NOTHING we do can or will change these two facts. So, before you work 24/7 to sabotage yourself in a futile search for what you perceive as “credibility,” please remember: NOTHING will erase our privilege.
Breaking news: Oppression is not a costume, performance, or identity.
We can sleep on the street (or in city parks) and pretend to be homeless.
We can scream “fuck the police” till our throats grow hoarse.
We can wear “This is what a feminist looks like” and “I can’t breathe” t-shirts.
We can carry clever (sic) signs at impotent protests.
We can throw around trendy words like “intersectionality.”
We can posture and preen on social media.
We can corner the market on V for Vendetta masks.
We can share #hardcore photos of our symbolic arrests.
We can literally plan in advance when we’ll goad the police into arresting us.
We can pretend we’re part of an oppressed class.
We can try to convince ourselves and others that since civilization and ecocide are the “real” problems, we’re very oppressed/traumatized/triggered, too.
Of course, most of us already engage in some or all of this behavior (and so much more) and, of course: None of us are contributing anything towards a more just culture.
Photo by Mickey Z.
White “activists” also love to wield the “we are all one” trope like a shield. One of the most common refrains appearing all across the social media accounts of white or white passing (usually able-bodied male) activists goes a little something like this: “I don’t see skin color or sex, I just see the individual. For me, we are all one.”
Here are just a few (of hundreds) of ways this is privilege run amok
As long as women across the globe fear the sound of footsteps behind them on a dark street, we are not all one.
As long as we can peruse media outlets and see people of our race and sex widely represented, we are not all one.
As long as we can do well in a challenging situation without being called a “credit to our race,” we are not all one.
As long as a woman is battered (usually by her intimate partner) every 15 seconds; 75 percent of all rapes are committed by a man that the victim knows; and in 95 percent of reported domestic assaults, the female is the victim and the male is the perpetrator, we are not all one.
As long as we can plan a commute to some futile rally without ever wondering if a subway station is accessible, we are not all one.
As long we can remain oblivious of the language and customs of persons of color without any penalty for such oblivion, we are not all one.
As long as a woman is raped every two minutes in the United States and four women per day are killed by their abusive partners, we are not all one.
As long as the top cause/perpetrator of global violence -- males -- is the problem virtually no one will name, we are not all one.
I could go on but that would kinda miss the point now, wouldn’t it? So I’ll sum up: As long as I can confidently claim that I do not enjoy white male privilege and have most of my white (especially male) friends agree and promptly start talking about (wait for it) “reverse racism/sexism,” we are definitely not all one.
So, Mickey… since you think you know everything…
Yeah, yeah, yeah… I know the rest. Go right ahead and attack the messenger. I’m used to it by now and will not engage. Instead, I’ll simply counter with a few steps from my own journey in the hope you won’t take as long as I did to become “woke.”
Become part of the solution ASAP. I’ve written a little about this here and here.
Surrender the stage. By late 2014, I started turning down most invitations to speak in public and give interviews. Even if I feel certain I should talk, I’m hesitant because my mere presence at the mic continues to normalize white male supremacy. However, if my audience mostly includes those in the (white, male) “activist” hive mind, I will loudly say what’s been said in this article.
Listen and learn. STFU. Then find new voices to hear. Not necessarily “new” to the world at-large but new to you. A major game changer for me was discovering Andrea Dworkin.
Exploit our privilege. This one is still a work-in-progress for me. I eschewed income, education, and sometimes my health to “prove” just how real I could keep it. Now, I’m trying to make up for lost time. Reality: Justice-minded white males must exploit their privilege to accrue power, resources, and a platform—and then do everything they can transfer all that into the hands of the marginalized.
Those of us in an oppressor class -- especially those of us in two oppressor classes -- have the most work to do. We can lead the way, but then we must get out the way. Until we stop making it all about us, positive change remains impossible.
To directly help me help homeless women in NYC, CLICK HERE and make a donation right now. And please spread the word!
Mickey Z. is currently writing two books, a political memoir called How to Change Minds & Influence the Future: Rebuilding Activism From the Ground Up (Microcosm Publishing)and a fusion novella entitled stain red. In the meantime, hecan be found here.
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