Thursday, November 6, 2014

Let's talk about ally behavior, white people and men edition

Let's talk about ally behavior:

1)  Hello, white people: we don't get to decide what's racist, because a) we're not the targets of it and b) we benefit from it.

If you actually want to be an anti-racist person and ally to people of color, rather than someone who merely benefits from white privilege and is well-meaning, then you need to listen when people of color speak the truth of their experience.

And when people of color say something is racist, if you want to be an ally, you f'ing shut up and listen, you don't whitesplain all the reasons it's not racist or why it's okay to act that way.

2)  Hello, men: you don't get to decide what's sexist or misogynist, because a) you're not the targets of it and b) you benefit from it.

If you actually want to be an anti-sexist person and ally to women, rather than someone who merely benefits from male privilege and is well-meaning, then you need to listen when women speak the truth of their experience.

And when women say something is sexist or misogynist, if you want to be an ally, you f'ing shut up and listen, you don't mansplain all the reasons it's not sexist or misogynist or why it's okay for you to act that way.


2 comments:

mochabelle said...

I love this!!! I'm a Woman of Color and this is so spot on. Thanks for taking time to post this :D

Morgan said...

Mocha Belle -- Thank you!! - Stasa