Writing
Three Words that White-Latinx/e Need to Say "No" To and Stop Gentrifying
Though it's unclear when we adopted the term "white-passing," white-Latine have nonetheless gentrified the concept. The word was meant to capture the experience of Black people, not bilingual white people who speak Spanish. As the brilliant scholar @gfx_prints once reminded her Instagram followers, “Speaking Spanish does not make you a person of color.” The history of "passing" has primarily focused on what was gained but ironically, white-Latine use it to demonstrate what is lost.
How White People Can Restore and Revitalize Our Anti-Racism in the New Year
The majority of white people fell off the anti-racist boat because we didn't have a solid reason to keep us in the work. Having a solid understanding of why anti-racism is important is crucial to sustaining oneself in the work. If we don't have a solid why then we can't show up ethically; if we can't show up ethically, then we show up problematically, and if we show up problematically, we inherently sustain oppressive systems (like white supremacy) and threaten liberation.
Why “White-Passing” Latinos Need to Stop Distancing Ourselves from Anglo-Whites
“But they have ‘othered’ me” and “they have discriminated against me” are two of a long list of narratives that “white-passing” Latinos use to remain in racial limbo. “How can I have white privilege when I’ve experienced their racism?” is another narrative we unearth from our tumultuous garden of internal racial chaos.
Honestly, There Are Three Things I Hate About the Term White Privilege
Though McIntosh's theory has been an influential tool for understanding whiteness, many Critical Whiteness Scholars believe it contains several loopholes. I think it may be time to reevaluate and, at the very least, evolve white privilege into a more operationalized term. That said, I honestly hate the term white privilege, and here are five reasons why:
Why do White Children Whisper “Black People”
Since white supremacy is the default of our U.S. American society and racism a by-product, it is no surprise that white children grow up into adulthood with (often) unchallenged racial biases. One way the racial prejudice of white children manifests is by perniciously whispering "Black people" in conversation. One implication is that Blackness is something that we need to be quiet about because it's inherently bad—like we learn at a young age to not say ‘bad words,’ like b**ch, sh*t, or the ‘F’ word.
White People, Don’t Be Afraid To Do The ‘Antiracist Stumble’
If there was a book titled "How Not to Do Antiracism," I swear my face would be on the cover page. Still, part of the reason my antiracist journey has been transformative and continually deepening is that I've made several mistakes. I've stumbled and face-planted along the way; heck, I've even created an antiracist alias! Through it all, though, I recognize that being in this work for the long haul means striving for sustained antiracist commitment and not perfection.
Reframing Racism is ‘White People Problems’
Being labeled a "racist" should not be the end of the world, nor should it feel like a death sentence. Honestly, being called racist pales compared to experiencing racism; George Floyd and countless other Black lives have died because of racism. It appears as though white people have a framing issue that needs refining.
“If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.”
― Toni Morrison