We cannot build a nation where "we the people" truly means "all the people" until we de-center whiteness. Here's a thread where I break down what that means and why #allthepeople is at the core of my campaign.
De-centering whiteness does not mean oppressing white people — but when you're a white land-owning man who's used to being in the center, being treated as 'normal' might feel oppressive.
Yes, we need to lift up the people at the bottom, but we also need to LOWER the people at the top so that we can all have an eye-to-eye conversation. Turning "We the people" into #allthepeople is going to mean reducing the status of the white land-owning male.
The goal of radical reform should not be to let everyone enjoy the same oppressive fruits that white Americans enjoy. Balance must be created in order to honor marginalized groups like people of color, women, and the LGBTQ community.
Years ago I attended the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions meeting in Canada. They had large national conferences that went around the country talking about how native children were taken from their homes and put into military-style boarding schools.
One of the things that impressed me about the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions was that anyone who was a boarding school survivor (or the relative of a survivor) could sign up, attend the meetings, and share their story.
It was powerful to sit and listen to person after person as they came forward. Sometimes it was the actual survivor telling a firsthand account of what being in the school was like. Sometimes it was their children or grandchildren saying how it affected their family for decades.
There were representatives at these meetings. 90% of the time they were white, because that's who ran these organizations and who started these boarding schools.
They sat and listened.
They didn't speak. They didn't defend themselves. They sat there and just listened for days.
They sat and listened.
They didn't speak. They didn't defend themselves. They sat there and just listened for days.
The representatives weren't there to justify themselves. They weren't there to explain their actions or provide a deeper context. The only thing they were allowed to do was stand up and say what they were going to do to make sure this oppression never happened again.
That gives a good glimpse into the role of the white land-owning male in this current moment. White people in general and white land-owning men specifically have access to better jobs, better schools, better houses, inherited money, and loans.
Marginalized communities have not.
Marginalized communities have not.
Many think that white allies should be using their 'privilege' to benefit the people beneath them, but the problem with this is that the very reason this 'privilege' exists is directly related to racial oppression.
This injustice must be confronted, not 'utilized' for good.
This injustice must be confronted, not 'utilized' for good.
I'm not interested in having access to the same stolen money, stolen land, and stolen opportunities that white people have. I want to level the playing field. We need to stop calling it white privilege and instead call it out for what it is: white supremacy.
When you’ve bought into the myth of American exceptionalism for so long (rooted in the lie of white supremacy) you think you have all the answers.
You don't.
You don't.
One of the best things that white people can do right now is just listen, learn, and stop being the 'center'.
American exceptionalism is a coping mechanism for a nation that's in deep denial of its genocidal past and current racist reality. Let’s change that together. #allthepeople
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