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.

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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.

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-Julia 08