Frank Joyce and Elizabeth Woodson join LA Progressive to discuss white racialization, the cost of silence, and how a new vision beyond the pendulum of oppression could lead to lasting change
Great job! We white folks have plenty of work to do if we are ever to dismantle racism in this country. It is not the job of black folks to enlighten us.
I think much of white fragility is based on two things: (1) the fear that black people will abuse us the same way they've been abused by other white folks; and (2) the assumption that white responsibility translates to us being to blame for slavery, Jim Crow, lynching, and other things we never participated in, or that transpired before we were born. These are irrational assumptions that need to be successfully refuted and erased from the collective consciousness of white people.
No one should get a free pass. All of us are born innocent. But with white skin is inherited some responsibility. It is our responsibility to stand up to racism wherever and however we witness it, confronting it in any way that is appropriate to the situation. And when it’s warranted, as in the summer of 2020 during the George Floyd protests, to stand alongside blacks in solidarity with them, in their struggle against race-based tyranny.
Good job! I applaud it all. White people have plenty work of our own to dismantle racism. It is not the job of black folks to enlighten us.
But with all due respect, I cringe at any mention of "our democracy". That is a MYTH. We have no democracy in this country. The opinions and needs of the citizenry has zero impact on legislators, on either side of the duopoly. Our electoral system is a complete fraud. Wasn't it legally established that the DNC is a private corporation that doesn't even owe us fair elections?! Let's keep it real, folks.
Great job! We white folks have plenty of work to do if we are ever to dismantle racism in this country. It is not the job of black folks to enlighten us.
I think much of white fragility is based on two things: (1) the fear that black people will abuse us the same way they've been abused by other white folks; and (2) the assumption that white responsibility translates to us being to blame for slavery, Jim Crow, lynching, and other things we never participated in, or that transpired before we were born. These are irrational assumptions that need to be successfully refuted and erased from the collective consciousness of white people.
No one should get a free pass. All of us are born innocent. But with white skin is inherited some responsibility. It is our responsibility to stand up to racism wherever and however we witness it, confronting it in any way that is appropriate to the situation. And when it’s warranted, as in the summer of 2020 during the George Floyd protests, to stand alongside blacks in solidarity with them, in their struggle against race-based tyranny.
Good job! I applaud it all. White people have plenty work of our own to dismantle racism. It is not the job of black folks to enlighten us.
But with all due respect, I cringe at any mention of "our democracy". That is a MYTH. We have no democracy in this country. The opinions and needs of the citizenry has zero impact on legislators, on either side of the duopoly. Our electoral system is a complete fraud. Wasn't it legally established that the DNC is a private corporation that doesn't even owe us fair elections?! Let's keep it real, folks.