I am on my mobile version of the door-to-door, going town-to-town holding readings/gatherings/discussions of my book "But What Can I Do?" This is my often neglected blog mostly about my travels since 9/11 as I engage in dialogue and actions. It is steaming with my opinions, insights, analyses toward that end of holding all life sacred, dismantling the empire and eliminating violence while creating the society we want ALL to thrive in

Thursday, December 06, 2018

Anti-racist racism

I've been to a couple of anti-racism workshops lately where it seems that some of the vocal anti-racist white womxxn actually put down the work and actions of the anti-racist white womxxn who came before them.

And to make it even more 'confusing', these are the womxxn who, when encouraging other white womxxn to just take the plunge and try their best to confront racism, to not worry about whether there's a 'right' or 'wrong' way, that we will all make mistakes but the important thing is to try, will then turn around and criticize those white womxxn who have stood up in the past and point out how wrong their anti-racist actions were.

What is also totally missing from this conversation is the criticism of all the multitude of white womxxn who at the same time these anti-racist white womxxn were fucking up, have never stood up or worse, even felt motivated or obligated to stand up.

We can't have it both ways: we can't claim the important thing is to try, and then hold superior attitudes about the ways in which we have tried or do try.

It's the same underpinning of superiority and inferiority flowing through this way of seeing and acting, the same opportunity to feel superior or point out the inferior stance of others that directs all the isms.

It is something we need to recognize and fight as anti-racist white womxxn. I certainly don't agree with all the strategies of other white womxxn and can even identify the unaddressed racism in those strategies. But I'm also filled with gratitude and pride that these womxxn have tried and continue to try, that we all work together to grow and dismantle this legacy we carry around with us consciously and unconsciously.

That we love and forgive each other for our shortcomings and that we are open and willing to risk everything to conquer racism and exist in the world as anti-racists!