This week has been filled with raw emotion and passionate dialog around the topic of race in America.
No, I am not talking about the terrorist attack in Charleston, South Carolina, where a White man ambushed and killed nine Black parishioners while in Bible study at the historic Emanuel AME Church – although I will get to that later.
I’m talking about Rachel Dolezal.
In particular, I am talking about spending an entire week caught up in debates and discussions with mostly White people about how they think it is possible for Dolezal to be Black.
There is something about that woman that has awakened the curiosity in White America. In particular, liberal White people who all of a sudden believe that Rachel Imitation of Black Life Dolezal has added something new and of value to how we see and feel about race. I have spent the majority of my time on social media up to my eyeballs in comments and responding to questions from alleged White allies who I forgot were even in my social media network. A few of these conversations about race have been hostile, but, for the most part, most of these discussions have been cordial and respectful. Still, the grand majority of opinions have been contrarian to my own. They also have been contrary to the assertion of many Black people who say that the fake hair, self-tan and an affinity for chicken wings drizzled in hot sauce does not make you Black. I heard things from my so-called non-racist white friends like, “But you know that race is a social construct…,” and “Well, you know we are all from Africa anyway so…,” and my personal favorite, “What is Blackness anyway?”
I don’t want to rehash any of those debates here, so I’ll just keep it short and say that what Blackness isn’t is a cultural costume that one can put on whenever they so please. There are serious historical, political and economic implications attached to this identity, which those of us born Black have no say in picking and choosing. And although race is indeed a social construct, it is not Blackness that needs to be deconstructed, expanded and eliminated, but rather, whiteness. It is the primary construct that keeps all others from true self-determination.
I will admit that the grand majority of these debates have been a great exchange of ideas, as well as an excellent way to fine-tune my positions about critical race theory. But imagine my dismay when on Thursday morning, while the entire Black community mourned the deaths of the Emanuel nine through tears and angry Facebook and Twitter posts, the voices of my White liberal “We are all part of the human race” allies were nowhere to be found. The same folks who held me hostage on social media for days with debates about the alleged “complexities” of race in America suddenly had nothing to say. I am talking not a single status update, not a single comment expressing their anger at these senseless racialized murders, not even a single offer of condolences could be found. And out of all the public conversations around race that occurred this week, their silence – right now when it counts – is what I am most pissed about. White people who like to talk about the realities of race and racism often become deaf and dumb mutes whenever something happens, which shows just how real race is in this country.
But don’t take it from me, white people. Listen to what Tim Wise, your fellow socially constructed white person, said in his piece “Mimicry is Not Solidarity: Rachel Dolezal and the Creation of Antiracist White Identity” about your half-ass solidarity:
There is a lesson here for us, for we who are white and care deeply about racial equity, justice and liberation, and the lesson is this: authentic antiracist white identity is what we must cultivate. We cannot shed our skin, nor our privileges like an outdated overcoat. They are not accessories to be donned or not as one pleases, but rather, persistent reminders of the society that is not yet real, which is why we must work with people of color to overturn the system that bestows those privileges. But the key word here is with people of color, not as them. We must be willing to do the difficult work of finding a different way to live in this skin.
That difficult work means using your voices, and more importantly, your privilege, to confront your brethren about the realities of race and racism in America. It also means being vocal about the violence, both institutionalized and individual, committed against Black people even when the event is personally painful and shameful to your racial identity. What that difficult work does not entail is engaging in trivial debates with Black people over how we choose our self-determination, or using whatever window of opportunity presents itself to recuse yourself from the white guilt you are feeling.
So yeah, white people, I would appreciate it if you all would stop that.
