Transcript:
Hey everybody. Welcome back to White Male Rage podcast. My name is Jeremy and today I want to talk to you about this Instagram account and this post that has really gotten me thinking for the past week or so. It’s by an account called @nowhitesaviors and I’ll link their account in the show notes. And their post says, “questions for white folks” or “Question for white folks. What do you think disowning your racist relatives and friends does in the fight against anti-black racism, exactly? Boundaries are cool, but if you cut them off and aren’t willing to hold them accountable, then who will?”
And as I’ve been thinking about that and thinking about the people that I allow into my life and the people that I don’t allow into my life and what my responsibility is in this world, where systematic racism has been put to the forefront and whether you believe it, or you do not it doesn’t really matter to me. It’s my show, I guess. I do believe that it is a thing and I do believe that there’s a responsibility to address it and to deal with it, somehow.
And my general rule of thumb is not to cut people off and out of my life. There are people that I don’t talk to as much, and there may be one person on Facebook that I’ve ever blocked or unfriended and that was just because they were the parent of a person where I work. It would not have been good for professional responsibilities in an area that I really didn’t have much relationship with the person to speak into it.
And so I think about this post and what is my responsibility in this world to address racism and who to address it with. And we had this, this person come into to the place where I work and give some sensitivity and anti-racism training and it was, it was very good. And they had the spectrum or maybe not a spectrum, but like, a linear scale of where you’re at on, you know, being an advocate or being woke or not. And basically at the one end, it was, you are actively a bigot and actively racist or actively discriminatory to any minority group or under power group. And then on the other side, you were in the realm of advocacy and somewhere in there is this scale and shade of, of where you’re at in the, in the spectrum.
And following accounts like this, I hope, in my world is, is taking me deeper. You know, the one thing I have learned and I’ve heard before, and I do believe that it’s not up to black people, specifically, in the ideas of racism to educate white people on what to do to be better. But thankfully for accounts like, you know, @nowhitesaviors, there is people who are willing to share their thoughts, which causes me, and I hope others to stop and reflect on the feelings that people are having that they might not even necessarily be comfortable with sharing to my face, if we ever would have the opportunity.
And as I think who I’ve cut out of my life specifically because of racist remarks, it’s really been one person that I don’t talk to nearly as much. And I’m not really afraid of confrontation. This is not to boost me up. Please don’t hear that as this. It’s that I’ve addressed it and it has damaged relationship to a level that is not cool. And that’s, and that’s not preventing me from addressing any other, you know, any racism issues or anything like that.
That’s it’s just very sad. It is discouraging and disheartening that somebody that I would’ve grown up with and I admired deeply and greatly would turn out to have such differing views and views that I don’t maybe were hidden, or I chose not to acknowledge or recognize, or didn’t have the capacity to recognize as a kid, were displayed. You know, so there’s a grieving process and a lot of ways to love somebody who looks at the world and doesn’t see love.
And how do we go forward from there? How do we go forward to encourage and educate people? Because here … I’ll give you my, my understanding of my role in this world, especially in terms of talking about systematic racism and in our role as white people specifically in it, is that I know that not all people think like me, and I know that not all people will agree with me, but I believe that there are people who do and who will, and who might not have the words, the resources, or the courage to speak up. So I’m hoping that my speaking opens the door for others to ask questions, to acknowledge that maybe there are other people like me, you know. ‘Cause Sometimes when, especially this younger generation, students I work with, for example, they’re aware of what’s happening in the world to such an extent that I would not have been. And I’m, you know, only 12 years removed from high school or something like that. You know, they’re, they’re aware of the world and they have this technology at their fingertips and they can see people’s stories and they can hear stories. But when you’re stuck in areas where, you know, the idea of justice and social justice is unpopular and you’re an Island, it can be very easy to think that you’re not right or you’re not normal.
And my wife has spoken to me and we talk about this a lot. That there’s no way that we can change people’s minds on our own. Like my words can not change somebody’s mind. It just cannot happen. It has to mind change has to come from the people that are willing to actually have their mind changed. And that is from exposure to different viewpoints. That’s from people who look like me calling out people that look like me to not, you know, it’s a very simple as not make jokes that are, you know, not cool.
But cutting people off and setting boundaries and not engaging in education is tough. I’m not quite sure where I’m at on this post yet and thinking about it. And there’s a story in the Bible where Jesus says go to a town and if they welcome you stick around and work with them. And if they don’t want you there, you know, dust your feet off, kick the sand off your sandals and move on to the next place. And I don’t know where that fits into this, my role of working up and speaking out. I think that if I speak out and I just engage in the world in a way that is, I think, I hope, I hope, as an advocate and spring forward conversation that more pupil will coalesce and those who are, we’re interested in curious, we’ll be able to ask questions that I can provide answers, not answers, but resources to uh. Social media accounts, like @nowhitesaviors to follow or @everydayracism_ and people that are just have been shaping my life. And then, you know, as that starts to reach a critical mass, then people start to realize that their, their hatred is not welcome and not cool. And it’s I guess, a war of positivity or a war of doing the right thing and war maybe a little bit extreme, but a movement.
I’m just using my voice, I hope to show that there is a different way of thinking from the way white people have thought before. And I hope that’s a good voice because I never want to be a voice that tries to silence others’ voices, or to shut down conversation of inclusion or excluding people from the table.
But I want to work with people that want to do right in the world and through that action. And through that community change starts to be evident in the world or space gets to be made for people who might not have had a seat at the table before. And all the while, you know, all the while, just sharing my heart and what I have learned and sharing my thoughts on what has challenged me.
I hope you,, listener are open to exploring new ideas and open to, to being challenged. And the coolest thing about social media or the internet in general is you can do that wherever you’re at. You can do that and hear and listen, and, and just soak in the wisdom and experiences of people that don’t look like you, or think like you, all in the pursuit of being good people and in my pursuit, in the pursuit of holiness and loving people, like I believe Jesus loved people, which was unconditionally and just, you know, speaking in love and not condemnation. That’s what my hope and my goal is. And seeing people as, as worthy of being loved.
So I hope that as you start to process through some of this stuff, if you want to reach out to me, please do uh. You can find me on Twitter at @white_male_rage. Whitemalerage.Org is the website and just, you know, reach out and have some conversations and share. Share with me what’s your process and what you’re doing with and what you’re experiencing and what do you think about this idea of cutting people off or holding people accountable, or simply just working for positivity and whoever comes along comes along, you know?
Um and that’s, that’s a good idea, I think, and kind of the mantra. So, myself be a lightning rod and speak about what is good and what is right. Hopefully other people will come along and hear my voice, but also not being afraid of being an interrupter. And I think maybe that’s a good place for me where I’m at right now, right? Speak for what is good, speak what I believe to be right and just but then also just when it comes up, just simply interrupting the awful things that might be happening in the sphere of influence that I have. Never cutting people off, never ignoring people, never disengaging with people. Uh I don’t know. Maybe that’s a good approach. You could share what your thoughts are. Maybe that is a good approach. Maybe it’s not. So your community, be a lightning rod, do what is right and what is just and what is good and interrupt injustices as they happen in your sphere of influence. I think maybe that’s where, that’s where I’m at right now. And I’m sure in 14 episodes or something, I’ll see another post like this. And every thing will change and my life will get wrecked again and that’s okay because, if I’m not learning, I’m not continuing to be shaped and molded, then, you know, what am I doing with my life?
Jeremy P. England 