Part 2 in my multipart series of :stormfront: melting down after being exposed to a conversation about race that doesn't begin and end with "I don't see race"
Part 2 in my multipart series of :stormfront: melting down after being exposed to a conversation about race that doesn't begin and end with "I don't see race"
I mean, whiteness and white supremacy do exist. Just because "whiteness" (and race generally) exists as a social construct rather than a facet of material reality doesn't stop it from having material ramifications on people's lives. Saying that it's a construct, and that we can continually remind ourselves that it's some collectively negotiated fluid idea, until it simply no longer exists because it doesn't seem real to us anymore is not, I think, a practical approach. It's downright idealistic. Then again, I'm not sure I have any better solutions either, apart from reorganizing society so that the quality of life enjoyed by all people is relatively equal (for starters), but it seems like anybody who actually advocates for that convincingly gets put into a box somewhere.
That's why I made sure to say "indulging" rather than "acknowledging".
It's not about ignoring it, but rather transcending the dialogue completely. "Colour-blindness" is also another aspect of white supremacy because it internalises whiteness as the natural order of things i.e. "everyone is the same" (read:white)
You can't ignore it, but you also shouldn't wallow in it.