Me and White Supremacy summary

“I have Black friends.” “Actually, I’ve dated people of color.” “Not all white people are racists!”

These are some of the rather defensive things white people often say when challenged about white supremacy. Maybe you’ve said some of them yourself. Most of these responses circle back to the idea that you don’t need to put the work in to combat racism, because you’re one of the good ones.

Tennis player Serena Williams – an all-time great – was disciplined in the final of the 2018 US Open for her behavior. Among her transgressions was calling the umpire a “thief.” Hardly a compliment, but did she deserve to be formally reprimanded? Several stars – including the notoriously foul-mouthed former player John McEnroe – later confirmed that they had said much worse and got away without any penalties.

This is an example of tone policing. White people have a habit of criticizing the tone in which BIPOC voice their views – most typically, they are chastised for sounding too angry. The opposite can happen, too: softly spoken BIPOC may be complimented, by surprised white people, for the gentleness of their voice. Either way, the expectation is that they should speak the way white people want them to.

Nonwhite people experience different forms of racism, depending on who they are. To illustrate this, the author puts a particular focus on the racism experienced by Black people of African descent, which she terms anti-Blackness. It affects women, men, and children in different ways – and, of course, those who are transgender or nonbinary. But let’s begin with a famously marginalized group: Black women.

Viola Davis may be a successful actor, but she’s not exempt from experiencing racism, as she pointed out in a speech at a 2018 Hollywood Reporter event. She spoke about the narrow range of roles that were available to her as a Black woman: “strong Black women,” for instance, or characters that help the white person “feel better.”

Some white people like to talk about color blindness. This is the idea that you simply don’t see someone’s race. It’s generally meant well – intended to prove you’re not racist – but, in fact, this attitude can cause great harm.

Whether or not you’re “color blind,” white supremacy is still there, with consequences that affect all of us. Simply put, color blindness sounds admirable, but just doesn’t reflect reality. So it ends up supporting the white supremacist system after all.

So far in these blinks, there have been a lot of negative concepts – things you need to avoid doing, rather than things you should be aiming for. That changes in this blink, which is about allyship.

Allyship is working in solidarity with BIPOC, not in one-off instances, but steadily and consistently. It involves understanding your own privilege, and constantly reevaluating your own relationship with those who have less privilege. You don’t get to declare, “I’m an ally!” – that’s not for you to judge. But you do have to try to practice allyship as best you can.

Simply knowing all of this isn’t enough. You need to put your knowledge into action.

You might remember, from the very first blink, that as a white or white-passing person you’re effectively stuck with your privileges for life. That’s true – but it’s possible to do something the author calls losing privilege. That means letting go of the comforts that you enjoy as a white person living under white supremacy – consciously, positively working to let go of your unearned privilege. Here are some ways to do it.