I am not entirely sure how to start this or how to say it properly, so I am going to launch into it; White American, it’s time to do some serious self-reflection/self-work.
Parker Palmer, a Quaker, writer and teacher, talks about the “Tragic Gap” – a place between “irrelevant idealism” and “corrosive cynicism.” This is a place where we sit and do the hard work of being uncomfortable and working to change. The Tragic Gap means that we don’t spin out into platitudes and generalities about “love and acceptance” without taking stock in what we mean/how we are going to make that happen. It means we don’t give into despair and give up because it feels overwhelming or futile. It means we accept that it is hard and frustrating, and we do it anyway.
The Tragic Gap is yoga in community; we accept that it is going to be uncomfortable, that there is work and labor, that some of the things we uncover about ourselves are going to be ugly, but there is also potential for true growth and light.
And then we keep doing the work. Push, pull. Day in, day out.
The work of dismantling white supremacy needs to be done by white America. There is no other way around it. We have to look at our bias, the way the system is set-up to benefit us, the way we treat “others” and accept the shameful fact of our complacency. And then we have to start doing better. We have to do better because we love our fellow human beings. Because we do not want anyone to suffer at our hands. Our fellow human beings are suffering at our hands. We must do better.
Jessica Mingus, a TSY graduate and Director of Programs at The Lineage Project, says,
“White people have work to do that none of the rest of us can do for you. Do that deep, endless work. It’s unpaid. Nobody’s going to clap for you. It will make your life harder. More uncomfortable. So be it. Find the inner resistance, the shame, the guilt, the fear, the clinging that white supremacy embedded in your psyche and excavate it. Transmute it. Call those ghosts. Today and every day for the rest of your life do the deep work. Figure out how. Get help. Don’t do it alone. Bring your white friends with you. Implore your family. It will be impossibly hard.
If you are ready to see a world freed from the tyranny of white supremacy, see to it. Take it on. For real. Engage white kids in the work. You aren’t going to finish the job. Clicking and scrolling and feeling moved and sorry and mad and sad is not the deep work. Own that. Every single day you don’t own this imperative to dismantle white supremacy the rest of us keep living out the consequences — except for those of us who die. Day after day after day. Don’t click and scroll and rest in the convenience of easy avoidance.”
Further resources:
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oulo
White Fragility by Robin DiangeloHow to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
https://earlybirdbooks.com/10-books-bravely-address-race-america
13th on Netflix
The 1619 Project – The New York Times
White Noise Round-Up