All White Women Are Karens (This Black-Ass Life)
Welcome to the 94th installment of This Black-Ass Life! It’s hot outside and we tired! Let’s talk about the myth of the good white person and ways in which American white people are sheltered from being held accountable from their own systemic and everyday racism.
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I. The Facts
Let’s start with this: Issa Rae introduced us to this braided Boss Lady and a lot of white women and white people generally are closer to this than they realize:
When society uses terms like “Karen,” it allows a cutesy nickname to remove the violence white women have inflicted throughout U.S. history through today. White women’s virtue and intentions are often upheld despite the harm of their actions. Think: Comfortably running plantations, lying to lead to the murders of Black people, treating attending lynchings like tea parties, etc. Here’s a look at depictions of white women’s violence in entertainment.
Let’s pull over for a minute on another cute lil term: imposter syndrome. Black people, especially Black women, are often undervalued, underpaid and made to feel underprepared at their jobs. But let Sheryl Sandberg and other white girl bosses tell you, it’s a confidence issue. Maybe jobs should just BE BETTER and SHOW US RESPECT?
Lastly, let’s discuss the Good White People™ who distance themselves from Bad White People™ by punching Nazis and confronting cousins at the Thanksgiving table. They’ll punch Nazis and throw mashed potatoes every day, but let someone try to integrate their schools, slow their gentrification or even begin considering redistribution of power or wealth. That is when the posters and clipboards filled with petitions come OUT!
Why does it matter?
Whiteness and white supremacy is as omnipresent in America as air, for White people of any political ideology to think themselves anti-racist because of surface level acts is annoying.
Having lived in predominantly white liberal spaces for all our adult lives, we can comfortably say we don’t know any Nazis (fingers crossed), QAnoners or Grand Wizards. What we do know, and who we’ve been harmed by, are white liberals who believe they are better than they actually are.
One of our favorite past-times after Mango Mugabe won the election was comparing notes about the white women in our lives who could not wait to tell us their kinfolk voted for him and they wouldn’t go to Thanksgiving as a protest. Super helpful. Thanks, girl.
When white people exclusively frame racism as this nebulous, academic thing to be studied or as only performed by Karens and the Klan, they’re given cover to minimize the ways they individually benefit from and perpetuate white supremacy.
In more “progressive” spaces, this becomes a landmine for people of color because what we end up getting are white people who read the right books, attend a rally or two, have the language of racial justice, might even work in racial justice, but people who also relegate racism to a theoretical where they are never the perpetrators.
What can my white ass do?
Give up your resources and power. If you are not ready to do THAT, STFU about racial justice.
As y’all like to say, “do the work.” This newsletter better not be the place where you get any serious answers.
Mind your white-ass business and stop telling Black people about how racism works.
Figure your shit out with your racist ass families, friends or any other institutions, and stop telling us about it. You don’t get an award for doing the bare minimum.
REMINDER: Your proximity to Black people, a fondness for Black people’s genitals, having Black children, your ability to two-step, none of these make you less of a beneficiary of a society built and sustained for your benefit, and yours alone.
What can my Black ass do?
We (Jumoke & Mitu) often find refuge in affirming, Black-only spaces. Here is a newsletter from a couple years ago celebrating Black-only spaces.
Read Baldwin. There’s something so comforting about how he, in particular, reads America for filth.
Watch Ziwe’s Karen Convention because we need to laugh.
ll. Other Things
Fun things.
This podcast on Before I Let Go is just JOY.
This meditation was made by and for Black girls.
There is beekeeper beef.
Check out these Black-ass summer reading recommendations.
Here are a few of our favorite Black Lady Sketch Show sketches from the second season: The Last Supp-her, Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number and Rude Poisoning.
Our Black-Ass song(s) of the week (Mitu):
Vincint and Alex Newell have a summer HIT in Higher.
Things we are looking forward to / things we are not looking forward to:
I (Jumoke) look forward to convincing Mitu and you other nignogs that the Snoop Dogg / Clark Sister collaborations are actually very good!
I (Mitu) look forward to a Fast & Furious marathon with Jumoke. We have never seen these movies and want to understand.
lll. A lesson from a Black-Ass Parent
My (Mitu’s) mom is a very big fan of calling me when she is busy and then getting fussy when I call her back.
Stay Black, thrive and love on your Black-selves! We’ll hit your inbox next on June 21.