How To Be An Ally
Required reading…
“I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season.”
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
To reiterate, as insidious and far reaching as the tendrils of racism and oppression are, an equally sinister force is neutrality. Remaining neutral in times of great, public oppression is to side with the oppressor. Understand that the status quo we acknowledge, is a concept of order based on oppression; it is a negative peace. The pursuit of a positive peace is far more frightening, but far more noble and vitally necessary. Understand next, that in order to push back against a suppressive force one must take action, but remember that the action doesn’t need to be agreeable. You can’t identify and recognize the oppressive struggles of a people and then chastise them for exerting their will toward justice, simply because it seems inconvenient to you. Don’t be more horrified at the response to injustice than the injustice itself. The more you try to make excuses for your impartiality, the more you side with the oppressive force.
In picking a side, you become an ally. However, “ally,” like “fight” or “love,” is both a noun and a verb. It’s great that you’ve taken a stand, now you need to take a step forward. It’s not enough to just be an ally, you must behave like one. I hesitate to say you should “act” like an ally, because people who claim to be allies perform enough as it is. Performative support is just showing solidarity for the hell of it. It’s an endorsement without contribution. For example, look at our current situation: it’s been weeks of escalating, public protests, if the only thing you’re doing is “raising awareness” you’re not really doing anything. Everyone is already aware, and those who aren’t are beyond willing to listen, let alone notice. It’s not enough to say that you stand with black people if you don’t physically stand with black people.
To be an ally is to be proactive. You should both listen to the voices of people of colour, and amplify them. Understand the privilege you have, and use that privilege to aid those constantly impeded by a suppressive system. It’s not enough to not be racist, you need to confront racial injustice, especially when it’s uncomfortable. If you’re going to post quotes and petitions and places to donate, you should also be educating yourself and others about the legacy of oppression, signing petitions and donating your money. If all else fails, use your platform, be educative and informative, exert your influence where you know it’s needed, or just raise the voices of those who need to be elevated.
Your support must be sprawling, if you stand for the lives of minorities, you must stand for all kinds. Black lives matter indeed, those who are black and queer, black and trans, black and disabled, black and non-binary, all fall under that umbrella. If you march for Black lives, understand the scope of lives you march for.
The important thing to remember as an ally is not to centre yourself. Understand the movement without coopting it, being foremost grateful that you yourself don’t need a movement in the first place. It’s exciting that you’re fired up, but use your voice with purpose; an ally doesn’t talk over me, they talk to me and louden my voice. They express support, they have the difficult conversations with problematic people in their life, and they speak up in situations where the voices of people of colour are being silenced or threatened. Don’t succumb to the pitfalls of asking people of colour to teach or educate you. It’s a cop out to excuse yourself as not knowing where to start, or not knowing what to do. There are blindingly flagrant and obvious answers that you may be too scared to accept, or too lazy to search for given the abundance of resources at your disposal.
The perfect representation of allyship is summed up by Rahul Dubey. The man who let dozens upon dozens of peaceful protesters take refuge in his home after being terrorized by police. He understands his privilege and applies it, he understands his outreach and uses it, and given the opportunity to expose oppression and brutality, he does just that.
We find ourselves in a curious and precarious position given the state of the world. As it stands, we are in the midst of a global pandemic, and given the precautions that most of the world has taken, substantial sections of the globe are halted. This means our attention and ambitions are trained on these protests, there’s not much else to do between trying to survive and watching other people try to survive. Given the circumstance, we are able to give our time and energy to these protests, but as we gradually shift back into normalcy - whatever that looks like - will we lose momentum?
I fear satisfaction. You’ve responded to the calls to action, you’ve protested, you’ve educated yourself and others, you’ve done “the thing” that needs to be done to qualify and embed support, but we still can’t be satisfied. As satisfaction creeps in, so does complacency. Black lives aren’t only under attack when brutality manifests publicly, however, that is when the grand majority of us takes notice and gets active. We’ve been here before, in Selma, in Los Angeles, in Ferguson and in countless cities. At some point we waver; social media becomes mundane again attention averts and the spirit fizzles out. You can’t be satisfied with having done, we must remain insatiable in our need to continue to do.