By Lantern Light
X sansmerci
Fun fact: Racism isn't individual acts of meanness. (though, of course, it's good that you haven't committed a crime against anyone! yikes)
Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack is a short essay with a checklist to help white people think about the way racism has affected society, particularly in terms of their experience.
The point is not to
feel guilty for being white. The point is to own that you are white, acknowledge what that means in society, and then, if you are into being a decent person, apply your new knowledge to that aspect of your personality. Which is more words, but much simpler than feeling martyred for having to learn about racism; it's just being yourself, but a little more aware of unspoken stuff.
smile
Agreed.
See I skimmed over the essay, and it seemed to make the same onesided assumption as occur pretty much everywhere. Racism is a white problem (topped by sexism is a male problem). Everyone should be taught not to allow color or heritage to tint their view of people.
Why in heaven should I have to acknowledge that I'm white? Isn't it a far better endeavor to acknowledge oneself as simply human with all the faults that entails, try to shrug off the tribal/clan instincts that come with our programming, and work to view everyone as equal under the eyes of god?
Skimming does tend to inhibit comprehension, so I won't judge you for coming to that conclusion.
Racism is not
just a white problem, but the vast majority of people do not recognize it as a white problem at all. Writings like that list exist to help clue people in, since an integral part of white privilege is the privilege to not notice it exists.
I can't speak as to what you should do in Heaven, but here, white is the default and that comes with benefits whether the individual wants them or not. If someone is opposed to racism and is also white, one of their first steps is going to be understanding and owning their whiteness. It's not comfortable to acknowledge one's white privilege— on the contrary, the more you already feel progressive, the more it's going to bring up some really ugly feelings when you have to face the fact that you're a participant in racist systems without any conscious choice— but it is part of "Being a White Anti-Racist Ally 101".
It is nice to think "oh, we're all human"- and we certainly are- but it's not a practical response to injustice. Racism is systematic, and you can't disassemble a system only by thinking like it's already happened.
You have to live in the world we have, where racism, classism, sexism, and ever other interconnected bit of the mess still exists, and navigate that. It's not as easy as saying you don't see color, we're all human and other platitudes like that, but it's what's effective. Because at the end of the day, platitudes are all they are, which doesn't help any fellow human in a material way, no matter how good it feels to say them. (And I'm not exempting myself here, it is very nice to imagine all the people living in harmony, and I've been as lazy as anyone, so I know facing the challenge of choosing to be actively good in the face of a world that's designed to be malignantly passive is daunting.)
Whether we're equal in the eyes of G d is for his kingdom; to be responsible stewards/the dominant species, we must use our intelligence as a tool for equality for each other in this life.