A typical example of everyday racism, illustrating how & why White people who think they're Very Progressive are actually replicating White supremacy.
This weekend was the Sydney Writers Festival. I went to a session led by an Aboriginal woman w/ Black #women guests.
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I'm sitting up the front on a table with a friend. A White woman sits beside me, ignores her male partner for the rest of the night. She has an oddity to acquire: me. I'm polite. I say hello. Her first question: "Are you Aboriginal?"
No. I'm Peruvian.
"Oh! Potatos!"pic.twitter.com/zxSzMEdUmJ1 reply 2 retweets 16 likesShow this thread -
"How many varieties of potatoes do your people grow?"
Peru is famous for agriculture. But why do you think a White woman reduces this to "potatoes"
, even though she says she's travelled through Peru?
Why is it I've only had White people ask if I'm a "peasant"?
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She's travelled through Latin America but cannot remember the names of any countries, even after I list them. She asks if I was born here. (She wants to dismiss me as Not Australian) She asks if I'll live here much longer, despite now knowing this is my home since childhoodpic.twitter.com/gIp3jtLL7F
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She's getting visibly flustered. She says: "I think this is a great country. We have so much equality. Don't you think?"
I say: It depends. For whom?
She starts babbling about refugees. "Terrible how they've been treated!"
Me: "Yes. WE'VE done them wrong."
Her: [squirms
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I do not make her feel like a "good" White person. I do not give her kudos for being at a panel by Black women. I am polite but I don't smile when she is ignorant. Finally she says: "I think we're very lucky to live here. Don't you agree?" She wants to put me in my place.pic.twitter.com/1hSlnyCzvx
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Me: What do you mean by that? Lucky in comparison to what? [AUS has a myth that we're the "lucky country." This country is beautiful but our history is genocide & enslavement of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander people. It is the White Australia policy. Not so lucky for all]pic.twitter.com/AnDn1paHr2
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Now she's deeply flustered. She asks what I do. Me: I'm a sociologist. White woman [physically relaxes]: "Ah! Now I'm starting to get this!" The show starts. She can dismiss her discomfort due to my education. Maybe I'm just a smartiepants agitator. It's not her. It's me.pic.twitter.com/0anyiVwVf0
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So she continues to move through the world thinking she's not contributing to racism. As so many White people do.
#POC navigate conversations like this w/ White people daily, alongside other forms of everyday racism (being followed in stores etc) and structural discrimination.pic.twitter.com/qztfxfv2Ca
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Moral of the story: White people really need to think deeply about how they wield their Whiteness. No amount of books you read, shows you watch, or "poor refugees" you utter, you're likely making
#POC uncomfortable at the least, or doing great harm at worst.2 replies 8 retweets 42 likesShow this threadThanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
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