Subject: I calls it like I sees it.
Author:
Posted on: 2020-06-30 15:20:38 UTC
I'm not going to try to change your view, but I'm not sure you've understood what mine actually is. I'm a little offended at being accused of having a savior complex. We're having a polite conversation. This is the only effort I'm making as a would-be activist right now. Compared to the lengths others are going to in living the social justice values I share, it feels pretty pathetic to me, so being accused of going too far feels unpleasantly ironic. Yet, I am doing the best I can at this time.
To clarify: My opinion on this issue is informed by what I'm hearing from the larger discourse around me. When I hear Black voices saying things like "white silence is violence," I believe it is incumbent upon me to hear and respond. This isn't me forcing my ideas of help on others whether or not it's what they've asked for, as a "white savior" does; this is me listening to what others say they need from people like me and doing my best to accommodate, even if it's in very small ways such as this.
I'm not ashamed of being what I am—I didn't choose it any more than anyone else, after all—but admitting that a problem exists is the first step in fixing it. If I can't even acknowledge being a small, incidental component of a larger systemic problem, how am I ever supposed to take the correct steps to improve?
All this was interpreted correctly:
> Acknowledging that historically, there have been white people who have oppressed non-white people; asking white people to help out non-white people when they need it; thinking progress needs to be made to make the world a better place; holding people who hold power accountable
I hope I've made myself more clear.
~Neshomeh