TODAY’S EPISODE: That white (hot) spotlight
I’m sure that longtime readers of BGIM here have noticed that I don’t post nearly as much as I used to. Hell, BGIM herself lately mentions “bringing me out of retirement” when she makes note of a new post by me. (And right now she’s visiting family, so I’m trying to fill her posting gap a bit until she gets back.)
The fact is that I’ve never retired from writing here. I’m not even on some sabbatical per se. Part of it is wondering how much I might be repeating myself and not wanting to post if I don’t have something new and valuable to offer.
But it’s also about the spotlight. Not that I can’t take being in the spotlight, but that spotlight is often white-hot…and by that I mean focused on whiteness. Too many white people rise in the anti-racism and “inclusion/acceptance” circles (racial or otherwise) to the detriment of other voices. White voices get amplified; white people get all kinds of credit for saying “anti-racism” stuff that is really just common-sense humanity.
Yes, there are a few Black people too—and I won’t name names—who have risen high in anti-racism or diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) circles but don’t really seem to do anything because it’s more about enriching their bank accounts at a certain point rather than seeking change or working hard to make change, as BGIM tries to do. Worse yet, sometimes those people even start echoing talking points that serve white supremacy and bigots more than they do disenfranchised people who are non-white, not cishet, etc.
But back to white people, since I am one. Back to the “white hot” spotlight.
Another reason I post less: I don’t want to hog the spotlight. I don’t want what I say to detract from people who live through bigotry and oppression every day. It’s also why I don’t use my name here. Average White Guy is who I am here—whether I’m truly average or not. I don’t want to profit in reputation or money for what I say here, because the things I say need to be said. I am doing only a small part of the overall work I probably should be doing.
Many people have figured out who I am. And that’s fine. Some of the bigots and haters of BGIM like to taunt her with the “I know who AWG really is.” Good for you. I’m not trying to hide my identity; just trying not to steal the spotlight.
A few years back, someone actually approached BGIM about publishing a book around topics by me as AWG and that would be authored under either the name Average White Guy moniker or perhaps even my government name. As much as I would love to be published in book form and not just the hundreds of articles I’ve written in my career, that didn’t sit right with me. Me profiting off my small part in this site and BGIM’s work? No. It wasn’t right; it wasn’t fair. Another white person enriched while BGIM and other Black people struggle to get recognition and compensation for their hard work. No. Just no. Never.
It would put me potentially in a role as “knowing more” somehow. And I don’t. It would elevate yet another white voice when I don’t need the elevation. It could lead down a path of me feeling somehow self-important and critical to the cause in a way that I am not. It could be a path toward being a “white savior.”
And I’m tired of white saviors in movies and in anti-racism spaces. I’ve watched enough of them complicate and try to ruin BGIM’s life and work and the work of so many others like her.
Perhaps worse yet, I’ve seen white “anti-racism” so-called supporters and allies of hers act like holy patrons. Making her beg for scraps or bend to their will like they know more about racism than she does. It’s no better to try to make Black people and other marginalized groups into your pets or loyal underlings whom you “protect” with your whiteness and your demands to put whiteness first. That’s as bad as outright bigotry. It’s an unkindness—even an unhealthy fetish.
So, while I urge all white people to do better and to speak up, I do not encourage most of them to take the spotlight. Few have earned that right to speak and be elevated and paid so much—especially when Black voices and other marginalized voices mostly get scraps from the table.
As white people, we need to do better. To play our part but to also know when we need to step back and, sometimes, shut up and let the people being harmed talk instead.
And let them enjoy a spotlight that shows them off in all their knowledge and humanity.
[To find other installments of “Calling All White People,” click here]
