The Troublesome Word in “White Supremacy Culture” Is Not the One You’d Expect
We are a culture that freaks out at the word supremacy. For good reason: most of us came to know the word as we came to know about the KKK—individuals categorically called White Supremacists. Similarly, we definitely freak out when we're called racist; because most of us came to know that word as it's relegated to the KKK. So white supremacist = racist = KKK which definitely didn't mean me, my friends, or my family.
So it's not surprising that it took me a long time to wrap my head around the fact that I am racist. As I say this to myself right now, I'm listening and looking...for the internal panic, the heightened pulse, the urge to immediately defend that screams No I'm not! Don't call me that!! I'm glad to report it's not there, replaced instead with a little smile. Because now I know: I can't be anything but racist.
I come from a culture that from its very inception has been predicated on some people mattering, and other people less. People racialized as white are more valued, recognized, cared for, and prioritized than those racialized as Black (the true & original targets) or as people of any other racialized identity (borne from the seeds of anti-Blackness). So I went hunting, looking for the racist-ness so insidiously infused into my thoughts, words, actions and choices; the ways of whiteness. Here's an example: I got a free turkey a few years ago and chose to offer it to the Black family on my block, not the white or Asian households...because consciously I wanted to befriend them and unconsciously I thought they alone on the block would appreciate (or need) the 'gift'. Such a shamefest I went on when I realized this; and now, how grateful I am for these very kinds of realizations, everyday.
It took me even longer to accept that I'm supremacist. I was so focused on racism, anti-racism, and racial equity, I couldn't see that even if the whole racialization project was somehow erased, the system of supremacy would still be alive and well. While it's true our entire country's culture—morals, values, structures, institutions, proclivities, fetishes, unconscious urges, private intentions—are shaped by anti-Black racism, it's also true that racism is just one slice of the whole pie that constitutes our system of supremacy. Racism serves supremacy. I have been conditioned, for example, to feel that as a white person, I'm smarter, more capable, more successful, in all ways better than people of color. I've also been conditioned to apply this practice of superiority against anyone who is not educated, fit, able-bodied, English speaking, monied, and at least a couple of generations deep in this country. This is the practice of supremacy: of being better than, more than, best of, most of: it's about being and seeking the superlative, all the time.
Highest, biggest, tallest, fastest, strongest, most, best: as a culture, we leverage these qualities in horrible, denigrating, institutionally-supported, state-sanctioned ways against every racialized, socialized, marginalized body. The practice of supremacy is in our constitution, and as I've found, even in our individual best intentions. For example, I got hung up on finding a socially responsible bank that would also offer a competitive interest rate...until I realized if I dropped the criteria of best rate, there were several options that better matched my values.
These days, I'm on the hunt for supremacy. In conversations where white people bemoan how their whiteness is causing harm, I'm seeing how the practice of supremacy is the larger issue, and these white folks are just as harmed by it as those they're concerned about harming. When a group reflects on itself asking "how is whiteness showing up here", I'm seeing the question might help racism diminish, but without an analysis of the system of supremacy racism serves, the group misses a significant opportunity for culture change.
White folks have a ton of work to do, and it's work I'm keenly interested in both personally and professionally. Yet focusing on white is insufficient if what we want to take down is supremacy: cis-het folks will still matter more than trans-queer folks. Colonizers will still matter more than original inhabitants. Fluent, 'accentless' English will still matter more than accented English. People who walk and run will matter more than people who limp or roll.
In other words, keep your eye on the whole pie. Join me in this project.
November 2024 Back to Notebook Home
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