The summer is absolutely flying by, like the rest of the year has. Since March, I’ve found myself in a lot of different places I never expected to be. I definitely never thought I’d be living through a pandemic, or potentially the biggest civil rights movement America has ever seen. Yet, here we are.
For a social work class, I had to write a paper analyzing my place and experiences in a dominant and subordinate group. As part of that assignment, I chose to write about my white privilege. It was about how it has affected me, and what I wanted to change after examining the role it plays in my life.
As a result of that paper, I was forced to reexamine many things I’d never once stopped to consider. Suffice to say, I’m extremely grateful this paper was assigned, because it brought up many uncomfortable feelings.
I bring this up now because of everything going on in the world, and not to discuss my feelings about it. I bring it up now because I should have brought it up sooner. I’ve seen some protesters holding signs with some variation of, “I’m sorry I’m late – I had a lot to learn.” That’s all I can say, and that I will continue to do better as I grow and learn.
To that end, I wanted to share some resources for white people who find themselves in this same situation. Racism has been systematically built into almost all levels of organizations that have impacts on our lives – healthcare, justice and police, school, banking, etc. – and it requires allies on the privileged side of the spectrum to actively participate in the dismantling.
Below, I’ve listed a few different resources to learn about allyship and how to be an effective one. But first, I’m going to give you a piece of advice given to my white classmates and I last semester,
“Dont expect BIPOC to educate you on these issues, and be open to correction.” Easier said than done, and can sometimes require a thick skin, but advice I try to keep in my heart. It is not up to others to educate me on the system I’ve benefited from my entire life.
The article White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack is one I referenced frequently for my paper. It details so many unseen ways white privilege has infiltrated almost every aspect of society, and was a real eye opener for me. It’s a really great place to start if you’re new to this subject.
Dismantle Collective has a ton of great resources. The link Resources for White Allies has links to all sorts of reading and viewing material.
This document from PowerShift.org is great. It’s challenging me to change in ways I didn’t think of before doing research for this post. It breaks down ideas on every level to help, from parenting, to income, and more. This has links for workshops and other ways to educate yourself, as well.
I’ve shared on Instagram that I’ve been making a point to only patronize Black-owned restaurants recently. I speak on that because it can be one way a white person with limited energy can assist this process. It’s just not realistic that I can go protest like I wish I could.
What I can choose is where I spend my money. This is a list of Indianapolis area restaurants that I used to find new vegan options, but they also have food options for all diets listed. Doing a quick Google search of your area should give you similar options.
Being an ally is an ongoing learning process, not a title to be achieved. I like instant gratification as much as the next person. This, however, is not something you can get a certificate in and say, “well, I’m glad that’s over.” As uncomfortable as this learning process can be, it is a necessary one.
I hope to grow more in my social work education this year, and will continue to edit this post as needed to reflect that growth. I can only do better when I know better. Hopefully, any white person who finds themselves on this post finds something useful for your journey, too.
If you do’t think this information belongs on a blog dedicated to autoimmune disease wellness, I have some advice. Take some time to educate yourself on the disparity in health outcomes by race.
This time requires us to think deeply on what we want to be remembered for; let’s make sure we’re on the right side of history.
As always, you can catch me on Instagram or Pinterest until I drop my next post. It’ll be an update on a previous post about all my different autoimmune diagnosis – oh yay! 🙂
Until then,
