JW

There are a few things there that I want to unpack. What makes the system work the way it does is that whenever we see bad things happening, it’s usually blamed on some “other.” That has worked well across the country. Poor working-class whites who are suffering are told, “At least you’re not black or brown.” That has prevented folks from uniting together.

The truth is, there is a lot of poverty in the white community, but they experience poverty much differently than black and brown people, and that has to be acknowledged. They’re not going to have the same fear of police, they’re not going to be followed in stores, they’re not going to deal with the same trauma that comes from structural bigotry that has come down for generations. But that doesn’t change the fact that they too may not have housing, they too may not have adequate food.

The only benefit about now is how clear that actually is. Many folks in the white community are experiencing something they haven’t experienced before, and are now saying, “wait a minute” — even though there are black and brown people who have experienced it for a very long time.

I believe that we have to do a better job of discussing structural bigotry and structural –isms while at the same time acknowledging that there are white Americans who are suffering, and their suffering is just as real. We too often are talking about one or the other, depending on the audience. We need to have the whole conversation.

Everyone just has to acknowledge the privilege that they have. As a cisgender male, I have to acknowledge my privilege. Even the white brothers and sisters who recognize their privilege are not used to being in space with black and brown communities in a way that moves the ball forward and also empowers those black and brown communities to lead the conversation, particularly if they’re suffering the most. The best place I’ve seen that happen is in Black Lives Matter, where I saw white allies just be there to support, and that was an awesome thing to watch.

When white progressive communities engage with black and brown communities, they’re often coming to tell them what they should do instead of figuring out how to support them. It has to be done correctly.