Dear White People at Mount Holyoke

When ambiguous but racially charged incidents at Mount Holyoke open a flood gate of pain within the student body of color, many white peers solidly reaffirm their commitment to “colorblindness.” In an understandable effort to carve the wall between their white skin and the label “racist,” my sister white students neglect the simple wisdom offered by poet Pat Parker in her poem called “For the white person who wants to know how to be my friend." To the white person looking to do right, to steer clear of “racial” situations, Parker cautions: "The first thing you do is forget that I'm Black. Second, you must never forget that I'm Black."

Perhaps for many white students this is a frustrating double bind, especially because we so often want to “see each other as equals” and forget race altogether. Many of us white students proudly say that “we don’t even notice the color of one’s skin”- that race, to us, does not matter.

However, whether we want it to or not, race does matter. It matters in many ways for many different people in this country. But right here, right now: it matters to our sisters of color here at Mount Holyoke whose academic experiences are frustrated and hindered by thoughtless comments outside of class, by being asked to speak on behalf of their culture in class, and by the pervasive assumption that Mount Holyoke College is somehow above our society’s problems. They are frustrated by the belief that Mount Holyoke is not a place where racism is an issue.

Even the most critical among us cannot presume to be outside of the culture that raised us. A culture where pantyhose and makeup of the color “nude” are akin to pale skin; where “good neighborhoods” often refers to homogenous, white areas; a culture where a white woman is never asked to categorize her hair as “good” or “bad” because of its texture; where white people are not followed suspiciously in stores; where white people are not called “exotic,”- a culture where economic control still lies primarily in white hands.

This is the same culture that houses our College and therefore, without our active rejection of those elements of our culture, we live and reproduce its ugliness even here at Mount Holyoke.

Of course people of all backgrounds are effected by prejudice, stereotypes and bias. But *racism* -that is, prejudice supported by a system of power and privilege- racism benefits white people in the United States. Race, then, does matters to us white people too.

Indeed, racism is white peoples’ problem. It is our problem not in that we are its targets, but because we are its beneficiaries. We are responsible to acknowledge this privilege, learn how it works, call it by its name, publicly reject it. It is our job to acknowledge white supremacy in our culture, it’s our turn to recognize where racism comes from: our own communities.


Are you, my sister white students, guilty? Are you a racist because you are white? That is not the question I pose. I am asking a different, more empowering question: Are you for our collective liberation from racism’s ugly hold? And is there any passive way to be an anti-racist white person?

No, passivity is complicity. One of the most active steps toward anti-racist living for a white person is to look critically within. Don’t allow guilt to confuse your desire for justice. As one scholar put it, “Guilt is intellectual laziness.” And it’s certainly true that to unlearn deeply ingrained racist thinking, to bring to light what is purposefully made invisible—is a serious but crucial challenge to the mind and heart. Working toward an anti-racist college community, white community members, let’s challenge and support one in our personal and collective journey toward an actively anti-racist white identity.”

Clare ’04
AWARE-LA
http://awarehome.blogspot.com/

Advice

I have been asked a lot, "why do you just talk in Debunking Whitenes." I personally don't think that Debunking Whiteness just talks but I never know how to respond. So I emailed a mentor of mine and asked for advice. This is what she told me.

* * *

Hi Julia,

I hear your frustration in that... situation where the student (s) saw Debunking Whiteness as "all talk." This is a perpetual critique of reflective spaces. Action is always very sexy... but it's not always strategic... or responsible. Especially for white folks-- if white people just jump in at every hot activist moment-- we actually might do more DAMAGE than good (especially) if we are unreflective and haven't worked on "our own shit" as white people.

Social movements have been greatly harmed by well-intentioned and activist white folks who wanted to jump in and do dramatic things, without seeing there socialization and building trusting communities over time. It could also be seen as characteristic of the dominant white culture to be very "results oriented"-- where there is a problem, white people must fix it.... which avoids sitting inside of tension, which is sometimes what is asked of us by people of color. The importance of the Debunking Whiteness space is to supplement (not replace) multiracial work over time.... it's a space for reflection -- in relationship with action... one with out the other could be questionable. But it's tricky- because in the case of Mount Holyoke College-- "collective action" doesn't always look like a campaign, a boycott or a walk out (although- when the organizing and momentum is right, it could and has...)

-- "multiracial collaboration" for white people at MHC also means being an ally in the classroom, at school-wide forums on race, in editorials of the school news paper, etc. None of this is to say that action is not essential. It's true that there a TONS of "activist" groups that talk and talk and struggle for the perfect analysis and never DO anything. My take is simply that the most effective kind of action is long term organizing of communities, to build power, so that when there is a TACTICAL opportunity to take action (like a demonstration or a walk out) then that tactic is actually *impactful* because there is a base of people backing it up.

* * *

-Julia 08