If you're white and part of the trans community and think that this doesn't apply to you?
Think. Fucking. Again.
We have a *lot* of work to do.
And for those of you who aren't doing the work on your white supremacy, here's a brief list of the core tenets that support it:
1. Perfectionism: by devaluing work and holding people to an impossible standard, white supremacist structures devalue human life and labor. People's mistakes are seen as reflections of their character, rather than simple hallmarks of learning and growing. This is particularly seen in talking about the inadequacies of a person/their work without talking to them.
2. A sense of constant urgency. A constant state of overwork and a lack of space to reflect, discuss, breathe, and connect dehumanizes people and devalues labor. Allies and champions are thrown away for quick, high-visibility results. A sense of history and context is devalued or excised entirely.
3. Defensiveness. Power structures are built to protect people in positions of power, and much energy is expended to protect the system of power itself. Discussion, dissent, and conflict are made--
--impossible, or are harshly punished. Keeping the peace is prized above all else.
4. Quantity over Quality. Metrics are everything. Measurability is everything. Processes, support structures, and emotion are devalued or excised entirely.
5. Worship of the Written Word. Only one way of doing things is permitted, and a thing being written down is the only way a thing's value is recognized. Anyone who fails to follow the process is inherently suspect.
(As a side note: #5 is one of the HUUUUGE reasons why I have deeeeeeeply conflicted feelings about how people often look up to me for my writing in SGW. I write because that's the form of art I know, and am trained in, and I do not think it's appropriate or healthy for people to admire me the way that many have expressed that they do.
Art is art. It exists separate from the artist.)
6. Paternalism. Decisions are made by those with power and influence, and others are expected to abide by those decisions. Decision-making processes are deliberately opaque. Strong in/out-group statuses are established, and adherence to them is tightly linked to perfectionism. The good is made the enemy of the impossible ideal.
7. Power is hoarded. The ability to direct action and/or change is monopolized as much as possible. Shared governance is on suffrage. Punishments are harsh by design.
8. Monopolizing individualism. Work as part of a team is devalued. People are isolated, and teamwork is devalued.Accountability is vertical, not horizontal--nobody needs to answer to those who they're working or fighting with, only to those in positions of power above them.
9 Progress = Bigger. Tied to quantity/quality, the only way for a thing to succeed is if it grows endlessly. A thing can never accomplish its task and simply be done--there must always be a Next.
10. Objectivity. The belief that emotions can be severed from humanity, and are irrational and destructive. Showing emotion is instantly invalidating.
11. The right to comfort. Those in positions of power have a right to emotional and psychological comfort. Anyone who ever causes discomfort to a member of a privileged class must be immediately attacked. Conflict must be avoided at all cost *except when suppressing any whisper of discomfort caused to people who believe they deserve comfort*.
This summary adapted from the Minnesota Historical Society's White Supremacy Culture workbook, itself adapted from Dismantling Racism, by Jones and Okun.
https://www.thc.texas.gov/public/upload/preserve/museums/files/White_Supremacy_Culture.pdf
And as a disclaimer: I fight to dismantle the systems of white supremacy within myself, and have consciously made it a personal mission of mine to do so since the 2020 BLM protests opened my eyes to exactly how fucking horrendous things really are. It's *fucking hard*, because they're absolutely everywhere.
I'm far, far, far from perfect. I make mistakes. I work to grow. I make more mistakes.
If you're white, fighting the racism inside you is going to be the fight of your whole entire--
--life. if you *ever* think you're done, you're not--it's just Right to Comfort. It's why I don't say I'm antiracist (I do antiracist work as much as I can) or not racist. I don't think a white person who grows up in American *can* be not racist.
But I fight it, the same way a recovering alcoholic fights their urge to drink.
I'm a recovering racist. And I hope to meet many other recovering racists in my life.
@Impossible_PhD "I am a recovering racist."
Thanks! That's a really good way of phrasing it. That's the way I feel as well.
@Impossible_PhD I tend to think of a lot of ethical things with myself in terms of "I try to be..."
I try to be kind, I try to be fair. I try not to be racist. The work of trying is never done.
@Dani If you want a *really* hot take, here's one:
The internet rage machine--where someone is viciously attacked by their allies on the left for relatively minor missteps--is white supremacy coopting reform movements and/or people who want to be on the left not working through their own internalized white supremacy.
This is not a complaint about "cancel culture," for clarity, which is in reality a movement for accountability when someone consistently does egregious shit. This is that--
@Dani --curious thing the left does when someone is purged for impurity, for not living up to an impossible, perfect standard, rather than being talked to with kindness and the drive toward restorative justice.
A great example is recent outrage against VizziePop, creator of Hazbin Hotel, when her *contracted production company* didn't pay animators above the industry standard. How could she possibly have control over that?!
@Impossible_PhD I love that hot take. I'm in various leftist spaces - their version of course is "there's no ethical consumption under capitalism" which, done sanely, isn't an exhortation to not try but an allowance that perfection isn't possible.
@Impossible_PhD oh, yes. I haven't seen that play out *ever*. :eyeroll: I really wish that "restorative justice" was more well understood, and in particular a bit more emphasis was placed on the "restorative" part of that, without which I feel like the "justice" part is always compromised.
@Impossible_PhD @Dani I’ve never seen it but I saw a link to https://twitter.com/KenDrawsArt/status/1655738065040850945 from an art discord I’m in. Is this the same person / issue or a different one?
@Impossible_PhD yeah, it's hard and frustrating when you realize how much of the racism is just built in.
@Impossible_PhD Seems like those apply to many other structures of power as well, when there is a privileged class, and one or more less privileged classes.
I think that consistently reforming our thinking is a good way to think of it. It’s how I try to approach all the toxic things rolling around in my head. Recognize when it shows up, change it as needed, and move forward better. And as long as I’m actually trying to change, be kind to myself when I notice these things.
@Impossible_PhD
Hi. I'm OlDude82, and I am a racist. Like you, I have fought very hard to both understand the problem and to act in ways that are not hurtful to persons of races other than mine. I strive to atone for the injury I may have caused, knowingly or unknowingly, in the past. I am a recovering racist just as I have been a recovering alcoholic since 2001. Thank you for sharing your experience and expertise!
EDIT: Deleted repeated sentence
@OlDude82 I appreciate the compliment, but I am by no means an expert on white supremacy--just a white girl trying to do better.
There are so many Black voices which should be listened to long, long before mine.
@Impossible_PhD
Oh, agreed that black people are intimate with white supremacy & white privilege. With that said, white supremacy and privilege are a WHITE problem and unless/until there is a wide discussion and acceptance for the blame from the white population, there can be no solution to the problem. Persons like you, speaking out after having informed themselves of the issue/problem are what is needed to get that discourse underway. In my experience few pay attention to us old fogies
@Impossible_PhD That was me with police pre 2020. I knew there were issues but I was one of those dummy well maybe not all. Nah, nope, definitely not joining the police. Never, I'm not perfect but I'm not a bootlicker.
@Impossible_PhD Number 9 physically manifests in the capitalist corporate system - quarterly growth is the only metric that matters, no matter how limited the physical resources or size of the market.
@RadagastWiz You'd think that... but look at organizations like the HRC, which has a history of rithlessly throwing trans people under the bus for its own short-term gains then, once their immediate ends are realized, suddenly "championing" us.
It's everywhere.
@Impossible_PhD Oh, I wasn't limiting myself to that example, just pointing out the most flagrant one I could think of. It most certainly is literally everywhere.
@Impossible_PhD I have counter-notes on #5, but I don't want to steal any of your thunder -- what you're saying overall is true and important.
@woozle offer them! Conflict avoidance is itself part of white supremacy. I am by no means an authority on white supremacy--just a white girl who's been trying to be better.
@Impossible_PhD This is going to be one of those lists about how being targeted by the Patriarchy is just like growing up in an abusive home, isn't it?