Today I am struggling with the ways that self-care can intersect with privilege and apathy in complicated, messy ways. (/1)

There are many people who legitimately need to step back and disengage for their own health, and that's valid and real.

Then you have folks like my white parents who have spent their lives NOT engaging in anti-racism because it's "so depressing" and there's "nothing we can do".

There's people on here who genuinely need to log off and self-care, and then there's some particular white folks who haven't really done anything but still feel the need to performatively announce they're Taking A Break From All This. Because they have the privilege to look away.

There's a certain level of privilege often involved in looking away, because it can mean you're not affected so much as others. And it's hard to talk about that when we talk about self-care because at that point "privilege" is often the last thing on our mind. We're hurting.

I don't really know how to thread this needle except that I wish my fellow white people would try to tough this out a little longer, a little more, and at the very least to NOT make big announcements about how they're taking a time out for themselves right now.

There's a very effective SNL skit wherein the Handmaid's Tale has come to pass but cis white men have failed to notice because they don't care. And I think about it a lot.

No one expects allies to be on here 24/7. Take a nap. Watch a movie. Recharge your batteries. Don't burn out.

But white folks need to stay engaged on this over the long haul. Take breaks, sure, but come back.

That's my thoughts, anyway.

To be clear: When I talk about staying engaged and being here, I mean in a number of ways that include online activism. I'm disabled and haven't been able to physically attend protests. I'm not here to say online support isn't real. Signal-boosting and bail donations matter.