I have never experienced racism and am spending my time on Twitter atm learning from and retweeting Black voices. But for those of my followers who are also white, I wanted to share "Ring Theory" which is a concept that helps me when I feel my white fragility kicking in. 1/n
Ring Theory involves drawing a circle and writing the person or people at the center of a crisis inside of it. Then you draw a bigger circle around it, and put those closest to that person/people, and another with the next closest, and so on, until you get something like this: 
When something bad happens in the world, I think about where I and the people in my life sit in regards to it, and act from there. Support goes to those impacted more than me, and comes from those impacted less than me. If you're white, you are ALWAYS impacted less by racism.
This means that you should NOT be venting to the Black people (or any POC) around you right now (or ever when it comes to racism). I know what's going on is horrible. But unless they have explicitly offered to, you shouldn't expect POC to process this with you.
It also means that unless you had an existing close relationship with the Black people in your life prior to this, you're unlikely to be the right person to provide intimate support. It's fine and good to channel that energy into political support instead, like donations.
We all mess up sometimes, and being anti-racist is a process that takes constant learning. I think those of us who are neurodiverse feel it even harder when we misstep despite good intentions. But don't process these emotions with people closer to the centre than you.
This helps me remember that no matter how intensely I feel about racism, it's not about me. I am not in the centre, and that should inform the action I take, and who I get support from. Conversely, it also empowers me to ask for support with things that I AM in the centre of.
So other white people, even though things move so fast and heavy, try to take a moment before acting to think: "Who am I centering? Who am I supporting? Who am I expecting to support me in response to this?". This is not our time for attention, but our time to give support.
You can learn more about Ring Theory here: psychologytoday.com/nz/blog/promot…. This article also has a description of how the circle diagram looks for those using screen readers.
Lastly, if it isn't clear, I am unequivocally supportive of #BlackLivesMattter and not here for any racism. Feel free to unfollow me if you're a racist. I won't miss you.
