white guilt

Published by fournier | Filed under Taking Action, Whiteness

A couple weeks ago, Vegankid, Rachel S and i were talking about “White Guilt” and decided that an Ally Work post on it would be appropriate. Below are links to our respective takes on the matter.

The last week has seen a considerable upheaval in the section of the blogosphere that we inhabit. Nubian from blac(k)ademic nearly left us, and much of brownfemipower’s blog has disappeared. (it appears that she might be coming back?) i’m not sure if all this makes focusing on White guilt more or less germane, but it is certainly seems linked to the discussions that have been going on over at nubian’s blog. certainly, the (now inaccessible) post by brownfemipower titled “guilty bloggers” highlighted that “White Guilt” is a topic needing some (intra and inter-community) analysis.

Rachel of Rachel’s Tavern gives us a very personal experience of the learning experience of white guilt and how the initial stages of the understanding of privileged can be very uncomfortable. She is clear that this discomfort is in no way an excuse not to move forward in a better understanding of racism and privilege, but is something that one must push through:

In my view guilt is part of the growth process that can move Whites towards acknowledging and challenging racism. See if one has no understanding of racism then they don’t have to feel any guilt-this would be the most immature stage. Then once a person recognizes racism and white privilege, guilt often follows. However, my job is to move people beyond guilt, so they can take action. I think there are several suggestions I would give to help Whites move beyond guilt…

My piece of this discussion focuses on the personal journey that one makes from realization to action. This has been particularly informed by the discussions that have happened recently on the perhaps unintended damage that the first steps of one’s journey can have on those one is “trying to help.”

The initial education process must be done on one’s own, or with others similarly situated. Demands must not be made on others to provide that education. For anti-white supremacy work, there are plenty of resources out there that would be much better sources of information than asking a person of color, “What can I do?” Expecting that the work of your education should be done by someone else is yet another inappropriate exercise of unearned privilege.

Vegankid gives us an important warning about the dangers of being “stuck” in one’s guilt. Too often, a persyn who becomes aware of their own privilege and the violence that racism and White Supremacy brings becomes isolated and takes on a crusade to single-handedly end oppression in all its forms. This can backfire with dire consequences:

The zealot believes that the massive amount of guilt that they were dealing with was to blame for their loss of friends and family. They therefore believe that by no longer viewing the world with an anti-racist lens or taking action against White Supremacy that they won’t have to feel that guilt. In my opinion, the guilt doesn’t go away, it is simply ignored and bottles itself up (often times creating a new David Horowitz - we should not forget that he was once a young radical lefty).

I think that we’re generally in agreement that guilt can be a tool, and that it must not be a roadblock. It can be a beginning (though it’s not a necessary stage) and it should not be an ending.

thank you to all who have contributed to and inspired this work.

Share This