Tuesday, September 16, 2008

let their whiteness get in the way of their love


I agree that love matters in the world, but I don't think white people should love their whiteness. Better for everyone, I think, that we take a shot first at hating it.

I don't mean that people should hate themselves for their pale skin, for something we were born with. I think we white people should sometimes hate ourselves for what we do, or don't do, in the world, for the choices we make about that white skin. In other words, we should hate whiteness and be accountable for our own complicity with whiteness. We live in a white supremacist society and benefit from white privilege. We should hate that fact, and if we haven't done enough to change that world, well . . . .

When we acknowledge that we don't--or shouldn't--like some aspect of ourselves, it can be the liberation that ends with a more authentic loving of ourselves and others.


--Robert Jensen,



Regina Frank
"Whiteness in Decay" (2003)

No comments:

Post a Comment

Please see the "commenting guidelines" before submitting a comment.

hit counter code