Macklemore, Tim Wise, & Anti-Racist Posturing (Or How NOT to be an Ally)

Where I’m from we have a saying: don’t talk about it; be about it.

Recently, I got into a Facebook kerfuffle (as I do) when a cohort (let’s call him Ike) who consistently perpetuated racism and sexism in the classroom refused to take accountability for that when excitedly posting about the work of his all-white, anti-racist campus organization. When I declined to have a personal discussion with him about it because of his own racist behavior in the past, he resorted to the typical, passive-aggressive, derailing tactics (warning for ableism) he always had in class. And, I found myself in the sticky position of having to threaten to take our personal conversation public if he didn’t stop messaging me.

While, I’m not at all surprised by his behavior given his classroom antics, it did get me thinking about how good ol’ Ike is representative of a larger issue. Being an anti-racist ally or paying lip service to one’s privilege in one’s work has become all the rage for Good White People™ who want to show off their social justice credentials without actually putting in the work (or, alternatively, without taking real accountability). It’s become super easy to exploit and benefit from the struggles of people of color while simultaneously expressing concern about it, the very epitome of the old saying, “to have your cake and eat it too.”

And, frankly, I’m goddamn tired of it.

We’ve all seen instances of social justice posturing. We’ve seen the Facebook statuses that challenge people to reblog a status that 99% of people won’t reblog in order to raise awareness about some cause or another. Or, how about asking people to change their icons to support their pet cause? And, we can’t forget the many, many people who share pictures of t...

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... participated and of the injuries they sustained. They didn’t demand everyone stop and pat them on the back and devote an “ally week” to them. They participated because they thought it was the right thing to do. They, in the most real sense, put their asses on the line, including their physical safety and their social standing, for the cause. And, we don’t even know their names. Those are allies.

Tim Wise? Macklemore? Good ol’ Ike? Those are people who want praise and profit.

I don’t expect Freedom Rider type commitment of every white ally. I don’t expect you to put yourself in a position to lose your life and your livelihood. But, I do expect that you’ll engage with these issues because you care about them and not because it sounds good. I expect that you’ll not profit from my oppression. I expect that you’ll not just talk about it; you’ll be about it.