đ¤ˇđ˝ââď¸Prepare for this to suck (Issue #6)
Sometimes you have to collaborate with individuals who perpetuate your oppression
Do you feel like the door is closing? Like, on the whole equity-at-work thing? Does it seem like we had an opening last year, but now there are subtle and not-so-subtle signs of backlash? Iâd like to be more upbeat about this, but letâs keep it real: Of course, thereâs a backlash. Thereâs always a backlash. Itâs like the law of racist gravity.
Surveying the landscape from my telescope atop Mt. Crumpit has revealed some signs of disquiet, and resurgence of the status quo. And by âtelescope,â I mean reading smart folks like Jennifer Chudy. Chudy, a social science professor, foresaw last year that support for the Black Lives Matter was shallow and not likely to last:
Current white engagement on racial issues may not extend beyond police brutality, the kind that has no obvious or immediate villain: economic disadvantage, health care, employment, housing and even the environment. My work suggests that until more white Americans feel emotionally invested in less visibly outrageous forms of black disadvantage, their commitment may not extend far.
Cut to this year and her suspicions have been borne out by the data:
The more general picture contradicts the idea that the country underwent a racial reckoning. Last summer, as Black Americans turned their sorrow into action, attitudes â especially white attitudes â shifted from tacit support to outright opposition, a pattern familiar in American history.
There is no glamour in this work
This canât help but be reflected in the workplace. Last year, companies made bold promises because they felt like they had to. There was too much pressure. Itâs very different now. So if youâre an equity practitioner at workâmeaning youâre engaged at some level either officially or unofficially and are emotionally invested in what your company is doingâchances are you feel skeptical at best.
You can and should connect with progressive, like-minded individuals for support. But the reality is you cannot do anti-racism work without getting closer to racism. You cannot do liberation work without getting closer to oppression. If youâre dedicated to real outcomes that change material conditions, sometimes you have to roll-up your sleeves and collaborate with individuals who perpetuate your oppression.
Prolonged exposure to the ugliness of the problem is taxing. Youâre gonna feel that shit in your soul. It will make your heart tired.
Did you know you basically signed a contract when you decided to become a change maker? Itâs true. And sometimes you need to take a look at some facts buried in the fine print of that contract:
People may care, but not for long
Itâs not just the historically inevitable backlash, itâs also the uniquely exhausting times we live in. The 24-hour news- and social media-cycle delivering a non-stop geyser of misery. People whose support arises out of social pressure will drop out. Use it while you can, because allyship evaporates. Every time.
Sometime the âbad guysâ win
Case in point: Coinbase. Their CEO forbid his employees from discussing politics of any kind at work. Calling things like basic justice and human decency âpoliticalâ and âdivisiveâ is a silencing tactic. And not a very slick or original one. Doesnât matter, it still works. A year on, whatever dust-up the Coinbase policy caused is long over. The âno-politicsâ CEO might win. Like Chris Rock said: What goes around, does not in fact always come around.
As things get worse, gaslighting will increase
Expect a vast misrepresentation of whatâs possible and an over-celebration of âwinsâ that donât move the equity needle. Theyâll give you Juneteenth as a federal holiday but will ban a curriculum that explains the holiday in the first place.
How to proceed then? Curl up in a ball and give up? Fuck that. No, look to people whoâve been doing this a long time, veterans of the struggle who already know there are no quick payoffs. Cultivate a perspective beyond yourself and your own lifetime. Martin Luther King didnât live to see all these streets named after him. Fred Hampton didnât live to see the HBO adaptation of his life. You might not get your flowers either.
And remember: Your existence is your resistance. Survival in this troubled world is a great accomplishment, especially for women and people of color. Build a strategy that prioritizes self-care and stamina. Your peace and health are critical to doing this work.
âGosh, you sure have a lot of advice for us for a green dude who lives alone on top of a mountain with an ugly dog.â Thatâs what I hear you saying right now. But this isnât advice so much as a reminder to myself and anyone else who needs to hear it:Â Keep fighting. And keep finding your joy.
In solidarity,
Your Grinch
In physics, there's a rule known as Lenz' Law. Specifically, it applies to systems where electromagnetic fields are changing with time, and it says that physical systems will always act to oppose the change. I've long thought that there was a societal version of that, where any time something changes, especially in a way where people who previously didn't have legal rights/access/power now have even a little more, society (read: white men, primarily) will react by trying to reverse the change. Of course, physical systems don't have a choice, they act the way they do because of laws of nature, and social systems *do*, given that people can choose differently, but we all know they don't. That doesn't mean change can't happen, it often means that the change needs to be even larger to offset the response.
Of course, it sucks that for entirely too many white people, their response was "Okay, it was bad that George Floyd got murdered. Now let's stop talking about it and go back to the way things were."