Reflecting on the White Supremacy Narrative (1/3)
In order to challenge my perspective and understanding of racism in America I chose to read some of the popular books on white race relations in America. I started with Me and White Supremacy, moved on to White Fragility, and chased them with several others of the same ilk, interspersed with a barrage of social science articles, news articles, documentaries, movies, and podcasts. In the same spirit of self-development, I want to share that the majority of content I consumed on this topic made me defensive and angry. Like any good therapist-in-training, this led me to question my feelings. I recognized that they were worth reviewing because they ran counter to the current zeitgeist of social justice, and because it is obviously important to educate people on the insidiousness of bias and racism. Furthermore, given the intensity with which the racial equality movement has resurfaced over the past decade, it seemed important that I to try my best to understand it deeply and immerse myself in the ideas that are most central to it.
My feelings on these topics confused me at first. Why was I feeling angry by this narrative of pervasive white supremacy and anti-diversity when diversity is something that I stand for? I quickly realized, however, that it was partially due to overreaching statements that are often made in such texts. At the core of this narrative is the belief that anything short of total agreement and compliance with the view that white people are inherently racist because of their skin-tone is a product of racism itself. Several books state plainly that if you disagree with their ideologies it is simply because you are a white supremacist and, by nature, a racist. This bothered me to my core because it seemed many of these books contain conflicting, illogical points of view that no rational person would agree with. So because I disagree with some of these points I am labeled a racist? Once again, in the spirit of self-development, I questioned my reactions. Maybe because I am someone who finds pride in working hard and making my own destiny, my resistance stems from the fact that admitting that I benefit from unearned privilege detracts from my accomplishments.
Zooming out, it is also clear that racism is deeply ingrained in portions of American society. However, I still struggle to accept the expanded definition of racism that has become popular in the last 5 or so years, that categorizes any system or treatment of individuals that does not result in a precise equal outcome for all participating races, as racist. I also question the exact extent of the privilege that comes with simply being white. Is it really the ace of spades it’s made out to be? A characteristic that yields ubiquitous and unearned access at every level of societal structure? Upon further reflection, I recognized several other factors that contributed to my resistance to the ideas espoused by these books.
Firstly, while my name is muslim, I am decidedly white-passing. Acquaintances are often confused why my name is so ethnic sounding, and others who have seen my resume or email address prior to us meeting are often surprised at how fair my complexion is. I never felt totally white, or totally middle-eastern, so perhaps this white privilege was something I was blind to as a result of my racial ambiguity. Secondly, I attended a diverse private school from K-12 and lived in Queens/Long Island, New York for my whole life - one of, if not the most diverse area in the world. As a result, my closest friends are (and have always been) an amalgamation of asian, black, white, middle-eastern and hispanic. Growing up this way, I was constantly exposed to different food, cultures, and points of view. Race was something that we discussed regularly growing up, and often irreverently joked about. However, it was never the basis for how we treated one another. When we would talk about race, the idea that we might hold each other's racial identity against one another was so foreign that it was ridiculous. The term racist to us, felt so overused and banal, that it lost its meaning completely. We began to jokingly use it to describe anything that was remotely intolerant or disagreeing in nature. Perhaps being raised in a richly diverse area made these concepts ambiguous and inapplicable to my lived experience.
Either way, after reading extensively about inequality over the past several years, I still fail regularly to identify ways in which my ethnicity and the ethnicities of those around me have benefited or restricted us from the successes we have had. I gladly challenge anyone in my life to convincingly identify a circumstance in which I used my “whiteness” to oppress another person. To add insult to injury, having been raised alongside wealthy families, I am acutely aware of the privileges afforded by economic status. In my experience, these benefits far outweigh any ideological racial privilege, to such an extent that it is misleading, and bordering on insulting, to lump them all into the same general category of unjust privilege. This is all to say that many ideas that are central to the white supremacy narrative run contrary to my lived experience, making them difficult for me to swallow.
Regardless of my personal feelings, it is clear to me that there is a conversation that absolutely needs to be had around race and equality in the United States. As the first true melting pot country, I see the U.S as a fascinating, first-of-its-kind social experiment. People of different races, colors, and cultures, all living side by side and ostensibly working towards common national interests. Friction inevitably arises, however, when it comes to the question of values. With so many cultures all harboring a unique set of values, how do we, as a country, come to agree on which ones we should prioritize? The most intuitive and obvious values I think of when trying to answer this question are: diversity, inclusion, and tolerance. My hope for those who submit to these dogmatic texts, is that they remember that when seeking diversity, to focus on diversity of opinion, when seeking inclusion, do not purchase it at the expense of exclusion, and when preaching tolerance, do not nest it in the broader context of intolerance.
