So I've been doing a lot of thinking about solidarity and representation of minority voices, and where I fit in the conversations of people of color, identifying as one myself but possessing no outward physical qualities that would allow people to "other" me. My activism project is the implementation of the Diversity Leadership Cabinet seats that well seek to create equitable representation for students from different identities- one seat to voice any sexual orientation/ gender identity concerns, one multicultural concerns seat, one interfaith , and one socioeconomic concerns seat, all under the "DLC" umbrella. After being asked countless times to represent all diversity and social justice issues (hah, I'm sorry, WHAT?!), I've had to grapple with the concept of being an ally- when to shut up and when to speak up..
These two articles have helped reconcile some of the raging feelings I've had this whole semester regarding allyhood and what that really means in the context of my life and my skin color..
From blackgirldangerous (thanks Claudia!):
http://www.blackgirldangerous.org/2013/09/30/no-more-allies/
And a really cool letter from the University of Michigan:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/181641070/An-Open-Letter-to-non-Black-POCs-pdf
I'm curious, cause I don't think I've ever asked.. How comfortable are ya'll with talking about race and race relations in the US?
Talking about race and race relations in the US greatly exhausts me in most situations. Even talking about it with other black people or non black people of color is exhausting. Especially when (like the second article posted points out) both of these groups who I would expect not to do this, contribute to "anti-blackness".
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting these Amelia- for the record, this class, and your contributions to this class, have made me so much more aware of how I am interacting with persons of color when discussing these issues. While I hope that I haven't been one of the people falling into any of the items McKenzie describes, I am now much more aware of how dominant groups take over these issues- and the associated pitfalls that I should avoid.
ReplyDeleteI feel like conversations about race/ethnicity need to be "checked" frequently, as there are so many missteps that people, esp. dominant groups can fall into. On the one hand, you don't want to keep totally silent on these issues, as it is hard to accomplish change if people aren't engaging. On the other hand, dom. groups, as McKenzie points out, often need to just shut the fuck up and listen. Without reflection on how we are interacting with these issues, it is all to easy to fall into one of these two sides...