This evening, I went to the #NMOS14 rally on the Boston Common. We were there to remember the victims of police oppression. Particularly, those who have been murdered by the police. As we all know by now, abusive police tactics and the entire policing and justice system in the US is very racist. People of color are targeted for harassment, arrest, prosecution and harsher sentencing than White people.
So, when I attend a gathering such as this, I'm there as a White ally, more than as an equally suffering citizen. As an ally, I have no issue whatsoever with people of color venting their anger about racism and white domination. I saw some other white people wriggling uncomfortably at those moments, but that doesn't bother me. I find it healing that people of color can have their voice and speak their truth.
Where I found myself unsure of how to respond was when a Black woman was railing against Black men. This particular arm of the oppressive system is meted out predominantly against men of color in the US. Railing against them in that particular setting felt a lot like victim blaming. More than that, as a White woman, I don't feel it's appropriate for me to make judgements about how Black males behave in a brutally racist society.
Follow me beyond the fleur de Kos for how this becomes an internal conflict for me.
Though I don't feel comfortable judging Black men in a racist society, I do relate to this woman's rant as a sister. She speaking out about how disrespectful men are to her. She was angry because she had been pushed away from the line to the microphone by males. Apparently, some of the physical contact was of a sexually harassing nature. I'd be furious, too. I was upset for her. I'd want to call that shit out. I'd definitely see it as part of the continuum of sexism I've experienced all my life, just as she did.
She also righteously pointed out that when we list the names of victims of police abuse, we are only listing men's names. She urged us to remember the women. That, I can absolutely get behind.
Still, public shaming of Black men in this particular context was very uncomfortable for me. Do I clap in support of a woman speaking out about sexism? Or do I stay quiet as a White person standing in solidarity with all people of color?
I chose to remain quiet. I feel that, in this context, this was an internal conflict within the Black community. It is not my place to assert my judgement.
Then, there was the argument amongst different people of color about whether police abuse was about racism or something else. I'm not sure why it had to be an either/or question. Some seemed to be feeling that if the problem was framed as something other than racism more people would stand together. But, that belied the reality that the data is very clear about how racist this country's policing is. You can't talk about that subject seriously without discussing the racism.
Are there other factors? Sure. Capitalist imperialism uses racism because it's an easy signifier. That is, it's very easy to see who the "unworthy" are supposed to be. So, the oppressive policing is part of a bigger question of the justice, or lack thereof, in a capitalist system. However, if you're a person of color, what you primarily experience is racism. It so directly pervades your life that you can't ever say it's a non-issue.
You can focus on the racist nature of this issue as the primary and easy to see oppressive tactic. We can come together in solidarity over that. AND we can recognize that even if we ended racism, another form of oppression would take hold with equal strength because capitalism can't thrive without the lower castes to pay the price for the upper caste's "profits."
I had all these thoughts. But, again, I didn't feel it was the place for me to express them. I felt very deeply that it was a time for the voices of non-White people to dominate. I was very impressed that, though there may have been more White faces in the crowd than non-White faces, people of color were the only ones to speak at the microphone. I'll see that as a small victory in the solidarity battle.
It's not always easy figuring out how to stand in solidarity with everyone. In a society with oppression of any kind, there will always be multiple flavors. We will constantly be place in settings where people experience a unique set of the isms. We can always see how more than one ism is at play and how some of the people we stand with against one ism are perpetrators of another ism. We have to navigate this.
We can't make every moment and every conversation be about every ism. And we can't bypass the very real particular oppressions that people face by trying to dump them all into the bigger basket of capital "O" Oppression. Where people viscerally connect and get the energy for resistance is from the specific oppressions they have lived with. We can focus on those when events are playing out which highlight a specific brand of oppression. We can remind ourselves internally that all the oppressions are linked. And we can tell ourselves that focusing racism doesn't negate the fact that sexism is also an issue.
I don't sense that this will ever become less complicated. I hope that we get better at talking about how to manage that. I wish for us that we have the faith in ourselves and each other that we won't be left behind in the larger scheme of things if we let our hot button oppression tag along on the sidelines for a short time.
For instance, I have no doubt that we'll have other opportunities to witness sexism in a spectacular fashion. At that time, we can focus on misogyny, get the public dialog centered around analyzing it and how to end it. Soon, thereafter, we'll see another blatant example of homophobia or gender expression bigotry rise to the surface of the public consciousness and then we'll focus on that.
Each discreet round is building a consciousness, a vocabulary and a collective process for discussion and problem-solving.
So, when I come to a rally which has specifically been slated to be about speaking truth to the excessive police force power, I see that as first and foremost a continuation of the slavery and systemic racism ever-present in our society and I will be there as a White ally. I can internally acknowledge other issues which come up, but my public expression, in that moment is one of solidarity with people of color. If that community has differences of opinions, I will let that be their internal conversation which I feel honored to witness but not privileged to claim a voice in.