Whatever point you take as the dividing line, there will be an argument, because it is all random. Prior to the onset of rapid transportation, we still covered a hell of a lot of territory (like from Ethiopia, where we (Homo sap) likely originated to Australia, Greenland and the Americas, it just took longer. Claiming to be “from” somewhere just means that you chose to set your point of origination at that time. I agree, without speaking the language or understanding the culture, it is debatable how much that means, although an awful lot of 2nd and 3rd generation Hispanic kids i see do not speak Spanish nor understand or live the culture, but still very much identify as Honduran or Peruvian, so that definition is limited also.
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Some fragile white people are pissed because Vanessa Williams is going to sing “Life Every Voice and Sing” on the PBS A Capitol Fourth event…
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Let them boo-hoo; it’s well past time.
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Hell yeah! Lift Every Voice and Sing is a much better song than the Star Spangled Banner, too!
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Agreed:
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(ETA, sorry for the wall of text. I tried to be concise, I really did!
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I recently had a conversation with a dear friend who works in the restaurant industry, almost always in the punk community, and it’s been rolling around in my head so thought I’d put it here to see if you all have any insights. On the topic of Juneteenth, she brought up a local white female restaurant owner who’d put together a Juneteenth celebration event, and my friend was really annoyed. I thought, if I was in the restauranteur’s position and wanted to celebrate, I’d probably try to reach out to Black-owned businesses and say something like, “hey, I have this venue and resources and would like to support you however I can. Is there a place for me to help?” My friend admitted that the person in question did do just that, but my friend (also white) was still annoyed. It seems like the reaction boiled down to being annoyed at the restauranteur publicizing the effort on social media, which I get might’ve been performative (but I didn’t see the actual posts or anything.) I’ll clear it up with my friend next time we chat, but it got me thinking about how sometimes even assuming someone has the best of intentions, it can all go sideways.
It’s got me thinking about how and where businesses (particularly white-owned businesses) can lend support, and what kind of responsibility having the platform of a social media presence puts on you.
My friend had the position of, “I support these things, I give money, I attend rallies, but I don’t make a big fucking deal about it.” Which I get. She said business is not the place to put forth these beliefs. But otoh, if I’m going to frequent a business, I’d way rather support one that stands for the causes I believe in and not the (recently revealed to me) Trumper-owned cider house up the hill.
So, while I agree that this stuff shouldn’t be performative, I do think there’s a place for businesses to let their values be known.
Any and all insights, quips, cartoons and disagreements totally welcome. When it comes to white Americans supporting Black causes, is there a cheat sheet, a set of questions to ask yourself, or something else to help do it in a meaningful and non-belittling, performative, or cooptive way?
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Maybe that’s the heart of the problem though, and why your friend find it “performative”… should businesses HAVE values? They are for-profit entities, not people. I think that’s maybe where your punk friend is getting irritated. Less about the intent of the business owner and more about the business owner using a social issue as an opportunity to bring in business by being “woke” as the kids say. I’m sure the owner is not thinking of it so deeply and likely has good intentions, but do they also show up for social causes that aren’t connected to their bottomline? Would they host this event even if they were not going to profit off of it in other words?
But the business owner her boss consulted who was Black might not have seen it that way, either, as they are a business owner and they might just appreciate the gesture - but they are a business owner seeing it through that same lens.
I’m thinking to some extent that your friend is seeing it through her own punk rock value system, which tends to be anti-corporate.
I think you just got to do the research yourself the best you can and do what you can to help. And of course, too many white people do that thing where they put themselves at the center of the work they are doing, which rightly pisses people off. The less we do that, the better, I think!
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I think that might be it, for this situation, at least. Kind of, you could do this and quietly stay “behind the curtains,” so to speak, helping and supporting, and that’s respected and the people who need to know find out about it through the community, Versus making yourself the headliner.
Thanks for the insight ala punk culture, too.
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Small businesses are made up of people, and those people want to let their communities know the values they hold. Yes, they want to attract customers, but they also want to support events and such that they think are important. I don’t think it benefits anyone when we start gatekeeping who can promote what holidays. Don’t we have some obligation to show support?
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That’s what I was thinking too. But I also really respect this friend, and I value her opinion, so if she felt something was “off” in the way it was done, I trust that something was probably off.
It boils down to, “were you doing this just to attract business, or do your broader business practices also express that support.
Like, if a business is putting BLM logos on their social media, but also supporting politicos who are actively fighting against real history education, fuck those guys. I guess that’s where we, as customers, still have to do our due diligence.
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And also, I’d add, “Were you doing it to assuage your white guilt, while foregrounding your business, and really yourself, as supposedly good? While actually doing nothing else that actively counters racism/white supremacy?”
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How much performance does it take to effectively become the real thing? How much are you willing to claim that your definition of doing enough isn’t being met by others? How much activism is needed to count? People do what they can. For some that’s a lot of public action, for others it’s being supportive through the means at their disposal.
As an analogy, look at the amount of pride merchandise you can find stores these days. Ten years ago corporations were still so worried about being boycotted that slapping a rainbow on everything and claiming that makes your business supportive wasn’t happening. Even if this is a purely profit driven action, nonetheless it does support the acceptance into society of a group not too long a ago criminalized for existing and deemed mentally ill for wanting to be allowed to live like everyone else. Giving more of America the idea that support for Black communities is a positive, and reminding them that the history they think they know might be incomplete (to say the least) is really a social necessity these days.
Intent matters, and many Black people are fully capable of recognizing true allies with genuine motivations.
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Speaking only for myself, I follow my moral compass because it extrapolates from my chosen values, not because I believe it will please others. Sometimes people are displeased, and I try to listen because there’s often a good chance they have experience or knowledge outside my ambit and I often learn things when I remember to listen. In short, I care more about helping and not hurting others than earning their approval, because if I succeed in doing the right thing then any approval is merited and if I don’t then no amount of approval will make that any less of a personal failure.
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Getting off topic, but since you use that example:
So these companies have an accepting and supportive corporate culture, but give money to politicians who are essentially trying to make being trans illegal.
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Is it support if it’s just intended to generate business? And is it really support if that is the ONLY time one shows support, when it benefits financially? I get that they need to get the business running, but at some point, you do stuff not because it’s beneficial financially, but because it’s the right thing to do.
But my larger point was that the punk had a more anti-commercial view point, not that the business owner was engaged in a cynical act, necessarily. They might be entirely sincere in their concern over these issues.
All good questions!
Not doing it for the $$$ and not doing it to make yourself feel better is a good start…
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https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/08/entertainment/blackfishing-explainer-trnd/index.html
The term came to prominence in a Twitter thread two years ago when journalist Wanna Thompson said she noticed White celebrities and influencers cosplaying as Black women on social media.
“Blackfishing is when White public figures, influencers and the like do everything in their power to appear Black,” Thompson told CNN this week. “Whether that means to tan their skin excessively in an attempt to achieve ambiguity, and wear hairstyles and clothing trends that have been pioneered by Black women.”
Critics have described it as a form of blackface, saying it creates a dangerous paradox by celebrating Black beauty and aesthetics – but only when highlighted by White people.
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The only reason we do any altruistic thing is to make ourselves feel better. We feel better by doing things we think are morally correct, even if they involve sacrifice on our part, whether that means changing our actions or our perspectives. If we see what we are doing as righteous, we feel good about doing it. Going to a protest and getting tear gassed makes us feel that we have suffered for our beliefs.
We should try not to judge the local purity of the actions of others.
Speak for yourself. People do the right thing for all kinds of reasons. Because someone is watching. Because they feel they have to. Because they want to. Because they are forced to. Because it makes them feel better. Because it improves the world around them and the lives of those around them. Because they get paid.
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