Dr Zuleyka Zevallos

What's wrong with Helen's assertions? Many things. For one, the need she feels to write me an email - coupled w/ the fact that she has set up a fake email to do so- rather than respond publicy on my blog. Emails like this intend to goad me into personal arguing. #socmoderation

Let's look at Helen's comments in turn. She starts by quoting my study, but demotes my empirical and theoretical argument to an 'assumption.' She wants to reduce my expertise to an opinion, so that her feelings, which follow at length, might have equal value. #socmoderation

Next, Helen asserts her cultural authority, using Anglo tropes "my grandmother was a war bride from England." (White Aussies establish authority over non-English speaking migrants with harks to the motherland & ancestry. Our #POC ancestry makes us un-Australian) #socmoderation

Helen says her granny 'held on to as much of her accent as she could.' She 'proudly' told people she was from England 'even though' she was an Australian citizen from age 25). #POC migrants are discriminated for our accents & work hard to perfect our English... #socmoderation

Whiteness makes it easy to position an accent as a mark of positive distinction. Helen's grandmother also achieved citizenship at an early age. Many refugees fight years for this & it's increasingly hard for non-English-speaking migrants to gain citizenship. #socmoderation

Helen's grandmother is touted as being 'proud' of her accent. So it's little surprise that 'where are you from' is a different experience than for #POC migrants. My research shows this question can be positive, but not when it's tinged by racism. Helen ignores this #socmoderation

Helen's husband is 'British born British/Australian with a "west country" accent.' Helen moved from Brisbane from Melbourne 25 years ago. Because they have been asked 'where are you from' on occassion, she sees this as nullifying the racism my research identifies. #socmoderation

Helen's logic illustrates how racism functions: if she's observed a *kind of similar but not really* experience & she's okay with it, maybe racism doesn't exist? White people being asked 'where are you from' is NOT the same as #POC. She needs to believe otherwise #socmoderation

My research shows that it's the context and interaction that matter: when the question 'where are you from' is followed by incessant questioning & dismissal ('but where are you REALLY from') this reinforces other exclusion & racism #POC experience in daily life. #socmoderation

Also, it's telling that Helen's examples are of White people with White-coded accents (British, Brisbane ). The women in my study were second-generation, largely Australia-born, and all without accents. Yet they're still asked 'Where are you REALLY from?' #socmoderation

Helen then uses White supremacy play: she has not engaged with the empirical evidence, but asks for more evidence ('Is it a case that no ‘white Australians’ were interviewed'). Were White people interviewed in my study about 2nd gen migrant women? Of course not. #socmoderation

What compels the Helens of this world to write to race scholars & demand we take back our anti-racism? In Helen's words 'I am "guilty" of asking many white people where they are from' Guilt White people don't want to think about race. They don't like how it feels #socmoderation

The Helens *do* recognise their racism but they want distance. She writes: 'when "white Australians" are asked, they don’t link the question to the colour of their skin...perhaps that is...white privilege?' She knows the answer, but wants a different answer. #socmoderation

White supremacy is the belief that White people are superior to other groups. It is enforced in political economy & everyday life in various ways. Some are structural (laws), others are via social interaction (prejudice & social norms). E.g. Refusing to see racism. #socmoderation

White people who want to debate what racism is, and what it is not, especially in the face of evidence & lived experience of #POC is another manifestation of White supremacy. That White people are objective authorities who define racism is how racism is normalised #socmoderation