Research Notes #9
The Other Side
We need to get to the other side of white supremacist patriarchy. The side where we are all free, equal, and safe. The side where we can look back and say we finally did it. We finally squashed the scourge of white male privilege that terrorized us for so long.
Until we do this, we will be witnessing white supremacist terrorism at a frequent occurrence rate in a time loop of our own making. Until we break free of the white supremacist patriarchy, we will be writing about violence done in the name of tradition or heritage or other, white settler colonialist bullshit rhetoric, in perpetuity. We will lose friends and loved ones and colleagues to the scourge of white supremacy.
So how do we get to the other side? That is the question I will grapple with today, in this issue of Research Notes.
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Core Belief
The core belief of white supremacists, that an individual is ‘losing their country’ because it is becoming more diverse, is delusional. Everyone who is alive now was born in either the 20th or 21st century. The land that the United States sits on has been diverse since the 15th century when Columbus showed up and terrorized the indigenous population. The US was built on a foundation of white supremacy because the MINORITY decided that the only way to build and maintain power was to write their practices of degradation and oppression into law. This is how the framers were able to write ‘all men are created equal’ into the founding documents while simultaneously terrorizing Black and Indigenous people.
But - in order to continue rationalizing the oppression of people of color in the US, white people have flipped the script and started claiming that diversity equals a loss. That somehow, even though diversity is at the core of the United States principles and many of these white people wouldn’t exist here if it were not for the immigration that allowed their white ancestors to come here from Europe, they still believe that when more Black, Brown, and Indigenous people are allowed rights and freedoms that they are losing something. Unlike pizza, freedom is infinite, you don’t have to give up your portion so that someone else can have some. But - I will say - we do have to give up some things in order to reach real, true equality, like the notion that white people are superior. This might be something that we are consciously or unconsciously aware of, but those of us with white skin must wake up and see that we are not better than anyone else. This does not automatically make us worse, it makes us equal.
In order to truly locate these things that we need to do, the skills that we need to cultivate, and the ways in which we need to move forward in the movement, let’s look at several areas to assist improvement.
Education
As you well know - I am a huge proponent of education. In the case of dismantling the systems that seek to oppress 99% of the population, education is critical. Without the real facts, we cannot move forward to fix the issues that we face. This is certainly true for most things in life, but with the white supremacist patriarchy, it is even more evident that education is imperative. White supremacy is so ingrained in our social structures that many of us don’t even realize it on a daily basis. Once you are educated in an anti-racist manner, you start to see the patterns playing out in real-time. This can prove to be overwhelming at first, which explains the inertia of people losing interest quickly after an event occurs to engage them, but we must push through the temptation to stop moving forward. If we hit a wall of exhaustion, we must reinvigorate our educational practice to continue the process of undoing. We must take breaks for self-care and then recommit to the practice of learning.
Educational resources abound. The Internet is great for a quick list of books or websites that can help to educate on changes that need to be made, but the real meat comes from dismantling our own internal systems of white supremacy. Reading, thinking about the concepts presented, and self-reflecting on the ways in which we uphold the systems of oppression is critical in tearing down the oppressive structures and that is why education is an indispensable tool. Here are a few resources to get you started or restarted on your anti-racist, abolitionist, educational journey.
Anti-racist educational resources
The Conscious Kid Resources for anti-racist literacy - various resources
A Literary Guide to Combat Anti-Asian Racism in America - article/booklist
Moving your Organization towards Anti-Racism - recording
The 1619 Project - series of articles
Documentaries
If you aren’t into formal educational resources, that’s cool. There are some great documentaries that can help you learn about structural racism and many of them are available on popular streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu. For those of you who do not subscribe to these services, there are also many online resources available for free on YouTube. Just be sure to vet the sources with a critical eye using the techniques I conveyed in a previous newsletter. The CRAAP method can be easily adapted to all types of sources, not just print media.
My first recommendation would be to watch 13th on Netflix. Through discussions with scholars, activists, and politicians, 13th looks at the amendment that abolished slavery while simultaneously giving rise to the prison industrial complex and the criminalization of Black Americans.
On YouTube, there are so many great sources for information. Starting with one of my favourites, Angela Rye, and her most recent video: Dear White Parents where she discusses ways in which parents need to be active in their children's (and their own) education on Black history. Parents need to stand up at school and demand that real American history is taught and that we are decentering whiteness in the classroom.
Here are a few channel favourites that bring knowledge to the YouTube space:
And a public service announcement from Cartoon Network:
The Crystal Gems say Be Anti-Racist
Books
If you prefer to read on your own, there are many great books available that teach true United States History and Bookshop.org is the place to buy them. You can search the site for local bookstores and send your money to someone in your neighbourhood, rather than the online or big box stores! We have a hippiegrrl media storefront, with a few recent picks, but the site has almost anything you can imagine so go wild!
Most comprehensive lists: The Lit. Bar: Bookstore & Chill - The Bronx
And a few of my favourite shops…
Talking Leaves Bookshop - Buffalo
Ampersand Books at Writers and Books - Rochester
HUDUBAM - Clarksville
Avoid the Day Bookstore & Cafe - Rockaway Beach
Books Are Magic - Brooklyn
Housing Works Bookstore - Soho
Podcasts
Last, but certainly not least, are podcasts. If you want to rest your eyes, but continue the learning, podcasts are a great alternative to docs and audiobooks. Here are a few that never disappoint:
Thank you for reading the Research Notes Newsletter! Now it’s YOUR turn! Do you have an anti-racist resource to share? A favourite text or documentary? If so, please share with any other questions or suggestions for future research, in the comments. I look forward to a lively discourse.