(no subject)
Read something which shed light on a bunch of stuff. It's the chapter "From race cognizance to racism cognizance: dilemmas in antiracist activism in California", by Ellen Kaye Scott, from the book Feminism and Antiracism: International Struggles for Justice (edited by France Winddance Twine and Kathleen M. Blee. NYU Press, New York, 2001).
The chapter looks at efforts by two women's organisations, a rape crisis centre and a battered women's shelter, to hold their own anti-racism workshops. These were sincere and serious efforts to better serve their communities (reflected in their hiring diverse staff) but the success of the workshops was constrained for a number of reasons.
One reason was the "silence about everyday racism. In antiracist political discourses, individuals occupy one of two subject positions: victim or perpetrator. This discourse of agency in racial politics paralyzes action. Activists tend to vie for membership in the victim category and attach a great deal of shame to belonging to the perpetrator category." Scott says this "explains part of the fear that predominated when women thought about confronting everyday racism. Their failure to follow through with dialogue, despite their intentions, constituted a form of paralysis." (p 126)
In one group, Scott explains, "some white women expressed considerable fear of openly acknowledging racism. They feared being attacked, as they put it, ridiculed, or condemned.' In the other group, White women feared "being silenced at the least, and humiliated at the worst." Scott concludes that if condemnation is the outcome of talking about racism, then there's little incentive for white women to do so. In one group, a member described a "policelike" atmosphere, another "a high level of suspicion", and "Another member remarked that the [workshops] had been a forum for 'proving how wonderfully antiracist you are' by viciously attacking other women." (p 137 - emphasis mine). In the other group, members were disappointed that workshops resulted in "little constructive dialogue beyond the venting of anger." (p 140)
This turns out not to just be a White thing. WOC "also expressed a fear of discussing conflicts and racial dynamics amongst themselves... women of color... Instead, must negotiate different racialized identities, immigration histories, class inequality, vocabularies of race and racism, sexuality, and prestige hierarchies among them that generate obstacles to the open discussion of the tensions that divide them". In both of the women's organisations, WOC also found that discussions "provided opportunities for attack rather than dialogue" and that "it was easier to simply avoid such conversations." (p 127)
Us-vs-them, good guy-vs-bad guy thinking already dominates online discussion, including in fandom - hardly surprising, since the same thinking dominates so much discussion IRL. Scott suggests that, to tackle racism, it's necessary to break out of the perpetrator-victim dichotomy, to shift from examining individuals and their attitudes to examining institutions and structures. I'd extend that to suggesting it's necessary for White anti-racists to break out of the "I'm less racist than you!" mentality - which, after all, is just another form of defensiveness about one's own racism. Gods know I've got no right to put someone else down for their attitudes - I realised that ages ago, thanks to the Jackie Chan incident :)
The chapter looks at efforts by two women's organisations, a rape crisis centre and a battered women's shelter, to hold their own anti-racism workshops. These were sincere and serious efforts to better serve their communities (reflected in their hiring diverse staff) but the success of the workshops was constrained for a number of reasons.
One reason was the "silence about everyday racism. In antiracist political discourses, individuals occupy one of two subject positions: victim or perpetrator. This discourse of agency in racial politics paralyzes action. Activists tend to vie for membership in the victim category and attach a great deal of shame to belonging to the perpetrator category." Scott says this "explains part of the fear that predominated when women thought about confronting everyday racism. Their failure to follow through with dialogue, despite their intentions, constituted a form of paralysis." (p 126)
In one group, Scott explains, "some white women expressed considerable fear of openly acknowledging racism. They feared being attacked, as they put it, ridiculed, or condemned.' In the other group, White women feared "being silenced at the least, and humiliated at the worst." Scott concludes that if condemnation is the outcome of talking about racism, then there's little incentive for white women to do so. In one group, a member described a "policelike" atmosphere, another "a high level of suspicion", and "Another member remarked that the [workshops] had been a forum for 'proving how wonderfully antiracist you are' by viciously attacking other women." (p 137 - emphasis mine). In the other group, members were disappointed that workshops resulted in "little constructive dialogue beyond the venting of anger." (p 140)
This turns out not to just be a White thing. WOC "also expressed a fear of discussing conflicts and racial dynamics amongst themselves... women of color... Instead, must negotiate different racialized identities, immigration histories, class inequality, vocabularies of race and racism, sexuality, and prestige hierarchies among them that generate obstacles to the open discussion of the tensions that divide them". In both of the women's organisations, WOC also found that discussions "provided opportunities for attack rather than dialogue" and that "it was easier to simply avoid such conversations." (p 127)
Us-vs-them, good guy-vs-bad guy thinking already dominates online discussion, including in fandom - hardly surprising, since the same thinking dominates so much discussion IRL. Scott suggests that, to tackle racism, it's necessary to break out of the perpetrator-victim dichotomy, to shift from examining individuals and their attitudes to examining institutions and structures. I'd extend that to suggesting it's necessary for White anti-racists to break out of the "I'm less racist than you!" mentality - which, after all, is just another form of defensiveness about one's own racism. Gods know I've got no right to put someone else down for their attitudes - I realised that ages ago, thanks to the Jackie Chan incident :)