White Privilege

Into the new year, into a blatant display of the disparities between how white people and Black people are treated in our society. I am Canadian, and as I have discussed in other blog posts, our societies are so closely woven together due to our geographical and historical proximity to America that oftentimes events down south serve to hold a mirror to our faces. Only not everyone is willing to contemplate this reflection. I invite anyone reading to push past their own discomfort and truly ask yourselves how much you are doing to further progress and dismantle racism in your daily life (I promise to do the same).

I can’t imagine what it must feel like to witness what happened this past week in Washington DC as a Black or Brown person. However, I will try my best to summarize what it felt like to me.

Infuriating. Disgusting. Heartbreaking. So many adjectives. And it was layered. It was outrageous that there were no attempts made to stop or detain any of the terrorists. It was shocking to see that this was the line in the sand for some to finally hold their administration accountable. It was also a disappointing response in so many ways in media, in social media…everywhere.

To see the juxtaposition mere months apart between the responses to the protests advocating for Black Lives and the terrorists violently attempting to undermine democracy…it was surreal. One would think you couldn’t possibly deny the inequitable treatment of Black people by contrast. And yet, whether loudly or silently – as many white social media influencers chose – it seems the message still isn’t clear.

Two points are really sitting with me today:

One – how was this the line for social media platforms, members of the administration, and many others? Almost more concerning, how is it still not? America’s orange leader was muted by social media this week. But where was this gravitas before? How was it that children in cages was not the line for these companies? How was a ban on Muslim people not the line for these companies? How have the myriad tragic controversies that have besieged the world at the hands of this leader not resulted in this swift action? It is puzzling. I am grateful it has happened, and I am saddened it took this long.

Two – where are the voices of the white influencers on social media – and by extension, their audience? I am thinking of Instagram as an example as I write this because I have found over the last while that it is a modern and obvious example of racial inequity. Over recent months I have chosen to unfollow most of the white influencers on my Instagram because I found that when it came to social issues they would remain conspicuously quiet. Any mentions would be interspersed with random things throughout their day that watered down the impact of the message. This was in stark contrast to influencers in the BIPOC community – regardless of what their page was intended to be for. BIPOC chefs, interior designers, diversity educators, therapists, etc. were all very vocal, and it was depressingly quiet amongst their white peers.

This frustrates me because for one thing, it seems white influencers build large platforms quickly, even in spaces that were meant to give a voice to marginalized people (the body inclusivity movement for example); then they fail to show up for others on their platform when it really counts – taking eyeballs away from big issues in favor of yet another “unflattering” bikini picture.

But the biggest issue I have is that it again shows that the work of dismantling racism is falling on those that are oppressed. The tireless efforts by the Black women on my Instagram are also silenced at times by the platform itself for calling out this very racism and the resulting inaction. This is unacceptable.

I don’t say this perched on a high horse. I say this knowing that I have made embarrassing mistakes in my past. I have said the wrong thing. I have said the ignorant thing. I have been blind to things that were right in front of my face. I have thought being colour blind was progressive and likely undermined my loved ones’ experience. My naivety is embarrassing and disappointing…the fact that I am still shocked by so many things in itself is really embarrassing because it serves to highlight my own cloak of privilege.

But here’s the thing, I will continue to fuck up. And I will continue to learn and grow from those fuck ups. I call on everyone else, particularly the white people reading this, to do the same.

Call out the gross jokes. Call out the comments at the dinner table. At the boardroom table. Lead by example. Listen to Black people when they generously share their lived experience. Take anti-racism courses from Black educators. Interrogate your own biases. We all have them. We all have blind spots and we are all ignorant to things, especially when they don’t affect us personally. But we have a responsibility to each other to take this personally and be in this together.

We can all change, and we can all effect change. For the better. Together.

-Amanda