Column: White women must do more to confront racism
If white womanhood is a house, your need to be perfect is the foundation.Perfect hair. Perfect clothes. Perfect grades. Perfect nails. Perfect weddings. Perfect bodies. Perfect adoring and supportive wife and mother. Perfect employee and colleague.
White skin. The foundational principle of perfection in a white supremacist society like ours is rooted in whiteness. Without it, your A’s will never be straight enough, your MVP trophies not shiny enough, your flowery dresses a bit wilted. Of course, white skin alone doesn’t render you perfect, but without it, you have no chance. White skin is a necessary ingredient of perfection. The con, of course, is there is no actual recipe for perfection, as there is no such thing as perfection.
Antiracism work depends on your acknowledging your imperfections, namely how you have been born into and nurtured by a white supremacist society. This means acknowledging that you are not the expert on how it feels to be on the receiving end of racism, which means you do not get to decide what is and is not racist. Just like men don’t get to decide what is and is not sexist. It means acknowledging that youstruggle to make progress.
I didn’t pipe up on Facebook because I don’t want to be attacked,” or “I’m scared I’m going to say the wrong thing,” orThe last time I called someone out at a dinner party, my husband was grumpy with me for a week,” think about this: The only wrong move is remaining silent, sitting on the sidelines, accepting your role in white supremacy. Don’t do nothing out of the fear of doing it imperfectly.you receive criticism, consider that maybe it’s just that: a critique, and not an attack.
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