Your “Calling All White People” resource, or An Average White Guy menu

Those darn white people. Always seeing us doing something cool in communities of color and then turning it trendy (belly dancing, yoga, etc.) or taking our art and running off and doing your own thing with it and banking checks, with rap being one of the biggies (I do have love in my musical heart for The Beastie Boys and Eminem).

And now An Average White Guy.

To both his surprise and mine, the “Calling All White People” series has proven to be pretty popular, beyond the passing fancy he had envisioned. So, this post (which I will update and reference online from time to time) will be the resource to the compendium of advice and insight from An Average White Guy.

At least I know he’s not good with public speaking, so he won’t be horning in on that part of my action.

Calling All White People / Average White Guy Posts

Calling all white people, part 1: Ally or accomplice
Is being an ally enough? For some people, maybe, but consider becoming an accomplice instead in racial justice. (read post)

Calling all white people, part 2: I’m not racist (oh, realllly?)
If you have to point out much that you’re not racist, that might mean you actually are, and some thoughts on avoiding that trap. (read post)

Calling all white people, part 3: Stepping on toes
You aren’t always going to make friends being part of anti-racism efforts; in fact, you might lose a lot of people or need to eject some from your life. But it’s how change will come. (read post)

Calling all white people, part 4: Enjoy from afar
Sometimes, entering into conversations between people of color when you aren’t one is a bad idea, but by all means learn something from them. (read post)

Calling all white people, part 5: Misusing MLK
There is a really bad habit among white people, especially the ones who want to look good rather than do good, of quoting Martin Luther King Jr. out of context. (read post)

Calling all white people, part 6: Credit where it’s due, please
Learn about issues of racism and oppression from those most affected by it whenever you can, and signal-boost them often, rather than making racial justice about white people. (read post)

Calling all white people, part 7: Don’t succumb to hurt feelings
If you turn away from anti-racism efforts or from even just trying to understand race because one (or a few) people of color hurt your feelings, you weren’t really about understanding, about equality or about justice. Don’t be that person. (read post)

Calling all white people, part 8: Mixed-race unions aren’t the ultimate answer
It’s sweet to think that interracial relationships and biracial/multiracial kids will end racism, but here’s why that notion just doesn’t add up. (read post)

Calling all white people, part 9: Seeing and respecting race
It’s easy to dismiss race for a lot of white people (even though they don’t really dismiss it and the attempt to do so is insulting) and it’s easy for a lot of others to fetishize race. Here are some thoughts about avoiding both. (read post)

Calling all white people, part 10: Hating your whiteness won’t help anyone
Feel free to despise white supremacy. Feel free to dismantle white privilege. But self-hate or hatred of whiteness is a counterproductive thing. (read post)

Calling all white people, part 11: Can’t be accountable to everyone
Everyone has different strategies and opinions, and that includes people of color and different anti-racism organizations and movements; being accountable to everyone isn’t possible, though you can at least learn to be humble and receptive to all. (read post)

Calling all white people, part 12: Approaching your apologies
If you have pissed off an entire demographic group/population (or do so at any time in the future), here are some thoughts about how to do the “I’m sorry” thing. (read post)

Calling all white people, part 13: And now for a brief update…
Since I’ve been doing this column a while, maybe it’s finally time to mention what the point of it all is, and why I’m all anonymous-like. (read post)

Calling all white people, part 14: Spaces of their own for POC
There are very valid reason that there are Black-specific, Latinx-specific, LGBTQ-specific, and [insert other group here]-specific gatherings, places and programs, and why that isn’t the same as racist and exclusionary whites-only spaces. (read post)

Calling all white people, part 15: Stop the toxic idealism…a.k.a Pollyanna bullcrap
If you want people of color (or tell them) to stop talking about racial disparities because you think it’s divisive, you need to stop. Or stop people you know from doing it. And here’s why. (read post)

Calling all white people, part 16: Devil’s advocacy deviltry
Defending those who don’t need or deserve defending “for the sake of argument” is pretty often a straight-up dick move, especially where something as important as race relations is involved. (read post)

Calling all white people, part 17: POC are not sex objects
No person of color, Black or otherwise, should be turned into a fetish, nor be used as a relationship tool to make you feel more enlightened. (read post)

Calling all white people, part 18: The mythical beast that is reverse racism
Racism is real; reverse racism is not. And here’s why, in case you haven’t been listening to people of color who have told you all this already. (read post)

Calling all white people, part 19: Get real about what Charlottesville means, and get out of your feelings
Long past time to stop the hand-wringing and the “I can’t believe this is happening” and the online tears. Time to hurt some feelings, get your feelings hurt and begin a real process of confronting truths and changing the system. (read post)

Calling all white people, part 20: Cultural appropriation isn’t some “little” issue and it’s not respectful
Let’s have a talk about how white people, generally speaking, are very quick to use other people’s cultures for their own satisfaction while also denying those same people the space and freedom to practice them themselves. (read post)

Calling all white people, part 21: Look; don’t touch
This applies to a lot more than the head, but can we talk about why manhandling Black women’s hair isn’t a compliment and isn’t cool? Because clearly plenty of white people still need to be educated on this topic. (read post)

Calling all white people, part 22: Trust and believe
When people of color say something is racist, the first step is to take them seriously and really think about the situation, not to react defensively and doubt them with little or no evidence of your own. (read post)

Calling all white people, part 23: No hostage-taking please
When you tell someone who is vocal about equity and justice that they need to tone things down if they want to have support (especially yours) then you’re basically extorting them because you can’t handle the truth. (read post)

Calling all white people, part 24: Call them the terrorists they are
We are all too reluctant to brand white people terrorists when we should (and too eager to label non-whites as terrorists), and Austin serial bomber (and terrorist) Mark Conditt is just the latest example of that. (read post)

Calling all white people, part 25: On the subject of digital blackface
When we are white people, we ought to tread lightly (or not at all) when it comes to using memes or emojis of Black people (or other people of color) to express our reactions to various topics and events of the day. (read post)

Calling all white people, part 26: Minding one’s own business
Calling the police or making any kind of scene over a Black person (or group of Black people) conducting routine activities of daily living is a terrible look for us white people. (read post)

Calling all white people, part 27: Taking up less space
Whether it’s that feeling of superiority that often comes with white privilege, or a legacy of white colonialism, we white folks take up a lot of space…physically, mentally and emotionally…and a lot of people of color would like some breathing room. (read post)

Calling all white people, part 28: Halfway isn’t the way to justice and equity
As white people, we really need to stop half-assing racial progress, efforts toward social equity and all the rest, because the people who should benefit only get let down, and we move on feeling like we did something when we really didn’t. (read post)

Calling all white people, part 29: Connection is the way, not collection
Are you really ready to be actual friends with Black people? I mean, really, really ready. Because you might not be and it isn’t something you should force. (read post)

Calling all white people, part 30: Roles to avoid
There are “well meaning” ways you might try to be as a white person, but then again, maybe you should think twice about some of those roles. (read post)

Calling all white people, part 31: Those Covington teens are no angels
Black and brown people, including youth, rarely are granted the benefit of the doubt or second chances. So why would we even consider the kid-glove treatment on openly racist white teens? (read post)


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