3 Inclinations of White people and their antidotes

There are many things to say about yesterday’s attack on the capitol. I am not claiming these are the most important but these are three three inclinations I recognize in white people (including me) in response to yesterday’s events. 

Inclination #1: Locating the problem outside of ourselves

This becomes another opportunity to locate the problem outside of ourselves and onto other people. There were many people  posting on social media citing these attacks as evidence of white privilege. Clearly the disparate response to Black Lives Matter protests compared to white people gleefully walking through the capitol building is an extreme example of white privilege. The problem with using this as the example of white privilege/systemic racism is that too many of us will use this as a new version of the KKK that we get to point to as the problem and go about living our lives the same way we did before - likely proud of ourselves that we are the good guys and they are the problem. White supremacy is far more insidious than that. White supremacy is far more ubiquitous than an attack on the capitol. We, white people, must inspect our own lives continually and honestly and continue to discover our continued complicity. 

“Interrupting the forces of racism is ongoing, lifelong work because the forces conditioning us into racist frameworks are always at play; our learning will never be finished. Yet our simplistic definition of racism -as intentional acts of racial discrimination committed by immoral individuals- engenders a confidence that we are not a part of the problem and that our learning is thus complete”- Robin Diangelo

“Whiteness is like a virus- it mutates. Different strand. Still dangerous.” - Sandra Van Opstal

Antidote to this inclination: Look in the mirror first and continually. 

Matthew 7:3-5  “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?  You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

Inclination  #2: Oversimplified definition of America (or any group)

Yes this is who we are, America. 

No this is not fully who we are. 

This happened in America, by Americans, in part driven by an American President that was elected by Americans and received 74 million votes for a second term. It is simply not accurate to say, “this is not who we are.” As Steven Covey says, “We judge ourselves by our intentions and others by their behavior.” This is our American behavior and we must admit that we have judged other countries by their behavior and not their intentions. So yes this is who we are. 

But it is not fully who we are. 

Bryan Stevenson says, “Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.” (I am not claiming that yesterday’s attack on the capitol building is the worst thing our country has ever done, unfortunately our history is far worse than that). Bryan is saying this about individuals but it is true for countries and organizations too. 

Saying, “this is not who we are” is a slap in the face to those who have experienced this to be exactly who we are. 

Saying, “this is who we are” gives an excuse for some to dismiss anything you have to say. 

Antidote to this inclination: Embrace nuance. 

Two things can be true at once. 

This is undeniably who we are, but not fully who we are. 

Inclination #3: Trusting our own lived experience rather than the lived experience of the oppressed

People of Color have been telling us white people. We haven’t been listening. 

People of color were not shocked when Donald Trump was elected. 

People of color were not surprised when Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor or  George Floyed were killed. 

People of color were not surprised when brown kids were put in cages at the border. 

People of color were not surprised that white people were able to storm the capitol with little resistance. 

They have lived it. They have been telling us in every conceivable way. We have dismissed or minimized. 

“If you are surprised you have not been paying attention. 

If you are saying, ‘This is not who we are! This is not America!’ you have been deluded.

Follow the POC. We have been living in this world you are just now discovering.

We know its ways. 

For best results follow the POC who are also women.”

-Deidra Riggs

Antidote: Listen to and be led by those who have been oppressed.