“White folks in 2020: How can we be better allies and help combat systemic racism? Teach us!
White folks in 2021: Stop talking about racism. Your “wokeness” is alienating everybody and causing us to lose elections.
Chile, I can’t keep up.”
Whew, chile, tea .
Last year, when white folx across the United States suddenly started “caring” about Black lives after witnessing a Black man’s police-initiated murder go viral, I couldn’t keep my thoughts to myself. I stated loudly on every platform I could that I wondered how long their enthusiasm would last before “liberal” white folx got exhausted with having to be present and grappling with the expectations of “allyship” and calling their fellow white folx in and out. I watched as so many white people swore they were engaged for the long haul that they would prove me wrong and stand with me and mine.
Fast forward a few months, and the enthusiasm became a light roar. Jump to now, and I haven’t heard or seen anything from any of these “good” white people for over a year. None of those folx have continued dismantling their white supremacy because the deeper self-work doesn’t make for dope Tik-Toks or IG posts. There were no cookies and gold stars for faux anti-racist mediocrity, so the bulk of the “good” white folx slowly returned to cat pics and hollow affirmations.
By the fall of 2020, most of them had moved on. Gone were the Black Lives Matter posts and the quoting of Black leaders and activists. I mean, they were distracted! It was pumpkin spice season! They also didn’t want to discuss the fact that white people, especially white women, overwhelmingly voted against Black lives in local elections across the country and the presidential election. Of course, white folx went back to trying to shift the responsibility and blame to Black folx, forgetting all about our lives mattering.
Over the past few months:
Black folx are back to being described as the scourge of the nation.
Black folx are being called divisive and evil for talking about the “dangers” of CRT.
Black folx are being constantly told that our asks for accountability and real work are “alienating allies.”
On top of all of that, like clockwork, we’re back to being criticized for somehow not bailing white politicians out in elections where once again white people, especially white women, overwhelmingly voted for hateful white people.
Guess Black lives only matter to whiteness when they are in servitude to them and keeping them comfortable in their good/bad binary paradox while supporting white supremacist ideology.
Sorry - not trying to “alienate everybody.”
