CH10: White Fragility and the Rules of Engagement
CH11: White Women's Tears
CH12: Where Do We Go From Here?
How are we feeling so far?
Imma be so real with y'all. I am ready to be done with this book 😅 I'm tired of people proving the points every week. I mean, just horrid folks. This week had atrocious behavior 🤣😭
As we learned, calling out racism and antiblackness can result in white wrath something unreasonable. And yes, you can be a person of color participating in that wrath (it won't protect you in the long run). I have noticed it before in other movements, but it's not uncommon for people to pit people of color against one another and swear it's for good... And it's not.
It's "not nice" to say someone's behavior is racist, not nice to point out, but no one cares that it's not nice to BE violent via racism. Only that it's not nice to respond to it, whether with kindness or anger. Because the first rule: never bring it up 👍🏾
It can be caused by being upset about it, it can be caused by simply being proud of being Black (which, unlike being proud to be white (the default), is an aberration from the status quo).
If anything, this week proved the point that antiracism is going to be HARD. People are going to hate you, they're going to be angry at you, they're going to push back. That violence that upholds the world around you, that you've never noticed? You'll see it IMMEDIATELY if you challenge it. That fear you feel, just from that temporary interaction? Is what it feels like to be a person of color, and particularly a Black person, all the time. And if that's something that sickens you- and it should- you should understand more of why it's so important to call it out.
"The progress is healing the wound that's below, that the blow made. And they haven't even begun to pull the knife out, much less pull, heal the wound...
They won't even admit the knife is there."
Anywho. It's not about being perfect. You weren't born into a perfect world, neither was I. It's about TRYING. And trying means ACTIVELY putting in effort. It's not just "racists aren't welcome around me!" It's educating yourself on what that looks like. It's being able to point out your own and others biases. It's not a passive thing. Ya know... "The thought that counts, but the action that delivers" 🤣 I don't say that for no reason! Putting in the work, constantly, is how you make life just a little bit easier for the people of color around you.
