10 Responses to “welcome”

1. Chandrasutra Says:
   March 5th, 2006 at 9:19 am I wish you well with this but I'm wondering if by white supremacy you mean all forms of white dominance/oppression and privilege? I think most people, when they see the words "white supremacy" think of pathological racist militants (not everyday behaviours and larger cultural issues). Unless I'm getting this wrong, and that *is* the express purpose of this blog (forgive me). I'm wondering if it might not be limiting to focus only on the most extreme forms of racism rather than drawing attention to the constant, less obvious, racism that is there is all our cultural expression, advertising, socialisation, day to day behaviours, actions, etc? The reason being that racism exists on so many levels. And much of the most prevalent racism doesn't reveal itself as extremism but everyday acts that the actor believes to be "normal", "acceptable" or "innocent". And this normalised racism helps reinforce our systemic racist culture. Racism is just one of the many facets of the larger problem of a dominant class of oppressors who are also anti-feminist, anti-queer, anti-diversity and afraid of anything that appears to challenge a right wing status quo. The fight I'm most interested in and the one I feel I'm best suited for is the fight that exists on a day to day level. A daily challenge to all those things that reinforce a toxic, hateful, classist, materialist culture.
2. Chandrasutra Says:
   March 5th, 2006 at 11:56 am Apologies - I didn't know the original context for the blog. I now understand. Feel free to remove my confused comments
3. vegankid Says:
   March 6th, 2006 at 7:11 pm No reason to apologize. I think you're right on, which is why i, for one, am not going to remove your comment. Persynally, I use the phrase White Supremacy because it speaks to what institutionalized racism is really about: the belief that White people are superior. Its an often subconscious belief that has been programmed into all of us (i say all of us because of how internalized racism also plays out). I still use the term racism, but i like to be a little more upfront about what i'm talking about. I think its time we get White people to realize that its not just Nazis who believe in White Supremacy... all White people do. There, i said it. I'll go ahead and state that my intention on this blog is not to use inflammatory language or to unneccessarily alienate people, but i'm not going to hold back. Privilege teaches us and allows us to hold back. For me, the entire purpose of this blog is to challenge unearned privilege.
   
   Which bring me to your second point. I can't really speak for the other contributors, but i'm pretty sure we all agree that racism is only a piece of the problem. But, as you realized, race is our chosen topic for this blog. I certainly hope we'll move beyond 101 and get into the more complex, interwoven systems of domination and oppression. Its there that real change will happen. Thank you so much for your comment, Chandrasutra. I hope you'll stick around.
4. fournier Says:
   March 6th, 2006 at 10:10 pm when i think of "white supremacy" i think of it in the way that bell hooks describes it. (oh, my kingdom for a link! this is what happens when you give your books away )
   
   i understand white supremacy to mean the pervasive evil of defining "white" as normative and the "othering" of most of the world. it's not just the kkk and nazi's, it's the mindset that has elevated whiteness as being the standard by which everyone else is judged.
   
   overt racism is just a piece (albeit a very violent one) of the pie. white supremacy, i believe, is much more insidious, wide reaching and dangerous. it's soul stealing. white supremacy divides people of color as some can be seen as being "more white" than others, and therefore more "acceptable" to the dominant culture.
   
   that's why i choose to say "white supremacy" in most contexts and not "racism." it also starts this conversation with others (usually other white people) who may not have thought of it in that context.
5. darkdaughta Says:
   March 7th, 2006 at 7:36 am As a resistance fighter dedicated to fighting oppression in all its many forms...or as many as i can locate, understand and critique...it's difficult to enter into these spaces and find a way to insert myself, my work or my analysis. A space about fighting racism seems so compartmentalized when racism is one of many oppressions I face daily. The compartmentalization is oftimes the reason I find it difficult to find allies among those doing segments of work I recognize - we "click" around certain points, but as soon as I talk about issues and oppressions that I face which they don't and/or don't understand, the "click" wears off. In concrete terms this often means that I end up not "clicking" with racism fighters who are of color or white, because they may not have bothered to develop an analysis of homophobia, sexual oppression, class that fully engages with, flows in and out of their race critique. So, this is me saying congratulations on creating a critical space and here's hoping that the space is as multilayered and multifaceted as it will need to be in order to truly explore and resist the domination of people of color of all different social locations. Here's hoping that it allows for many voices approaching the issues from many different perspectives, bringing different ingredients to the pot as people of color are not homogenous even in our politics or in our understanding of how best to critque our oppressions.
6. Kim Says:
   March 7th, 2006 at 11:18 am I'm a white anti-racist activist in Canada at what I would say is pretty much the beginning of my journey. I'm looking forward to this blog. Thanks for your initiative.
7. vegankid Says:
   March 7th, 2006 at 6:44 pm fournier - great way of explaning White Supremacy.
   
   darkdaughta - i'm so glad to see you made it over. I definitely feel ya. I think one of the most dehumynizing aspects of oppression is the way that it breaks us up as an individual (compartmentalize, as you say). We are expected to be gendered, raced, abled, aged, sexed and so forth but we are never able to be all that we are. We must be each seperately. Its dehumynizing not to be able to view ourselves as whole beings, embracing all that we are. So i guess i'm saying that i, too, hope that this space will be as multilayered and multifaceted as it needs to be. As i said earlier, i hope we can get beyond the 101 and look at all that we are as fluid beings.
   
   kim - welcome! i hope you'll stick around and contribute to the conversations ahead.
8. Kevin Andre Elliott Says:
   March 8th, 2006 at 10:55 am Hey, I just came across this new blog via Darkdaughta's place. I wanted to applaud you guys for tackling this subject. I agree with Darkdaughta that the impulse towards compartmentalizing oppression is a problem, but it seems to me like this blog is aware of that and will tackle racism in light of the many oppressions out there.
   
   I look forward to reading more.
   
   All the best.
9. Ampersand Says:
   March 10th, 2006 at 9:38 pm One minor suggestion (and apologies if you've already said you intend to do this): I think you need to radically extend your blogroll, in particular to include a lot of excellent blogs by people of color.
10. vegankid Says:
    March 10th, 2006 at 10:01 pm kevin - welcome.
    amp - tho is has not been stated publicly, the goal is to create a very extensive blogroll and links page. However, it may take some time cuz i thought it might be best to get explicit permission from each blogger since there is the possibility of directing some negative attention their way.
    anyone else - any thoughts on that last bit i just said?

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