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April 26th, 2013
Code of Ethics for Antiracist White Allies
By JLove Calderon and Tim Wise
Sponsored by SURJ-Showing Up For Racial Justice
Excerpted from Occupying Privilege; Conversations on Love, Race, and Liberation
We
are persons classified as white who oppose racism and the system of
white supremacy. As such, we are committed to challenging the individual
injustices and institutional inequities that exist as a result of
racism, and to speaking out whenever and wherever it exists. We are also
committed to challenging our own biases, inculcated by a society that
has trained all white people, including us, to one degree or another, to
internalize notions of our own superiority.
As
antiracist allies, we seek to work with people of color to create real
multiracial democracy. We do not aspire to lead the struggle for racial
justice and equity, but rather, to follow the lead of persons and
communities of color and to work in solidarity with them, as a way to
obtain this goal. We do not engage in the antiracist struggle on behalf
of people of color, so as to “save” them, or as an act of charity. We
oppose and seek to eradicate white supremacy because it is an unjust
system, and we believe in the moral obligation of all persons to resist
injustice. Likewise, we believe not only that a system of white
supremacy damages people of color but also that it compromises our
humanity, weakens the democratic bonds of a healthy society, and
ultimately poses great risks to us all. Because we believe white
supremacy to be a contributing force to war, resource exploitation, and
economic injustice, our desire to eradicate the mindset and system of
white domination is fundamentally a matter of collective preservation.
Though people of color are the direct targets of this system, we believe
that white people are the collateral damage, and so for our own sake as
well, we strive for a new way of living.
To
do this with integrity, we believe it will be helpful to operate with a
code of ethics in mind, so as to remain as accountable as possible to
people of color and to each other, as we challenge white supremacy. We
know from experience how easy it can be to act with the best of
intentions and yet ultimately do harm to the antiracist struggle by
choosing tactics or methods that reinforce privilege and inequity,
rather than diminish them, or by acting within the confines of an echo
chamber of other antiracist white allies, while failing to ground our
efforts in structures of accountability led by people of color.
In
recent years, the number of white folks engaged in one form or another
of public antiracist work or work around the subject of white privilege
(as scholars, writers, activists, organizers and educators) has
proliferated. Likewise, schools, non-profit organizations, and even some
corporations have begun to look at matters of racism and white
privilege within their institutions. As this work expands at many
different levels, it is perhaps more necessary than ever that white
people who are working to be strong antiracist allies take a good look
in the mirror, analyze and critique what we do as well as how we do it,
and ask: How can we, as antiracist white allies, operate ethically and responsibly as we work toward helping to dismantle white supremacy?
To
this end, we propose the following code of ethics for antiracist white
allies. Though it is hardly an exclusive or exhaustive list, we believe
it is a start toward a more responsible and responsive antiracist
practice for white persons who wish to act in solidarity with people of
color in the battle against racism. The code should not be viewed as a
fixed or final document, let alone as a checklist or “rulebook” for
responsible antiracists. It is merely a guidepost. We hope that it will
lead to productive reflection, discussion, and even healthy debate among
those who are engaged in antiracist struggle.
Code of Ethics for AntiRacist White Allies
1. Acknowledge our racial privilege.
Self-reflection
matters. So does public acknowledgement. Although there are many ways
in which white people can be marginalized in this society (on the basis
of gender, sex, sexuality, class, religion, disability, etc.), this
truth does not eradicate our racial advantage relative to people of
color. As white people, we can be oppressed in these other categories
and still benefit from privileges extended to white people.
Acknowledging racial privilege doesn’t mean that we haven’t worked hard
or that there weren’t barriers we had to overcome; it simply means that
our racial identity helped us along the way. Indeed, racial privilege
will even work in our favor as we speak out against racism. We will
often be taken more seriously in this work precisely because we are white, and we should be clear on that point.
2. Develop interpersonal connections and structures to help maintain antiracist accountability.
Accountability
matters. When we engage in antiracist efforts, be they public or
private, we should remember that it is people of color most affected by
racism, and thus, they have the most to gain or lose as a result of how
such work is done. With this in mind, we believe it is important to seek
and obtain regular and ongoing feedback from people of color in our
lives (friends and/or colleagues), as a way to better ground our efforts
in structures of accountability. Although this kind of accountability
may play out differently, depending on our specific job or profession,
one general principle is that we should be in regular and ongoing
contact with persons in the communities that are most impacted by racism
and white supremacy—namely, people of color.
3.
Be prepared to alter our methods and practices when and if people of
color give feedback or offer criticism about our current methods and
practices.
Responsive
listening matters. It’s not enough to be in contact with people of
color as we go about our work. We also need to be prepared to change
what we’re doing if and when people of color suggest there may be
problems, practically or ethically, with our existing methods of
challenging racism. Although accountability does not require that we
agree with and respond affirmatively to every critique offered, if
people of color are telling us over and over again that something is
wrong with our current practices, accountability requires that we take
it seriously and correct the practice. And, all such critiques should be
seen as opportunities for personal reflection and growth.
4. Listening to constructive feedback from other white people, too.
Community
matters. Particularly as we work to reach a broad base of white people,
we need to listen to feedback from the people we are working with.
White privilege tends to breed individualism, and this plays out in the
form of white antiracists distancing ourselves from other white people
and competition between antiracist whites to be the “most down.”
Listening to feedback from each other as white people helps to counter
that tendency, and encourages us to collectivity.
5.
If we speak out about white privilege, racism, and/or white supremacy,
whether in a public forum or in private discussions with friends,
family, or colleagues, we should acknowledge that people of color have
been talking about these subjects for a long time and yet have been
routinely ignored in the process.
Giving
credit matters. Because many white people have tuned out or written off
the observations of people of color, when another white person speaks
about social and racial injustice it can be a huge “aha!” moment for the
previously inattentive white listener. The speaker may be put on a
pedestal. We should make sure people know that whatever wisdom we
possess on the matter is only partially our own: it is also the
collective wisdom of people of color, shared with us directly or
indirectly. Likewise, beyond merely noting the general
contribution of people of color to our own wisdom around matters of
race, we should make the effort to specify those people of color and
communities of color from whom we’ve learned. Encourage others to dig
deeper into the subject matter by seeking out and reading/listening to
the words/work of those people of color, so as to further their own
knowledge base.
6. Share access and resources with people of color whenever possible.
Networking
matters. As whites, we often enjoy access to various professional
connections, resources, or networks from which people of color are
typically excluded. The ability to act as a gatekeeper comes with the
territory of privilege. The only question is, will we help open the
gates wider or keep them closed? As allies, we should strive to share
connections and resources with people of color whenever possible. So,
for instance, we may have inroads for institutional funding or grant
monies that could be obtained for people of color-led community
organizations. We may have connections in media, educational
institutions, or even the corporate world, which if shared with people
of color could provide opportunities for those people of color to gain a
platform for their own racial justice efforts.
7. If
you get paid to speak out about white privilege, racism, and/or white
supremacy or in some capacity make your living from challenging racism,
donate a portion of your income to organizations led principally by
people of color.
Giving
back matters. Although it is important to speak out about racism and to
do other types of antiracism work (organizing, legal work, teaching,
etc.) and necessary for people to be paid for the hard work they do,
whites who do so still have to admit that we are able to reap at least
some of the financial rewards we receive because of racism and white
privilege. Because so much of our own understanding of race and racism
comes from the collective wisdom of people of color, it is only proper
that we should give back to those who have made our own “success”
possible. Although there is no way to ascertain the real value of the
shared and collective wisdom of people of color on the understanding
that white allies have about racism, it seems fair to suggest that at least
10 percent of our honorariums, royalties, salaries, or other forms of
income should be shared with people-of- color-led organizations with a
commitment to racial and social justice. It would be especially helpful
if at least some of that money goes to locally-based, grassroots
organizations that oftenhave a hard time getting funding from
traditional sources.
8.Get involved in a specific, people of color-led struggle for racial justice.
Organizing
matters. If we are not fighting against police brutality, against
environmental dumping in communities of color, or for affirmative
action, for immigrant rights, for access to health care, or for
antiracist policies and practices within our own institutions and
communities, what are we modeling? How are we learning? What informs our
work? Can we be accountable to communities of color if we are not
politically involved ourselves in some aspect of antiracist struggle?
9. Stay Connected to White Folks, Too
Base-building
matters. In addition to our roles in active solidarity with people of
color, white people involved racial justice work also need to reach out
to other white people to broaden the base of antiracist white people.
Unless we do the latter, we fall short in our accountability.
Accountability means showing up, not just with ourselves, but with more
white people each time.
10.
Connect antiracism understanding to current political struggles, and
provide suggestions or avenues for white people to get involved
Accessibility
matters. We can connect the participants in our networks, classes, and
trainings to opportunities for ongoing political work. We can bring
current grassroots political struggles into our activism, education, and
organizing by addressing the issues that people of color tell us most
directly affect their lives. We can give tools and resources for getting
involved in the issues the participants identify as most immediate for
them, whether those be public policy issues such as immigration,
affirmative action, welfare, or health care; or workplace, neighborhood,
and community issues, such as jobs, education, violence, and toxic
waste. After contact with us, people who we come into contact with
should be able to connect directly and get involved with specific
current struggles led by individuals and groups with a clear antiracist
analysis.
The
premise of this code is simple: White people have a moral and practical
obligation to challenge racism in a responsible and responsive manner.
To this end, we believe that the principles of self-reflection,
accountability, responsive listening, building community, giving credit,
resource sharing, giving back, organizing, base building, and
accessibility are important starting points for whites who are engaged
in any kind of efforts to eradicate racism and white supremacy. We hope
that this code, devised as a set of suggestions and guideposts for white
allies, will prompt constructive dialogue and discussion regarding how
white allyship can best be developed and deployed for the purpose of
building true multiracial democracy.
A note about how this code was created:
The
initial code concept was created by JLove, who then joined with Tim.
Together they wrote the first draft of the code. That draft was sent out
to a multi-racial, intergenerational group of activists, organizers,
educators, artists, and everyday people who care deeply about social and
racial justice. Input was given, and the authors took key insights and
common themes and incorporated them into the editing process. Another
round of feedback was led by Paul Kivel. We thank everyone who took the
time to bring their wisdom and expertise to the table for this
accountability work.
