One last time…on performative allyship
This is performative bullshit -White Woman Walks Around Chicago’s South Side Bearing Sign: ‘Black America I’m Sorry’
So let’s talk about performative allyship for a minute, cause a lot of people do it and it’s grating as fuck on the nerves. I see a lot of what this woman did on twitter and other spaces. It’s virtual but it’s the equivalent of what she did. There’s a lot of I’m sorry, I’m sorry for my race, all sorts of apologies that honestly do very little for the pain black people are in.
This is a generalization like whoa, but I see it here, on FB and other spaces. Honestly, what is apologizing for other white people for? IMHO it serves as ally performance to show you’re a good white person, that you’re “woke”. It also refocuses the issue back on you.
So the black person you’ve now performed for has few options.
A:Ignore what you’ve said
B: Reply & manage your feelings
or
C: Get angry
If we take option A & ignore you, then we clearly don’t want your help, sympathy or whatever it is you’re offering. We usually don’t.
There’s option B, that we reply to your ‘apology’ meaning we have to once again put our pain on the side to manage your feelings. Nah fam, not I.
Lastly, there’s option C, which is where a lot of us are after another week of police murdering black people again. Anger is powerful, useful & sometimes That incandescent rage is all that keeps us going.
Miss me when you wanna get angry cause I won’t mange your white guilt. That’s what performative allyship comes down to. Demonstration of white guilt in hopes of praise for being more aware than other whites. Spoiler there’s no prize for being the most woke white person on Twitter, or FB or for slapping down other white people
It’s why I wind up writing things like this: On calling on POC for Outrage Entertainment Also this; On Suddenly Woke White Folks…because some supposedly woke white folks give me gray hair and make me drink at noon.
So before anyone gets in their feelings and comes in my TL/comments section with “How dare you! I’m trying to help!” Think carefully, reply real easy. Because chances are good that if my tweets bothered you? You might be doing performative allyship & know it.
You might also wonder, how can I fix it if I am doing that? One free answer, shut up. Say not one damn word. When black people are speaking of their anger, their pain, their sorrow at seeing another person as a hashtag? Keep your apology. Keep your words of sorrow, we’re busy right now dealing with our own shit & we can’t manage your guilty feelings too.
Anyone wants help getting a grip on their white guilt beyond that? Pay my consulting fees, I got bills and my time is valuable.
