This post is written by Rachel Colyer, Senior Campaign Director at Daily Kos and a member of the Daily Kos Equity Group, which is working to eliminate white supremacy in Daily Kos, in the Daily Kos community, and the progressive movement with a vision of equity and inclusion for all people.
White folks, let's talk. I am a white person actively working to break down my own internalized racism and white supremacy. We all have it, and we all need to work together to break it down. I invite you to challenge yourself with me.
White supremacy has always been the foundation of the American ethos and people who actively support white supremacy have become emboldened once again. Now, more than ever we need to support marginalized populations (read: listen to black women and people of color) to work to end white supremacy within ourselves, our communities, and our institutions, like Netroots Nation and Daily Kos.
I’m going to cite an example of how white supremacy has been internalized within our own progressive community, but it’s bigger than this example. I’m talking about the system of white supremacy that white people learn from birth, and act on with privilege everyday. In this instance, the feeling that they had the right to tell black protestors, how and when to speak against their oppression.
On Saturday, August 12th 2017, a group of black protestors convened in front of the stage at Netroots Nation as Democratic party candidate for Georgia governor, Stacey Evans, took the podium. Protesters held signs reading: “Stacey Evans = Betsy DeVos” and “No One Can Win Without Us.” They interrupted Evan’s speech chanting, “Trust Black Women,” and “Stacey Evans is not progressive,” illuminating their opposition to Evan’s stance on the privatization of education which is, ultimately, damaging to black children and communities. In response, white folks around the room began yelling out, "Let her speak," shouting down protestors and confronting black audience members who rose in support.
The white response of confronting the black protesters who opposed Stacey Evans and repeatedly asked all of us to "Trust Black Women" to make education decisions for their children, was terrible. Stacey Evans is in favor of school vouchers, privatization, and charter schools, which aren’t progressive values and disproportionately harm black children.
White progressives, we should honor protest, and we often do, when we consent to it. We should not attempt to silence the voices of black people who are speaking out in protest. As white progressives, we should recognize that we are perpetuating systems of white supremacy by telling groups of marginalized and impacted communities when, where, and how they can fight their oppression.
Our culture of white people expecting black people to conform to a white idea of respectability politics––when, where, and how to speak out––to protect white fragility must end. Instead, when black progressives who are members of our community raise their voices, we should listen and learn how we can support them.
The idea that a white progressive feels empowered to shout down black folks is a privileged act born from white supremacy. White folks felt powerful enough to stop a protest they thought to be disruptive to their expected experience--that's internalized white privilege. Instead, we should have supported their right to speak out and we should have listened to them.
The behavior exhibited by white people in our community was not representative of our values. White people, please, do not shout down and physically confront protestors who are people of color. This physical confrontation and shouting at black folks made a very unsafe environment, where not only were protesters putting their bodies on the line, but interveners around the room felt threatened and compelled to intercede in situations where white folks were physically and verbally confronting black community members.
Given the long history of police brutality against people of color, do not urge police to intervene or create a situation where black community members will be accosted by law enforcement. Don't accost them yourself. Seriously, let them speak their protest without interference.
While you might be getting uncomfortable or offended right now, white people, keep reading. Please, resist the urge to shut down or start saying "Not All White People" or "Not Me––I didn't do it."
This post is a great explanation of why we need to move away from these comforting phrases, and get uncomfortable to break out of our silence in these situations. Many of us white folk shouted things like, "let her speak" and felt this was an inconvenience or disruption of the conference. We were being bullies and intimidators, not allies and advocates.
When white community members refuse to listen to our black community members, we are perpetuating the white supremacy that we are fighting to dismantle. The response to this protest stands in stark contrast to the multitude of white folks who joined an impromptu march later that afternoon to protest the white supremacy that killed a white woman in Charlottesville.
Ask yourself, what made one protest action acceptable (march through Atlanta) while the other was not (interrupting a political speech)? It's about power dynamics and internalized white supremacy--white folks expected to hear a speech not a protest and felt they were owed that speech. I'm sure folks whose days were disrupted by the march felt much the same way. Especially, white folks who were trying to go about their day.
For those among us who disapprove of protests as a tactic for change, I ask you to consider that systemic change from grassroots movements has always relied on protest as a means to an end. If we are going to end white supremacy and institutions that perpetuate racism (like the privatized education Evans supports), we are going to need to be more disruptive than ever. These systems, and their supporters, will not gift marginalized communities with rights.
Before our next gathering, I hope that our white community members re-examine their reactions to protests. These protests should be a moment to learn. If you don't understand what the protest is about, don't make assumptions, seek to understand.
In this instance at Netroots Nation, black progressives were speaking out against Evans' terrible, not progressive education policy. Black women––mothers of the children that would be directly impacted by these education privatization policies––are rightly concerned about the position of Stacey Evans. As white progressives, we should be equally concerned. Privatizing education is a tool to perpetuate institutionalized racism that continues to oppress people of color. These systems of institutionalized racism will not die until we, collectively, kill them.
The education system systematically fails black children. Public education has become a school-to-prison pipeline for black children as charter schools take valuable public education money out of the system, replacing education with privatized systems that often don't serve black children.
Black women have been at the forefront of the fight for education and safe communities for their children and families for decades, and their voices have always been stifled. Black women are concerned about these harmful policies that will form the foundation of their children's education.
When they speak out and object to racist education policies, we, as white progressive community members and allies, need to listen--not shout them down. We need to trust black women when they speak out about the policies that impact their families and we failed to do so.
While this is one example of how our learned “whiteness” impacts people of color, it’s not a unique example. White privilege, patterns of learned white behavior that white people exhibit, negatively impact people of color all the time. This example, that white folks felt it wasn’t appropriate for black folks to protest a threat to their community juxtaposed against a march that afternoon against the threat of nazis—active white supremacists—makes me realize we need to do better. We all stood together against the united threat of active white supremacists, while not recognizing the institutionalized white supremacy we exhibited that day when we shouted our black community members down. Next, time I hope we listen when black progressives tell us what they need from us, and that is to trust black women in our movement.
Daily Kos Equity Group is comprised of DK staff committed to eliminating white supremacy in Daily Kos and the progressive movement, with a vision of equity for all people. This account has multiple staff members who will identify themselves in written posts and will use personal accounts to comment. Author will be commenting as Rachel Colyer.