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How To Be a Proper Ally (Don’t Expect Roses)
White men can help fight white supremacy.
By Paul Hartzer
I am a white male. I am also a feminist and a black rights comrade. I have something to tell any of my fellow white males who want to join the fight:
Don’t expect to be trusted by everyone you’re trying to help.
In the wake of the election, there seem to be many of us who have a new or intensified interest in equal rights, and in combatting racism and sexism in this country. That’s an excellent thing. I hope that one of the good things that comes out of this realization that xenophobia and Othering can be used to win an election, that the monster of racism is larger than we’d thought, is a solid, consistent push to slay that monster.
By all means, let’s end racism. Let’s end sexism while we’re at it, and Islamophobia, and queerphobia, and all the -isms that turn us against each other. That’s the game of the power elite: Have us attack each other, while they sit in mansions and enjoy the fruits of our labors.
But the idea that we white males are serious and trustworthy this time is going to be a hard sell to people who have been pushing for civil rights for centuries.
