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Allyship has gained much-needed traction in recent weeks but it comes with a less-talked-about risk: white saviourism. A white saviour is a person who provides ‘aid’ to non-white people in a self-serving manner while simultaneously dehumanising those they set out to ‘help’. [1/8]
![Allyship has gained much-needed traction in recent weeks but it comes with a less-talked-about risk: white saviourism. A white saviour is a person who provides ‘aid’ to non-white people in a self-serving manner while simultaneously dehumanising those they set out to ‘help’. [1/8]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Eb1UBD2XsAE1YFL.jpg "Allyship has gained much-needed traction in recent weeks but it comes with a less-talked-about risk: white saviourism. A white saviour is a person who provides ‘aid’ to non-white people in a self-serving manner while simultaneously dehumanising those they set out to ‘help’. [1/8]")
![Allyship has gained much-needed traction in recent weeks but it comes with a less-talked-about risk: white saviourism. A white saviour is a person who provides ‘aid’ to non-white people in a self-serving manner while simultaneously dehumanising those they set out to ‘help’. [1/8]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Eb1UBDwXYAAR1-Y.jpg "Allyship has gained much-needed traction in recent weeks but it comes with a less-talked-about risk: white saviourism. A white saviour is a person who provides ‘aid’ to non-white people in a self-serving manner while simultaneously dehumanising those they set out to ‘help’. [1/8]")
White saviourism has deep roots in colonialism when native populations being colonised all around the world were assumed to be in need of ‘saving’ by white European Christian missionaries. Today it shows up in a number of different ways: [2/8] #DiversityDictionary
In film, the ‘white saviour’ trope is where a white character ‘saves’ a non-white character from hardship. The white person’s story is usually centred, while the non-white character's framed as helpless. This perpetuates the idea that non-white people are inferior. [3/8]
In the volunteering and charity sector, white saviourism shows up where white volunteers and tourists assume they know what’s best for the people in the places (usually an African country) they’re visiting without actually asking those people. [4/8] #DiversityDictionary
We see it in the unequal power dynamics when a white person while doing charity work (again, usually an African country) posts a picture of themselves surrounded by black kids without naming the children or sharing anything about their stories, basically using them as props[5/8]
White saviourism is about power imbalances, white privilege and the premise that black, indigenous and people of colour need ‘saving’ in some way and should be grateful for their saviours. This may not even be a conscious behaviour on the part of the white saviour. [6/8]
But there is an erasure of humanity that is harmful.
As Nigerian-American writer @TejuCole once said, “The white savior [sic] supports brutal policies in the morning, founds charities in the afternoon, and receives awards in the evening.”
[7/8]
As Nigerian-American writer @TejuCole once said, “The white savior [sic] supports brutal policies in the morning, founds charities in the afternoon, and receives awards in the evening.”
[7/8]
We recommend following @nowhitesaviors (IG) who give nuanced breakdowns of how seemingly well-meaning, often socially acceptable behaviours can easily be white savourism, upholding structures of social inequality and white supremacy.
#DiversityDictionary #KnowYourBias [8/8]
#DiversityDictionary #KnowYourBias [8/8]
