For years, I dreaded going to work the day after a racially charged event. White leaders would rush to create a space to talk about what happened; I would have an inbox full of messages of people apologizing and saying they would do better. Inevitably, I would be asked to lead a healing space for people of color and then in a few days we would “get back to work.” The “doing better” rarely happened, and people of color continued to use outside spaces to heal from the stress of working in an environment dominated by white supremacy culture. Today, I’m sure managers, teachers, and leaders, are jumping into work today ready to ask people if they’re okay and to “create spaces” for dialogue and discussion. Spaces that will likely position people of color and black folks in particular to share their perspective and typically will not result in accountability for oppressive, anti-black policies. The culture of the organizations will likely not change either.
Before jumping into this cycle of performative allyship, ask yourself: have you done the work of understanding yourself and of knowing how white supremacy culture and anti-blackness live inside of you? These spaces always seemed disingenuous to me because the work place was hostile, antiblack, and steeped in white supremacy culture on a day-to-day basis. Talking about racially charged events happening nationally or globally without recognizing the connection to the ways people perpetuate the systems of oppression daily allows us to think about racism as an afterthought because we don’t reflect on how these systems live inside us.
What happened yesterday isn’t divorced from the daily microaggressions and macroaggressions that go unnoticed in the workplace. The same white supremacy that ignores applicants with black sounding names, fails to promote employees of color, speaks over women of color during meetings, stereotypes black women as angry, and doesn’t equally compensate employees of color is the same white supremacy that was aided and abetted by police to take over the government. So before you run to “create space,” reflect on how white supremacy lives inside of you.
Do you prioritize the comfort of your white employees over the safety of your employees of color?
When people bring concerns of racism, sexism, ableism, or homophobia to the organization, how do you handle it?
What policies and procedures are in place to protect marginalized workers?
What emotions are tolerated at your organization, and who is allowed to display emotion? Is it okay for white women to cry while women of color are penalized for speaking passionately?
Do you emphasize politeness over all other forms communication? Are people penalized for raising issues at work?
Do you ignore conflict when it arises?
Reflect on these questions and ask yourself what is the daily experience of people of color at your organization. White folks, you all need to answer these questions for yourselves, your families, and your colleagues. Create those safe spaces, but create them for your family members, your friends, create them at your homes, and create them for the white community. People of color have to understand whiteness and white people in order to survive. We know whiteness so intricately that we understand it better than white people. Any safe spaces created need to be centered in getting to know and understand whiteness and white supremacy culture if we are ever going to dismantle the hatred, oppression, and genocide that this country is built upon.
