I’ve been deepening my knowledge of white privilege over the past few months. I’ve read some amazing work on intersectional feminism, anti-racism, and dismantaling systems which are killing all of us (some quicker than others). 

This learning has been emotional and often times frustrating. I have experienced lots of feelings of shame around my complicity. I always felt I was a “good person” and therefore that I wouldn’t stay silent in the oppression of others. However, I’ve done this throughout my life, sometimes intentionally (“I don’t want to cause a fuss” “They were only joking”) but most often with no intention of harm or racism at all. That doesn’t mean I haven’t caused harm.

Perfectionism, and the silence that comes with it, has been my undoing. Now I’m opening up my mind, social circles and heart in ways I thought I already had. I can see all the harm I’ve been complict with.

I wasn’t a bad person before. I’m still not. These issues aren’t actually about me. I can’t sit in white silence and fragility any more, it’s ignoring violence.

I’ve reflected on this before (activism needs to be intersectional) and I will continue to. These reflections won’t be as “polished” as my other blogs and that’s okay. I just want to share that it’s okay to talk without perfection. We cannot wait until we have “all the facts” (who has all those anyways?). 

It’s okay to learn as you go (as you may have done with other social justice work you might do). We’ve got to start somewhere. There’s no road map for this. No tick list. And there shouldn’t be. Marginalised people shouldn’t come with a one-size-fits-all list of performative bullshit.

We have to work through those feelings of embarassment, anger and shame and LEAN IN.

We can’t keep hiding behind “I’m white so I can’t talk much on this issue” this is unhelpful. What many of us are trying to convey when we say this is that we don’t want to talk over or for Black people and people of colour. We need to keep that in mind but we also need to talk about and reflect on white privilege and (anti-)racism every day. Especially in rooms full of white people. Especially when these conversations are tough.

It’s not enough to be not racist, we have to be actively anti-racist.

Anti-racism Resources

There is so much amazing information, creators, academics, written work, art work and much more on anti-racism! Here are some of my favourites (so far):

• Participatory Action Research: Ethics and Decolonisation by Caroline Lenette
• Me and White Supremacy by Layla F Saad
• Why I’m No Longer Talking To White People About Race by Renni Eddo-Lodge
• Against White Feminism: Notes on Disruption by Rafia Zakaria
• We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi
• Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Brittney Cooper
• So You Want To Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
• Black Listed by Jeffrey Boakye
• Mixed/Other by Natalie Morris
• The Good Immigrant by Nikesh Shukla
• What Can White People Do Next by Emma Dabiri
• Brit(ish) by Afua Hirsch
• The Good Ally by Nova Reid
• Black and British by David Olusoga
• Biracial Britain by Remi Adekoya