White People Still Don't Get It!

Earlier this week when many of us were listening to the news of the very prominent Utah shooting that took place of a conservative activist whose name deserves no direct mention; I was in my car driving to my teaching job listening to the reactions of many of those online. 

Being a progressively minded person, I’ve had my fair share of listening to the I’ve Had It Podcast (IHIP) featuring two liberal white women from Oklahoma, Jennifer Welch and Angie Sullivan. I actually sang their praises recently on a soon-to-be released episode of my podcast Queer Story Time.

I agree with a lot of what they have to say politically, especially their critique of conservative Christians behaving in ways that are antithetical to the faith of which they proclaim; this deeply resonates with me and my own lived experiences growing up in the Christian church, as a Christian Pastors kid witnessing the incongruent behaviors of many self-identified Christians over the years. 

Whereas I resonate with the ongoing conversations they have about this specifically and how it intersects with our current politics here in the U.S., I was deeply horrified when listening to their coverage of this recent shooting stating in one of their videos how much they abhor gun violence and condemn political violence all while boiling C.K.'s rhetoric down to a "difference of opinion".

In that moment, I felt what every single person of marginalized identity likely felt; here are two liberal white women condemning violence against a man whose rhetoric was nothing but violence. 

Not only did you have the ladies of the IHIP pushing a disingenuous both sides argument that we should be against political violence all while feeling some level of remorse and empathy for a man who made millions of dollars stoking political violence; you also had many other white liberal podcasters and commentators follow suit on these same narratives simultaneously. 

Sadly, what we saw on prime display this week were white liberal tears for a man and his family who built an entire career on violent racism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia and beyond. 

Many of these same white liberals parroted the same talking point, “You can disagree with someone’s political opinions all without shooting them.” 

While that is all well and good, the vile hatred and evil that C.K. promoted day in and day out for nearly 15 years has no equivalency to an “opinion”.

Here is what all too many white people are not yet understanding…

The rhetoric he espoused is a perpetuation of a violent system of supremacy which seeks to eradicate anyone that is not white, cis-gender, heterosexual, or Christian. 

C.K. was the white poster boy for this movement; a movement that white people inherently benefit from within Western society. 

Offering sympathies and tears to C.K. all while espousing a liberal politics that believes “all human beings are created equal” yet simultaneously doing nothing to improve the systemic oppression that black, brown, indigenous, queer/transgender, and disabled people face within society is sadly equivalent to the misalignment between Christian belief and Christian behavior that was mentioned earlier. 

Liberal white tears mean nothing if we as white people do not actively work to disrupt the harm created by the system C.K. and all of those like him seek to uphold. 

In the aftermath of this shooting, all of the cries for civility, for decorum, for empathy, for compassion, for non-violence; it’s meaningless when directed at a man who has denied all of these things including a fundamental level of humanity to those that are non-white, non-cisgender, and non-Christian.

The oppressor does not deserve our sympathies whether he looks like us as white people or not; especially toward a man who did not believe in empathy himself.

In an ultimate sense, most of us do not condone any form of violence; however, in the relative world of which we live, where white people often miss the mark, is by not recognizing how systemic and unending violence toward oppressed peoples' often leaves those of oppressed identities with no other choice.

This is why we must work within our capacities as white people to disrupt the violent system of oppression enforced against those it marginalizes and stigmatizes within society.

We cannot do this if we maintain a both sides argument; either we are against oppression in all forms against all people or we are actively upholding this system of violence.

So, if you're a white person reading this and feeling discomfort; good, I'm glad. I invite you into that discomfort.

It is high time we as persons of European decent not only contend with our own ancestral legacy of colonialism but the strong disconnection many of us have from our own ancestral roots. This disconnection from our ancestry, our lineages, our culture, our bodies, and our lands is exactly what has created the conditions for all of these violent systems of harm to persist to this day, including colonialism, white supremacy, imperialism, fascism, patriarchy, and capitalism. They're all interconnected and C.K. endorsed, encouraged, and championed them.

So what can you do about it? Where can you begin as a white person? 

Start by actively working to decolonize your mind beyond Western ways of knowing, being, and existing. 

If you can begin with the recognition that the white way of knowing, being, and existing in this world is not the only right way of knowing, being, and existing in this world; then you're off to an excellent start. 

Stating this does not mean that I'm encouraging us as white people to continue being disconnected from our ancestral ways of knowing, being, and existing; what I am encouraging however, is an genuine openness and curiosity to other human beings that have different lived experiences; those who come from different countries, cultures, and traditions; those from different backgrounds; those from different religious beliefs and beyond.

Through working to decolonize our minds and seeking cross-cultural understanding from a grounded and heart-centered space; we can begin seeing the differences between us as insubstantial to the shared and inherent humanity that exists among ALL human beings regardless of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religious proclivities, gender identity and any other factors that have politically sought to bring about hatred and division.

As the Maha Upanishad, one of the ancient texts of the Hindu tradition teaches, Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam meaning "one world family;" or "the world is my family."

It's time we, especially those of us of European decent, actively partner with the most marginalized among us to breakdown all of the systemic harms that keeps us from the truth of oneness and interconnection. This starts with you, it starts with me, it starts with us.

May it be so.