Asking Black People to do Our Work for us
So, you’ve just learned something about a new-to-you concept in the world of antiracism and you want to learn even more, and right now! There’s no time to lose! You want the person you’re talking to to know how much you’re committed to learning all there is, and quickly, so they’ll know you’re one of the good ones. Who better to teach you than the person who just alerted you to this thing in the first place? Or, you just got into an argument with somebody because you were centering your feelings and are now demanding more information so you can be the judge of whether it’s legit. You’ve been in these situations before, and for some reason, it never ended well. Always a fight, always ended up hurting your feelings, and you probably blocked the person by the end of it.
Demanding an education or answers, especially for things that you could find easily through google or youtube, is a bad look. It centers ourselves, still, and expects somebody already living the effects of racism, to set their feelings and needs aside to tend to ours. Especially if you have just been arguing with somebody, why would you think they’d be open to now teaching you about it? Nobody owes us an education or their time, energy, or knowledge. Especially if you haven’t even taken the time to look into this yourself, first.
I will also advise you what I advise other white people: Have white accountability partners, people you can turn to when you have finished researching and still have questions. white antiracists do owe you our time, energy, and emotional bandwidth to handle your questions and demands. We are doing our own listening and learning and are here to help you.
white people invented and benefit from white supremacy. We do not need to demand that Black people teach us about it, too.
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