Reflecting on the White Supremacy Narrative (3/3)
Intentionally reading materials based around race relations is hard work. At more than one point, I felt the desire to abandon the books and articles I was reading and opt for another book. Any other book. However, assigning credit where it’s due, many of the titles warn that the content will be difficult for white readers, which turned out to be true in my experience. The resistance I felt has been a consistent source of stress and reflection for me as I constantly questioned whether it was born of disagreement or guilt. There are countless logical inconsistencies and numerous instances of circular thinking in these books. In addition, there are outrageous and accusatory claims about the perpetuation of racism falling on the shoulders of all white people. Yet, in the back of my mind, I could not help but wonder if I was reacting against deep seated racism within myself. After perseverating on these feelings for months, I have come to believe that the answer is both: my feelings are rooted in both frustration and guilt.
One exercise prompted readers to examine their inner biases by examining stereotypes they hold about black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC). Below is an excerpt from my journal, showing the characteristics that I associate with men, women, and children who are BIPOC.
BIPOC men: strong, social, savvy
BIPOC women: willful, wise, vocal
BIPOC children: nothing specific comes to mind
Reflecting on my associations, once again I was torn. The characteristics I listed were genuine and all positive in nature. However, nobody escapes bias, and as a result, I noticed a couple of strong stereotypes hiding in my associations. Firstly, seeing BIPOC men as strong could possibly be influenced by the prevalence of black professional athletes and a pervasive attitude in sports leagues that black players are physically gifted. Secondly, while I see verbal inclination as a strength, my association of black women being vocal could be impacted by media portrayals of loud and/or effusive black characters. This exercise successfully reminded me that we are all victims of assuming racial stereotypes to some degree, and that it will be important as a future counselor to be mindful of the heuristics I hold, regardless of race and regardless of whether they are positive or negative.
Cultural appropriation was another concept that repeatedly surfaced. It is one that I am extremely conflicted over. In So You Want to Talk About Race the author shared a definition of cultural appropriation, characterizing it as “The adoption or exploitation of a culture by a more dominant culture”. On one hand, the exploitation of a culture (or of anything) is inherently bad. It can devalue the history and erode the fabric of an entire community. However, if cultures do not adopt, borrow, and learn from one another, they can be relegated to isolationism. I believe the sharing of cultures, regardless of whether it is larger or smaller, is something we should strive for and celebrate as long as it is done free of ill-intent. If we are not blending and sharing our culture, how can we grow together? The popular argument that acting like one giant human culture is racist and ill-conceived is something I simply cannot buy. While I agree that racism and privilege are certainly obstacles, I believe that creating a global culture of agreed upon values is an admirable goal. That is not to say we should strive for uniformity, but basic values like kindness, peace, and employing the socratic method for resolving conflicts could do much more good than harm in my view. Even a cursory understanding of history will illustrate that the world has been slowly trending towards globalism since the beginning of recorded history. Protecting against exploitation is important, but drawing a line at adoption is unnatural and promotes the forced separation of people. For these reasons, my hope is that we celebrate the blending of cultures that so often promotes creativity and beauty.
As I have mentioned several times throughout this blog, many of the ideas presented in the white supremacist narrative do not match my personal experience, understanding, or beliefs about the world. However, despite my disagreements, they definitely made me think. Perhaps my most salient and uncomfortable takeaway has been an idea about white apathy. Essentially, white apathy is portrayed as a belief that white or white passing people hold about racism. It states that to simply not be racist is not adequate, without seeking out racism to combat it. In other words, “if I’m not contributing to it, I am not responsible for fighting it”. This is something that I am ashamed to admit, I am guilty of to some degree. As such, it has become my biggest self-identified area of growth that I will take away from these materials. While I believe to my core that I am not racist, I recognize its prevalence and harm. It also runs counter to my values in more than the obvious ways. I realized that diversity is extremely important to me. So much so, that in discussions with my wife on where to build our life I refused to move to states/areas that are racially ubiquitous. I want our kids to grow up surrounded by as many cultures as possible in order to instill in them a rich and open-minded worldview. For these reasons, along with my inherent responsibility to promote social justice as a counselor, I recognize the need to combat my white apathy and champion diversity and anti-racism, both as a counselor and as a man.
