Read on Twitter
My thread for White Mexicans is doing well. Here's something similar in English.
White Latinx, follow these steps.
1) Admit that racism exists & that it benefits you.
2) Understand that you can't reject / renounce white privilege. You didn't ask for it, but you have it.
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White Latinx, follow these steps.
1) Admit that racism exists & that it benefits you.
2) Understand that you can't reject / renounce white privilege. You didn't ask for it, but you have it.
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3) Accept that Black, Brown & indigenous folks (both Latinx and non) suffer more poverty, abuse, and marginalization than White Latinx.
4) Realize it's not enough to *not be racist.* Take responsibility, become anti-racist, agitate against the system.
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4) Realize it's not enough to *not be racist.* Take responsibility, become anti-racist, agitate against the system.
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5) Use your privilege to protect people suffering from racism, to be their active ally.
6) Put other White Latinx folks in their place when they deny the existence of racism or act in racist ways, including fomenting the erasure of Afrolatinx & general colorism.
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6) Put other White Latinx folks in their place when they deny the existence of racism or act in racist ways, including fomenting the erasure of Afrolatinx & general colorism.
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7) After you've collected & corrected other White Latinx folks, work with them to dismantle the racist system that benefits us. This means one day our privilege will vanish. Good.
8) Whenever possible, shut your mouth, listen to Black & Brown folks, be their student.
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8) Whenever possible, shut your mouth, listen to Black & Brown folks, be their student.
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Never imagine that you are anyone's savior just because you use your privilege for the good of oppressed people.
You're not a savior. You're atoning. You're a penitent. Be content to do the right thing. Don't look for praise for doing what is your responsibility.
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You're not a savior. You're atoning. You're a penitent. Be content to do the right thing. Don't look for praise for doing what is your responsibility.
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"It sucks that I'm Latinx & yet darker-skinned folks in my community are not welcoming of me."
Yes, that sucks. But not as much as having the entire hegemonic weight of White privilege oppress you every day of your life.
Nothing is perfect. There's a price to our privilege.
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Yes, that sucks. But not as much as having the entire hegemonic weight of White privilege oppress you every day of your life.
Nothing is perfect. There's a price to our privilege.
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"But isn't it racist if they treat me differently for being White?"
No. That's not how racism works. Black & Brown folks may discriminate against you, but without the power of privilege & the backing of White hegemony, they can't oppress you the way White folks oppress them.
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No. That's not how racism works. Black & Brown folks may discriminate against you, but without the power of privilege & the backing of White hegemony, they can't oppress you the way White folks oppress them.
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Only an asshole can't understand that racial discrimination supported by White privilege and a national system that encourages and protects that privilege
IS VERY DIFFERENT
than the racial discrimination of people oppressed by that system against their own oppressors.
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IS VERY DIFFERENT
than the racial discrimination of people oppressed by that system against their own oppressors.
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AND YES, OBVIOUSLY: biologically there is only one human race.
But people (especially White folks) act as if different races exist, and their beliefs and behavior HARM THOSE THEY PERCEIVE AS BELONGING TO OTHER RACES.
Don't start with your "but there's only one race" BS.
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But people (especially White folks) act as if different races exist, and their beliefs and behavior HARM THOSE THEY PERCEIVE AS BELONGING TO OTHER RACES.
Don't start with your "but there's only one race" BS.
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Now, the crucial distinction between White Latinx folks & White folks is that YES, we belong to a community of color.
We have privilege (especially if we present White), but suffer some degree of collective racism as part of the larger group of Latinx residents of the US.
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We have privilege (especially if we present White), but suffer some degree of collective racism as part of the larger group of Latinx residents of the US.
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AT THE SAME TIME, lots of us jump on the White bandwagon, turning our backs on our community. Why? Because we've bought into the colorism that centuries of Latin American history has drilled into our families. Maybe people in our family praised light-complexioned kids.
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Maybe they teased the dark-complexioned kids or outright called them ugly.
Maybe we had that legendary "grandmother from Spain" with "blue eyes and blond hair."
At some point, some of us believed the lie of White supremacy. And we hurt our fellow community members.
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Maybe we had that legendary "grandmother from Spain" with "blue eyes and blond hair."
At some point, some of us believed the lie of White supremacy. And we hurt our fellow community members.
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"But wait, David! Even Black, Brown & Indigenous folks discriminate against each other & within their groups."
Internalized racism. Paulo Freire explained that sub-oppressors emerge, imitating the pattern of the only non-oppressed beings they know: their own oppressors.
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Internalized racism. Paulo Freire explained that sub-oppressors emerge, imitating the pattern of the only non-oppressed beings they know: their own oppressors.
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And you know who the BIGGEST SUB-OPPRESSORS ARE?
One guess.
That's right. WE ARE. White Latinx folks. And because of our skin color and largely European features, we identify EVEN MORE with the oppressor. We yearn for unadulterated White privilege. No added Latinidad.
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One guess.
That's right. WE ARE. White Latinx folks. And because of our skin color and largely European features, we identify EVEN MORE with the oppressor. We yearn for unadulterated White privilege. No added Latinidad.
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But by all that is good in this world ...
DON'T.
Don't be a sub-oppressor. Stand with Black & Brown Latinx folks. Stand with Native people. Fight against this legal system that has a different set of rules for non-White residents.
Use your privilege as a shield.
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DON'T.
Don't be a sub-oppressor. Stand with Black & Brown Latinx folks. Stand with Native people. Fight against this legal system that has a different set of rules for non-White residents.
Use your privilege as a shield.
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That goes for all mi gente latina, not just the White ones.
This is the moment to take a stand. To change who we are so we can help change the world.
This may be your only chance. #BlackLivesMatter
. And some of those Black lives are Latinx lives.
Fight for them all.
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This is the moment to take a stand. To change who we are so we can help change the world.
This may be your only chance. #BlackLivesMatter
. And some of those Black lives are Latinx lives.Fight for them all.
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Here's the original thread, in Spanish, which was for White people in Mexico (not US citizens abroad, but actual European-Mexicans with light skin, etc.). https://twitter.com/DavidOBowles/status/1268359343566716928?s=20
Addendum.
"But I wasn't born with privileges. I'm poor!"
No, dude. You're not born with privelegeS.
You're born with White privilege. A single advantage: the social world's constructed so guys like you don't struggle.
Being White & poor isn't the same as being Black & poor.
"But I wasn't born with privileges. I'm poor!"
No, dude. You're not born with privelegeS.
You're born with White privilege. A single advantage: the social world's constructed so guys like you don't struggle.
Being White & poor isn't the same as being Black & poor.
Addendum 2.
You don't have to like or use the term "White Latinx/a/o" in order for the above to apply to you.
You may consider yourself a light-skinned Mestizo (who sometimes reads/presents as white).
Whatever terminology you use, it's still White privilege you enjoy.
You don't have to like or use the term "White Latinx/a/o" in order for the above to apply to you.
You may consider yourself a light-skinned Mestizo (who sometimes reads/presents as white).
Whatever terminology you use, it's still White privilege you enjoy.