Fellow white people: I’ve got some advice for you.

1/n

If you are focusing on unlawful behavior or property damage instead of how someone was murdered, then shift your focus. Examine your values. If you think that but also think you are “one of the good ones,” then you likely need a lot more work to be “good” in this context.

2/n

If your public post/words are framed via your feelings or the perspective of white people, stop. Please. It’s not about you. Talk to other white people privately if you need to do so.

3/n

Don’t expect POC to answer your questions. There’s a lot of information out there on the internet, in books, in podcast, etc. Find it and don’t expect POC to do the work finding it for you. If they provide it, thank them. (Simply without making it about you.)

4/n

There are many POC who are willing to make their thoughts and stories public. #Listen. #Learn.

Also

5/n

Yes, it is sad and horrifying that POC need to publicly disclose their anguish and trauma for some white people to understand. Be respectful of their willingness to do so by listening and learning. Without injecting your opinion. Or arguing with their perspective.

6/n

Have you also experienced anguish? Trauma? I suspect you have. This isn’t the time to disclose that. You don’t need to say it as an “I understand” or a “but it also happens to us” reply. It doesn’t happen to us. Not like that.

7/n

Yet when white people say nothing in these situations? It looks like we don’t care and that we support the status quo.

8/n

It can also be painful for others to see you post about sourdough starter or how cute your dog is when they literally are saying, “Please don’t kill us.” At best, you look like an oblivious white person.

9/n

You get a brief moment here to experience the confusion of “don’t say that but say something” conundrum. But then suck it up. Compared to the experience of POC, this isn’t even a hangnail.

10/n

Yes, I know. Most white people aren’t taught to discuss issues of ethnicity/race. Most of us are taught to *avoid* talking about issues of ethnicity/race. So, you’re going to stay stuck without attempting growth?

11/n

What should you do/say? Here’s the challenge: How can you make it clear you abhor white supremacy and its associated violence without framing it from the white perspective?

12/n

Amplify the voices of POC. Do they need your help promoting their voices? Probably not. But RT’ing or sharing some incisive commentary from POC can also signal to your followers what your values are. And expose people to importsnf commentary.

13/n

If you have the funds, donate to the appropriate organizations, based on the specific situation. Publicly encourage others to do so.

14/n

Those are a couple of easy, quick ones. There are others. Here’s one list:

15/n https://medium.com/equality-includes-you/what-white-people-can-do-for-racial-justice-f2d18b0e0234

Worried about offending your friends/family/followers? As a reminder, someone DIED. I was socialized to avoid conflict, and I suspect a lot of you were, too. And if you aren’t used to it, it can feel scary. But likely not as scary as what POC experience every day.

16/n

Have I completely and entirely ignored intersectionality? Yes. Yes, I have. Maybe I’ll write something with more nuance some day. For now, this was the intro, social media version for beginners.

17/n

I’ve been sharing this resource a lot. It’s got some great advice.

18/n https://www.katykatikate.com/the-blog/2020/5/26/5-racist-anti-racism-responses-good-white-women-give-to-viral-posts

There are a lot of great resources in this thread

19/n https://twitter.com/isasaxonists/status/1183544846042238976?s=21

Thanks for reading this far

20/20, for now...

I knew there would be more...

Here’s another resource with specific actions you can take. Apologies that I don’t know the sources of this one

21/n

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Xa9Av-NfuFsWBHlsMvPiqJHdNedZgnCRW56qAS-7PGQ/mobilebasic