It seems as though we are entering into a new era of the civil rights movement and the onus is on white people to put their heads into the game.
There are many other writers who are versed in social justice generally and Ferguson specifically that can address the details of what’s going on globally. As for me, I just want to focus on what I’m observing in my own social media sphere.
I see people of color who are hurting. I am hurting. We’ve had enough. We are tired of being the only people speaking out when another black person gets killed at the hands of the police, or at the hands of cowards who think they are the police.
We’re tired of being the go-to people when good white folks need to get their thoughts organized. But thankfully, good white folks are finally getting it! This time, things have been different for me. I haven’t been sent a lot of personal messages on what white people should do, or say, or how they should act, or where they should volunteer or donate.
Now I see my white friends (my real white friends, not the ones I happen to be connected to) actually engaging their own circles. They are speaking out first on these injustices. They are being intentional in their outreach to each other. They are acknowledging their whiteness and the privilege it entails.
In fact, #WhitePrivilegeWednesday arose as a means of white folks talking to each other about their privilege. It’s a day I get to be silent (if I choose) and let white people talk it out themselves. I can only do so much as a magical negro patient black man person, but white folks can actually listen to each other, challenge each other, and somehow come to an understanding on the complex issues we’re facing.
I am proud of Good White Folks. They are also fighting against the fallacy of “black on black violence” and other distracting debates.
And you know what?
It’s all because they learned how to Google the same shit I Googled when I needed to learn more about these things myself. They follow the same blogs I do, read the same books I have, and otherwise educated themselves. They don’t rely solely on my worldview. However, they do give me the space to be pissed, to cuss, and to say “Fuck white people” without them chiming in with “Not all white people.”
There is still a lot of work to be done, though. Good White Folks still have to educate the white folks who call us “animals” and “savages” when we riot and loot. They have to educate the white folks who believe in the myth of the bootstraps. They have so much work to do, but they can do it.
But I’ll tell you one thing…it took me years to get to the point where I am only connected to white people who are committed to dismantling white supremacy.
And…
Trust…
I know a-plenty of black folks who rely on white supremacy to build their own personal wealth. I mean, I did go to Georgetown. As my mom told me at a young age, when the revolution comes, some black folks are gonna have to go, too.