How To Be An Ally: Check Yourself
The first step when talking about Racism and discrimination is figuring out your own inherent bias. We all have it. It is sometimes well hidden, and comes out in the strangest ways. The only way we can have a fruitful discussion surrounding Race and Injustice is when you do the work on your own time. It was a common joke in the neighbourhood I grew up in, that each White person has their own “cause” and they are remarkably unaware of the intersectionality of that and all other discrimination. You can’t discuss Anti-Semitism without talking about Race and Poverty. You can’t address Homophobia with Misogyny. You can’t discuss Black Lives Matter without addressing Institutional Racism and the Prison Industrial Complex.
Intersectionality, just like Racism and Misogyny dictates and effects EVERYTHING.
Find the ties that bind you to your judgements and misconceptions, cut them and be free.
I’ve been in many conversations where this guys’ girlfriend is from Vietnam so now he cares about that. Perhaps this is my bias showing, but I’ve only ever met Well Meaning White People who care about causes because it directly affects someone they already love. They’ve watched the “very special episode” of their life and now this Injustice is an issue we need to solve.
I am not dismissing this as a method of connection, but it is wildly unsustainable as an anti-discrimination model. You asking marginalised people to enter spaces they may feel unwelcome and speak their truth, hope it emotionally affects people and pray it ripples out into the wider world?
If you want to achieve Diversity, Inclusion and Multi-Culturalism in a space, you must unpack what you as an individual is bringing into the conversation. In Anthropology it is called Positionality, its stating your position before you explain anything else about the study. Basically your are explaining who you are, why the topic is of interest and what your biases may be in this quest. If you as the employer, manager, community organizer, workshop presenter or teacher are attempting to create safe space you need to do that work.
Why are you doing this? Is it because as a community or school you must address it in some way? Then should you be finding someone else to do it, have you looked into who is already doing this work?
What is motivating you? The drive to do the right thing? You feel it is your moral imperative? It’s part of your organizations mandate? All great, is it to get ahead of an issue within your organization? Valid but that position changes your approach, be aware of that.
Why you? Is it in your job description? Are you the only marginalised individual in your group and are being tokenised? Bring that in, be honest.
What about after? What’s going to happen after this discussion? Are there plans in place to follow through? Is it just to clear the air? Are you going to hold people accountable if they go against what has been decided at this meeting?
May you be empowered to act.
I hope that you take the time to establish your position. Just like any kind of self-care work, understanding your biases lead to positive long term outcomes.
“Freeing yourself was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self is another” Toni Morrison
