In this era of what has been called the Second Civil Rights Movement, it is important that white allies of people of color(POC) understand that we must use our white privilege to amplify the voices of the POC in our lives and communities. Today, we will examine an example of this that occurred within my former friend group this week. After this, I hope white people will see that white privilege is not just something to be acknowledged, but rather, is something that can be actively implemented when it comes to supporting POC.
In my early years of high school, I was a part of a very toxic friend group. However, at the time, most of us did not see it that way. I should say, most of us white kids that were 15 and 16 didn't see it that way. We all made fun of each other all the time, as all friend do at some point or another. I was made fun of for being short and annoying, fellow caucasian Abby was poked at for being a teacher's pet and a kiss-up, also white Michael got giggles over being chubby and talking too loud. A certain member of our friend group would make these jokes about us, but when it came to our black friends in the group, they got different types of jokes. The "jokes" that he would make about them often stemmed from their race and the awful stereotyping. This typically involved using slurs and reminders of slavery and other horrible acts that have been historically committed towards the black community.
The anti-racist white kids in the friend group, such as myself and really everyone except this one individual, really weren't sure how to take this. When these types of gross comments were made, we looked to our black friends to see what their reaction was. More often than not, they laughed, so we would too. If they thought it was funny, then it was okay for us to think the same, right?
This turned out to be extremely wrong and ignorant of us to think.
Eventually, this friend group disbanded due to a lot of the trivial reasons friend groups usually drift apart due to. Couples in the friend group break up, people move and go to different colleges, the racist comments from one individual in the group become too much for some to bear anymore???
We will fast forward until this past week. The member of the group that was responsible for those disgusting comments posted a video that he himself had made about the protests, encouraging his followers to watch it. The problem here may not be obvious, so I will make it clear: A "man" who spent years doing nothing but making race-related jabs at his POC friends was attempting to exploit the Black Lives Matter movement to boost his own work.
This was not going to fly. One of the other members of that former friend group, who is not a part of the black community, was the first to jump at this. He found all of the old (meaning less than two years ago) screenshots of him using racial slurs and threatening race-based crimes to our black friends. This was the first domino to tip on that day.
Once these were posted, it prompted the POC in that friend group who had been made targets for so long to finally stand up to him and feel like they had the power. One of them spoke to him directly and told him that he was ignorant and harmful. The other two finally found the courage to tell the rest of the white bystanders how our inaction made them feel, which was a different type of heartbreak. They told me that they had always felt outnumbered by us and unsupported, which was why they always laughed along and played like everything was fine and fun.
When they would laugh at the hateful jokes made about them, it was out of discomfort, not humor. How could we have been so blind as to not see this? Did we really spend so long thinking that it was just cool with them and never had an impact on their self-image? I am deeply sorry to the black community for not standing up for these individuals. There is no excuse. Never again will I see hate like that and let it be okay.
However, this scenario is a perfect example of how white privilege can be used to amplify the voices of POC. Since one non-POC used their privilege to stand up to another non-POC, THREE black young adults were able to face a former bully and realize just how strong they are. How strong they are for enduring that hatred, how strong they are from growing from it, and finally, how strong they are from conquering it.
This one instance does not solve racism, obviously. But it is a look into how white people need to hold each other accountable. When we see something disgusting and disrespectful, it is our duty as allies to ensure that it is called out and condemned. I will never let racism slide by me again. It did remarkable damage to my friends when they were in their most formative years. I am so proud of them for getting through this, even though I am sure it will not be the last experience with racism that they will have. This movement in our country is for the better, and I hope the demand for equal and fair treatment is one that will finally be lasting. After hundreds of years of fighting, I hope justice for the black community will finally be fully achieved.
