White Privilege and Knowledge of Self

Radical educator Paulo Freire argued that the purpose of education was humanization. By this he meant that any form of education must begin from the experience and knowledge of the oppressed, and that the oppressed and oppressors must enter into a community of learning.

It strikes me that the current white privilege discussion breaks almost all the rules of humanization. Privilege fundamentally erases the experiences and knowledge of the oppressors and dictates to them a knowledge that they must adopt in order to be considered members of the social justice community.

We must find ways to humanize both oppressors and the oppressed because both the oppressors and the oppressed are, in fact, human.

Before I get to my arguments about a way to call oppressors to a higher consciousness, I want to first credit the folks that I got this idea from, lest I be accused of appropriation. I am in conversation with a number of black nationalists/radicals. One of those who has had the most influence on me is Zone the Divine Mind, a spoken word artist and community organizer from Birmingham.

In contrast to many white "allies," Zone is about calling folks, mostly black, to a higher plane of consciousness and knowledge of self, meaning an understanding of black history and culture and of the way that government, culture, and economics place black folks within the societal hierarchy.  He is fundamentally positive in the belief that this form of consciousness is liberating and empowering.

What occurs to me is that WHITE PEOPLE NEED THIS TOO and that knowledge of self is the goal of the white privilege discussion, but in a dehumanizing way.

Thus, as opposed to privilege, educators need to talk to the oppressors in a way that calls them to consciousness and knowledge of self.

Instead of essentially telling sinners to repent (privilege), knowledge of self opens a conversation about who oppressors are as a people and how we're placed in society.

In contrast to the visceral anger elicited by the privilege discussion, the oppressors respond with curiosity and puzzlement, which is much more amenable to learning than anger.

The discussion can start something like this:

Person lacking knowledge of self: I am not racist; I treat everyone as a human being.
Educator: Only a white person with no knowledge of self would ever claim that they are not racist.

The accusatory tone is now gone and the person lacking knowledge of self is simply puzzled. They ask, implicitly, "why would being racist constitute knowledge of self?"

The next steps may be more difficult, but the educator must demonstrate that global white supremacy exists and that everyone is subject to it, though they may experience it in different and novel ways.

One way to do this is to provide an example. (This is predicated on dealing with people that actually care about racism; we shouldn't be even trying to educate those that do not.)

Person lacking knowledge of self: Global white supremacy may exist, but I don't support or participate in it.
Educator: How can you not participate?  Your tax dollars support the criminal justice system.

This shifts the terrain from individual racism to how global white supremacy constructs the white racial subject.

In essence, whites, though that may want to be non-racist, are forced through government to participate in global white supremacy through paying taxes, which demonstrates that every white is, in fact subject to, though not oppressed by, white supremacy.

This is the beginning of knowledge of self because it shows that whites are racist vis-a-vis their position in the system instead of their individual feelings or beliefs.

It seems that it is time for positivity in the conversation about white racism and this seems to be a better way to get at who white people are and why as opposed to just telling folks, "you're privileged."

Tim Wise, Bullying, and an End to Social Justice Warriors

I used to have a lot of respect for Tim Wise.  His book, White Like Me, is inspiring and eye-opening and a must read for whites concerned with racial justice and our place in it.  But, over recent months, I have become increasingly disenchanted with Wise's public engagements in which nothing is more important that his ego.  Wise famously had to apologize to black activists who were calling him out for making money off black suffering, a claim that while maybe hyperbolic, speaks to the perception that Wise is about Wise and pretty much no one else.  He also routinely taunts, abuses, or berates any white person, no matter how insignificant, that he feels threatens him in any way.  He promotes his greatness by never failing to reveal how many death threats that he has gotten or the pressure that he's under.  He's a hothead.

All of this would be fine if the attitude didn't bleed into the crew of Social Justice Warriors now populating the many overheated social media sites on the internet, who stake out the high ground and attack, refusing to engage in anything worthy of the Socratic method and even less worthy of Freirean popular education, the latter of which was designed as a way for advantaged folks to participate the cause of justice.  Instead, SJWs demand to be listened to without reciprocating, claim that it is "not their job to educate," and accuse people that they know only from an avatar of all sorts of crimes against the cause of justice.  Most of this has little to do with justice and everything to do with passing a rigidly scripted litmus test for entrance into the SJW community, the boundaries of which are tightly policed.  I have done this many, many times myself.  It was a mistake.

I suggest that we start judging people by what they do in the real world and not by their proficiency in speaking a language that has become increasingly exclusive.  Instead of assuming a whole host of things about people that we randomly know, let's start engaging in conversations about people's lives and experiences.  I work with many folks of all stripes, all of whom are active in social change projects, and few of whom would actually qualify for the SJW community.  All of them need to be treated like human beings and, in such, and in our friendships, all of us will grow and change.  Social media is a powerful tool, but it is time to step back from the combative and shrill discourse that has permeated social change efforts and focus on using social media to build real, human relationships.  In fact, it is imperative to do this now.

As a means of getting started I want to share my Rules for Talking to White People About Race:

1. Don't make it personal. Telling someone to check their privilege when they have no idea what you are talking about will mostly likely foreclose a conversation. Instead, use scientific fact about white supremacy to demonstrate both the existence of the system and how whites benefit.

2. Teach don't tell. Activists should never say things like "it's not my job to teach you." If that is true, why bring it up in the first place; why not just let sleeping dogs lie. It's the height of assholeness to bring up a concept that people don't understand and then just tell them to go do their own research.

3. Be wary of creating provincial activist cultures that no one understands but insiders. While all forms of culture are in some way exclusive, living only in the safe world created by activists defeats the purpose. Everyone needs a home base; just don't live there.

4. Meet people where they are at. Telling someone that is white and working class that they have white privilege is likely to come across as discounting every experience that they have gone through. Use language and terminology that people understand to communicate why whites benefit from racism. Avoid specialized concepts such as white privilege until people are more familiar with the mechanics of white supremacy. It is more important for people to learn how it works than the correct terms for it.

5. Be humble. If people start to come to you for information about racism that had previously been recalcitrant, treat them with respect and dignity; not everyone is at the same level. Encourage them to dig deeper and realize that what we are doing is working.