By Roshni Goyate

The start of June saw the uprising of global Black Lives Matter protests in response to the public murdering of George Floyd in the US. 

Black lives have always mattered and this particular uprising has shown the urgent need to dismantle long upheld systems of racism and anti-Blackness that permeate every area of our lives. June’s Diversity Dictionary words have sought to interrogate the ways in which we can all be allies to our Black colleagues, neighbours, friends and family members, but also, importantly, the many ways in which we have all internalised messages of white dominance in a way that puts Black people’s safety at risk every day. 

While four words and phrases shared over the course of a month will certainly not solve the deeply embedded inequities of racism, our purpose with Diversity Dictionary is to begin laying foundations of language so that we may all continue the lifelong work of examining, unlearning, relearning and taking action that is required in order to create a fairer, more equitable world. 

ALLYSHIP 

⁣Supportive association with another person or group, specifically association with the members of a marginalized or mistreated group to which one does not belong. 

Allies recognise that though they are not a member of the oppressed group(s) they support, they make a concerted effort to better understand the struggle, every single day.⁣ Anyone has the potential to be an ally. 

Being an ally is hard work. Many of those who want to be allies are scared of making missteps that get them labeled as “-ist” or “-ic” (racist, sexist, transphobic, homophobic, etc). But as an ally, you are also affected by a system of oppression. This means that as an ally, there is much to unlearn and learn—mistakes are expected.⁣

PRIVILEGE

Privilege is closely linked to allyship. It is the right, advantage or immunity granted to or enjoyed by an individual or group beyond the usual rights or advantages of others. In the context of social inequality, it means that some groups of people are treated better than others based on their race, gender, disability, sexuality, socioeconomic status, education, age, and many other identity touchpoints. 

For example, if you are a non-disabled person, consider that you’ve never struggled to use a public bathroom when you go out, or been unable to get through a door because it isn’t wide enough for your wheelchair. If you are white or white-passing business-owner, you may never have struggled to get a business loan or insurance for your company. If you identify as straight, you may never have had to face abuse for holding your partner’s hand in public. 

Privilege is an opportunity for us to understand how we individually and collectively benefit from a white supremacist system. It is about equal treatment. Once we acknowledge our privilege, we must ask, how can we USE it to take action and dismantle a system that prioritises certain lives over others?  How can we actively create a fairer world for everyone? 

WHITE FRAGILITY 

White fragility is the tendency among members of the dominant white cultural group to have a defensive, wounded, angry, or dismissive response to evidence of racism. 

Coined by sociologist and author Robin DiAngelo, the term ‘white fragility’ sums up the inability to tolerate the stress of racial injustice precisely because they are shielded from the violence of racial injustice. When they are made aware of racism, the reaction is often defensiveness, discomfort and disbelief. How many times have you heard the phrase ‘I’m so shocked this is happening in 2020’? It is probably rooted in white fragility. 

In instances of white fragility, white people are more offended by the accusation of racism than the act of racism itself. They will tend to make excuses and explain away racist behaviour rather than acknowledge the impact of racism on those who have to face it daily. 

WHITE SAVIOUR

While allyship has gained much-needed traction in recent weeks, it often comes with a less talked-about risk: white saviourism. What is a white saviour? It is a white person who provides help or ‘aid’ to non-white people in a self-serving manner while simultaneously dehumanising those they set out to ‘help’. 

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:

In film and literature, 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 is framed as helpless and downtrodden. This perpetuates the idea that non-white people are inferior. 

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. 

We see it in the unequal power dynamics such as 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, essentially using them as props. 

White saviourism is about power imbalances, white privilege and the premise that black, indigenous and people of colour need ‘saving’ in some way – that they should be grateful for their saviours. This may not even be a conscious behaviour on the part of the white saviour. But there is an erasure of humanity that is harmful.

Part of our mission at The Other Box is to educate as many people as possible to become more fluent in the language of Diversity and Inclusion (D&I). On all our social channels, we’ll be sharing our monthly theme supported by weekly words and their definitions. The terms are a taster and have been taken from our CPD-certified Diversity Dictionary™ module in our Know Your Bias™ course. If you'd like to learn more, check out our courses page and fill in the contact form. 

If there is a theme or words you would like to see in our Diversity Dictionary offerings, please do let us know. Our work is co-created by our community to work towards creating a world that is more inclusive and safe for everyone.

Definitions by Roshni Goyate

Header image by Clay Banks on Unsplash