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As I think about the flagrant acts of violent racism in Alberta, both recently and historically, I canât help by think that we, the cis white hetero feminists in AB who claim to be intersectional and for equity, need to take a long hard look at the ways in which we are 1/X
:As I think about the flagrant acts of violent racism in Alberta, both recently and historically, I canât help by think that we, the cis white hetero feminists in AB who claim to be intersectional and for equity, need to take a long hard look at the ways in which we are 1/X
complicit with the systemic issues that contribute to a culture that allows hate to fester to such grevious extents. White women have positioned ourselves to get the scraps from the table of the western patriarchy, and as such steps towards equity can still cause 2/X
us to recoil, even subconsciously, into our fragility and in doing so continue to uphold the systems in place that allow us to benefit. Instead of fighting for equity, we too often fight to be first in line for the scraps, and we do so with our cultivated emotional responses 3/X
that divert culpability and accountability because rather than do the work equity demands of us, we rely on the virtue signalling of our well cultivated emotional responses to show that we are too pure to be racist, homophobic, sexist, etc. But when we do not do the work, 4/X
when we do not call out the hate and bigotry around us out of fear of losing status within the current systems, we are complicit. Our complicity needs to be dismantled, and itâs going to cost us to dismantle it, but it is undoubtedly the work that equity demands of us. 5/X
We must do the work, and we must do it relentlessly. Until there are no longer systems with which to be complicit, until all who identify as female feel represented by feminism, until society is truly equitable. Not only those who perpetrate violent and blatant acts of hate 6/X
Ought to be held accountable for the beliefs that led to those acts taking place, but indeed also those of us who dismiss lived experiences, who amplify our own voices over those marginalized, who let a joke slide to avoid eyes rolled in our direction, 7/9
who in anyway allow ideologies of hate and bigotry to fester, we are responsible for the culmination of that too and we must hold ourselves accountable for that without ego and without fragility as our lens. If we say we want all people to be safe on our streets, we must 8/9
absolutely name that hate for what it is and condemn it, but we also must do the damn work of dismantling our complicity and calling that out to if we want to impact meaningful change. 9/9
I cannot post this thread without citing the FB live âWhite Womenâs Toxic Tearsâ of several months ago featuring @lisasharper that awakened me in new ways to my complicity with systemic racism as a white woman and caused me to dig into the work of dismantling my privilege anew.
