From a White Anti-Racist Activist, A Pledge to People of Colour

Published by vegankid | Filed under Taking Action

The following was an email sent in from a reader named Kim. She wrote, “I have written a pledge that I’d like to see what people on the blog think of.” I don’t want to preface this with any of my own opinions, so here is the pledge as it was sent to us:

I do not wish to speak for you, and know I cannot. I believe that white people have an obligation to make the changes necessary to eradicate racism and I wish to work actively towards this goal. It is wrong to expect the victim to change the oppressor, and it is unfair to expect the victim to change the system. I do not think that anti-racism training for white people should be the sole burden of people of colour. You deal with racism daily, and it takes its toll. Let me help address some of the ugliness that you face in your daily life, so that you can save your energy for your own struggles. I want to be an ally. I feel a responsibility to make other white people aware of the systemic racism in our society and our own hidden biases, and to help them confront this. I do not wish to take away your jobs, your role, etc. I do not wish to speak for you, make decisions for you, or tell people of colour what is best for them. I do wish to hear you say what is best, and then help to spread that message.

Sometimes white people will open up more with me and say things that they would not say to people of colour. Because of my position of privilege and my naïveté, these moments can be difficult and discouraging for me, when I am faced with a glimpse of the ugliness with which you live constantly. However these moments are also an opportunity to challenge the assumptions of that person and make a change, and if I can be the one to take that burden, face the ugliness, and take even just one of those moments away from you, prevent it from hurting you, or just prevent you from expending the necessary energy, then I want to do that and will continue to seize those opportunities.

I want you to know as well that I have taken the time to learn about my own heritage and culture, and I am fully aware that I am not “the norm”, that I do have ethnicity. I do not succumb to the notion among many white people that “I am not ethnic, I am just normal,” or that I am Canadian and you are less so because you immigrated here or have an accent or are of colour. When asked where I was born, I will say Canada. When asked what my heritage is, I will say Scottish/Irish/German/Swiss /English, not Canadian. I have always been very aware of my heritage, since I was ten years old and researched my family heritage to an early stage. Unfortunately my family immigrated here around ninety years ago, and therefore I do not have artefacts or dress from my heritage as you may (until I inherit it), but this does not mean that I think “I am just plain Canadian, wearing red and white, and jeans and t-shirt” as one of my colleagues described herself. This view makes me cringe excruciatingly, and I hate that I will be lumped with the people who hold this view, as you have been lumped for various reasons throughout your life with people who do not represent you. I do know however, that I do not have the right to expect be evaluated and judged as an individual by people of colour, as people of my colour have not given you this privilege throughout history.

I take responsibility for the racist past of my ancestors and work to change things in the present. I acknowledge my white privilege and try my best to be aware of it, not take advantage of it, and to work to counter it. I take responsibility for the biases and prejudices that I was immersed in growing up, and work to identify them, examine them, challenge them, change them. I read, I think, I listen, I watch, I surf, I reframe, I ask, I read more. I am not colourblind. I view nearly every situation through a lens of anti-racism, power, and privilege. I work actively every day to confront my own biases and prejudices that result from growing up in a racist society. I will continue this lifelong, and I will continue to improve. I realize that I will never be perfect but I will continue to strive.

I ask you to trust me as an ally, and to challenge me when you see fit.

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