No, My Critique Of White Liberalism Is Not Dividing The Movement

[sheshe2]

I try to avoid comparing contemporary racism to slavery in order to make a point, but American slavery is literally the only thing white people seem to agree is racist aside from B.E.T. And even slavery gets romanticized and downplayed with startling frequency. Recently, NPR and the Washington Post published horrendous headlines describing Thomas Jefferson as being in a “40-year relationship” with his slave, Sally Hemings. Leslie Mac, founder of the Ferguson National Response Network, rightfully countered that “This ‘relationship’ […] consisted of repeated rapes during which Sally Hemings birthed MORE PROPERTY for Jefferson.”

If progressive media outlets are recalling chattel slavery with the fondness of a 90s rom-com, it’s no wonder white society often fails to grasp the grim realities of modern racism. It doesn’t matter that mass incarceration today is essentially slavery on steroids. It doesn’t matter that contemporary schools are more segregated than they were in the late 1960s. And it doesn’t matter that American police and the KKK endorsed the same presidential candidate. To the average white person, the end of slavery was the end of “real” racism, and Black folks today are enjoying a much healthier substitute — I Can’t Believe It’s Not Slavery!™ Which explains why white progressives tend to interpret scathing critiques of modern liberalism as unnecessary and divisive. Liberals, after all, are the “good guys.” Except they’re not.

Last month I published an article about my incredulous feelings towards white women. To the surprise of absolutely no one, lots of folks hated it and labeled me a racist. Bigoted white men descended upon me to point fingers, while proclaiming vindication for the “election” of their new orange king. Indignant white women bombarded me through every avenue of social media to declare, “Not me!” — while simultaneously proving my point. And Black men used the opportunity to shit on Black women and console all the sad Beckies in the comments. I was called a whore, a bitch, and a cannibal — all of which are true. But the most prevalent comments came from white liberals, who were disgusted by the “divisiveness” of a Black woman. They seemed outraged by my failure to quietly embrace their neo-liberal politics and pseudo-progressivism for the sake of unity. But beneath the surface of their outrage, they also seemed frightened.

snip//


As was recently noted by attorney and activist, Marbre Stahly-Butts, “Unity is not the objective; freedom is.” If progressives want to quell divisiveness within the ranks, they need to start examining themselves, not their detractors. Radicals are NOT slowing liberals down. It’s the other way around. Sometimes the enemy of my enemy is still my enemy. Liberals need to stop looking at themselves as inherently good, and begin reflecting on the ways they’re inherently oppressive.


First and foremost, stop measuring your morality in comparison with the far right. You don’t get kudos for being more open minded than neo-nazis and white nationalists. In fact, many marginalized groups are more frustrated with white progressives than they are with bigoted conservatives. And this is nothing new.

Read More:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/your-calls-for-unity-are-divisive-as-fck_us_58c19b3fe4b070e55af9ec79?be6jol8ps7gsc3di&

Just to be clear, the article was written by a black woman...

DiDi Delgado, Contributor
Poet, Activist, Womyn in search of her own truths.

I am a white woman posting this in the African American Group. No, I am not pretending to be black and yes I have been accused of that and no it was not from a member of this group. What I am is an ally and I think DiDi's words need to be read. Minority groups are the strongest of our Democratic base. They are the people that we need to bring in ten fold. They must be our focus. They ARE the Democratic base. Please read what she has to say. We need to listen.

[guillaumeb]

1. Recommended.

In particular, because it speaks so well of slavery:

Recently, NPR and the Washington Post published horrendous headlines describing Thomas Jefferson as being in a “40-year relationship” with his slave, Sally Hemings. Leslie Mac, founder of the Ferguson National Response Network, rightfully countered that “This ‘relationship’ consisted of repeated rapes during which Sally Hemings birthed MORE PROPERTY for Jefferson

I do not have a relationship with my property. I own it.

[brer cat]

2. "Unity is not the objective; freedom is."

That right there is a huge point that many whites simply don't get. We saw it up close and, for many in this group, entirely too personally during the contentious primaries last year. And the critique was true for supporters of both candidates.

Thanks for posting this, sheshe.

[bettyellen]

5. This quote is perfect.

[BlueMTexpat]

3. I must also

admit to being a white woman. I LOVE this group and its posters. I also love the overwhelming support that the AA community gave to Hillary Clinton.

This from your OP:

If progressive media outlets are recalling chattel slavery with the fondness of a 90s rom-com, it’s no wonder white society often fails to grasp the grim realities of modern racism. It doesn’t matter that mass incarceration today is essentially slavery on steroids. It doesn’t matter that contemporary schools are more segregated than they were in the late 1960s. And it doesn’t matter that American police and the KKK endorsed the same presidential candidate. To the average white person, the end of slavery was the end of “real” racism, and Black folks today are enjoying a much healthier substitute — I Can’t Believe It’s Not Slavery!™ Which explains why white progressives tend to interpret scathing critiques of modern liberalism as unnecessary and divisive. Liberals, after all, are the “good guys.” Except they’re not.

I thank the administrators of this group for not excluding me!

[EffieBlack]

4. "You dont get kudos for being more open minded than neo-nazis and white nationalists."

K&R

[heaven05]

6. great post

I had not been to huff post in a while....

[sheshe2]

7. Thanks heaven.

I have found some very good articles there, including this one.

[forjusticethunders]

8. Racism, sin and white goodness

Slavery and racial oppressions, in fact, the concept of whiteness itself (which has nothing to do with biology or ancestry) are sins. Mortal sins that the very structures and society of America were founded on. And culpability in that SIN challenges the idea of white goodness that many white people internally subscribe to; rather than facing up to the fact of that culpability and the implications for one's moral state, a lot of white people would rather deny, deny, deny, even while their fellow human beings suffer so that they may maintain the illusion of goodness. Because it's much easier to pretend to be "woke", to pretend to care, to say the right things, then to actually live up to one's lofty ideals, or even simply to stop participating.

Just like there were not enough truly "Good Germans" during the Holocaust, there are not enough truly "Good Americans" within the charnelhouse of oppression that undergirds our society. Yes, it's better if you don't overly sign on to the bigotry. But if your response to a realistic assessment of the situation is "#notallwhitepeople" or "Trump voters aren't racist" or "I'm not racist, why are you singling me out?" then you're part of the problem.

And what makes the situation more infuriating is that, just as Germans suffered because of their racist, hateful leadership, so do Americans. Germany arguably got off lucky; there were many people who wished to carry out a counter-genocide against Germany. While there's no country that can defeat the US Military in a straight battlefield confrontation, the psychosis induced by racism and hatred exponentially increase the risk for nuclear war, catastrophic climate change, or another form of destruction that will eviscerate the American state just as surely. This is the product of white America refusing to acknowledge its sins. a

White people who subscribe to the system of white supremacy are sinners in the hands of a fucking pissed God, and the wages of sin are death, and the soul that sins must die. Even if you are not a believer, that doesn't change the fundamental nature of the narrative. People *will* burn for a sin of the magnitude of the oppression of black (and many other types of) bodies, whether it's in a hellish afterlife, in nuclear fire on earth, or in a burning atmosphere due to climate change.

The only way out is repentance - to face up to the oppressive reality of whiteness, and work in whatever way against it. Happily, it doesn't require every white person to take a bullet for a racist cop or spend every weekend marching - but it does ask that they examine their own place in the system, how they uphold "Whiteness" and reject it. Whether that's as simple as looking to one's true history and ethnicity (White is fake, but English, French, German, Greek, Italian are "real" and organic, granted those identities shouldn't be fetishized as they are also the natural product of mixing and evolution throughout the centuries). But the key is not to pretend one is "good" simply because they're not overtly racist.

[Eliot Rosewater]

9. Modern day GOP has a large faction which wants to enslave humans again,

preferably black ones.

The progressive movement, especially in the past year, seems to believe racial issues are secondary to economic issues. Spoken by folks who have no experience with being on the receiving end of racism.

Racism is a white problem, period. Whether you are a republican, tparty, democrat or progressive, if you are white racism is your/our problem to fix.

[sheshe2]

11. I agree with you Eliot.

Racism is a white problem and ours to fix.

[heaven05]

10. contemporary white racism

is to me, just slavery by another name and manner. Slavery subjugated an entire race in america for generations with one big fact, whites used alleged racial superiority, religiously affirmed by the organized religions of the day, as their guideline in excusing slavery. Southern Baptist still use religiously affirmed white superiority as a guideline for judging people.

Today, many generations later, white superiority is being used as a guideline for killing unarmed men, women and children by making AA the fall guys for the crime rate in this country when in reality, per demographic numbers, white people commit just as much crime. Hell, that excuse in many guises has shown up here countless times. It is first pointed out during a shooting of an UNARMED AA, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, the alleged 'suicide' of Sandra Bland et al. that they were committing a crime, just committed a crime or it was felt, that they were going to commit a crime or the "I felt in immediate danger" meme.

Feelings of wanting to be the superior race again, after their terror at an AA being POTUS for 8 years, drove the white racist machine in this country to elect a known white racist into the leadership position of the 'free world'. Period. To hell with all that job BS, want a change BS. Racism installed Trump, bannon and miller, with 'advisors kushy and kellyconjob, as the terrible triumvirate steering this ship of state into as yet an unseen iceberg. But it will come on the radar screens soon.

More thinking, compassionate, realistic allies like you would go a long way to ending racism in america.

[sheshe2]

12. I would hope to see progress in my lifetime,

though I have my doubts how much that will be. Racism is a product of white people, we own it. We are the ones that need to change, as a start, we need to listen. I don't see DiDi's critique of white liberalism as divisive, she is just pointing out facts, facts that some people are uncomfortable hearing.

I like reading your posts, heaven....and thank you.