The principles of groups like Black Lives Matter are wonderful. For too long, brown people in America have been ignored, denigrated to less than human, marginalized, oppressed, and systemically abused. In recent years, increased instances of police brutality that have almost always seemed packed with racist undertones, as well as killings of unarmed individuals whose skin just so happens to be brown, have augmented the need for organizations like Black Lives Matter and others.
Because the movement is now televised, live streamed, tweeted, etc., terms like “stay woke, woke as f*ck, ally,” and other phrases/words have quickly become associated with ways in which white people can be down for the cause of supporting their brown brothers and sisters in the fight against the harsh realities of racism in America. With Donald Trump at the helm of the Republican party, many have [wrongly] led themselves to believe that identifying as Democrat/liberal, makes them an ally.
Those people are lying to themselves and those they aim to convince that they are friends in the fight against racism. Liberals are often some of the most racist people on the planet; they just mask their hate with things including, but not at all limited to:
- micro/macro-aggressions
- a facade of diversity, equity, and inclusion
- denial
- blatant ignorance
- self-victimization
- condescending compassion
- defensiveness
- boasting about ways in which they “help the blacks”
In reality, these folks are the first to say a man/woman with brown skin is “angry/aggressive,” just because s/he is professional and direct. They’re the first to play dumb when it’s time to face the ugly realities of their actions. They’re quick to get defensive and play victim when called out. They’re in a hurry to tell you about their best friend, relative by marriage, or another person in their life who has brown skin.
They vote liberal, but they’re not allies. They’re actually the enemies of the worst kind. They’ll don a Black Lives Matter shirt on Thursday to march for “the cause” and lie on their brown co-worker on Friday. They’re the kind of people who force folks with brown skin to stay on guard. They’re wolves in sheep’s clothing.
These people think that because they debated between Bernie and Hillary, not Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, at the polls, they’re some kind of savior. In reality, the brown people in their lives usually need saving.
They’re smug, patronizing, and generally annoying to people who can see through them. They think that all brown people are really dumb enough to believe that conservatism always equals racist and liberalism always equates alliance. They talk about white privilege and white supremacy as if they have a firm grasp on how destructive those things are, but they’re typically last to denounce their own privilege and/or use it for good and can’t fathom the notion of actions associated with their privilege, equating supremacist behavior.
These so-called allies are more of a problem than their openly racist counterparts but are too blinded by their privilege to understand that. They’ll also likely argue that any critiques of their behaviors are aggressive attacks on their attempts to be supportive. That’s just how they play victim, though. It works for them in many settings.
There are a lot of white people, liberal and conservative, who get “it.” However, regardless of the narrative that many liberals would like folks to believe, no one should ever be ignorant enough to accept that being liberal somehow automatically makes one an ally.
Featured Image screengrab via Medium.
