On Whiteness
Like so many people, I have been grieving and flailing and crying and filled with sorrow since the election results early Wednesday morning. On Facebook, I am surrounded by people who are taking a break from Facebook and the constant updates and overwhelming emotions or severing all “friendships” with people who supported Trump or organizing to call on the electoral college to not validate the election or declaring that Trump is not their president. I understand all of these actions, though I am not taking any of them.
In 2000 when the Supeme Court declared Bush president through the court case, I knew something had changed in the world and I would need to respond to it in some way. Then when September 11th happened, I took action to change what my work was to focus on LGBT rights. It felt like a necessary, life-giving decision. I have the same sense today as I had in the days following the 2000 election: things have changed in the world and my actions in the world need to change as well to respond to these conditions in a meaningful way that reflections my values and ideals.
Yet, now, as then, I do not know exactly what the response will look like. I am grappling with it and that struggle feels like the right process. Here are a few things I know:
The work of Sinister Wisdom is more important than ever before in my stewardship of the journal. Telling lesbian stories, keeping visions of lesbianism and feminism in print is vital work as we prepare to live through a Trump presidency. My commitment to the journal, which has never wavered, is stronger than ever.
My commitment to lifting up the voices of women of color continues and intensifies. There are multiple ways that I act on this commitment, through Sinister Wisdom, through the Lesbian Poetry Archive, and through my work at The New Press. I will continue this work and increase my focus in this area.
While I have been intrigued all year by JD Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy and Nancy Eisenberg’s White Trash, I am committed now to reading them in a further effort to understand what happened in this election. The books arrived today.
The other commitment, or kernel of an idea toward a commitment, is less clear to me. I am struck by the importance of working with white people, particularly white women, on education about race and how racism functions in our society. The numbers of white women and men, surely white women and men that I know and with whom I am friends, who voted for Trump are much higher than I would have imagined. I feel a personal responsibility to talk with and engage these people for future elections, but more importantly, for all of our lives, to bring greater shared understanding of what is happening in our society. Interrogating whiteness and engaging other white people in this work feels crucially important to me at this moment. I do not know how I will do this work, but I know that I need to increase my commitment to it.
Those are my commitments starting to form out of this election, what are yours?
Filed under: Uncategorized
newest »
Still struggling to figure out what my commitments will be following the election. Thank you for this as always thoughtful commentary. You have informed my thinking and I'm confident I will find my own way to engage and participate in making the changes that I feel are vital in this country. A brief conversation with my 13 year old grandson helped be take the first steps. Adopted from Liberia 9 years ago at age 3, he has spent almost his entire life in this country with a black President. I picked him up from school on Thursday, and he attempted to comfort me. We had a brilliant conversation about my grief and why it was so huge. That was a start. More to come . . .
Patricia wrote: "Still struggling to figure out what my commitments will be following the election. Thank you for this as always thoughtful commentary. You have informed my thinking and I'm confident I will find my..."I do think that the struggle with how to respond is an important part of the process. And the responses will be on going and need to unfold over time. What feels urgent to me is thinking about what is happening and preparing for responding with interventions that work and feel like they have integrity not only in the moment but for the long term. Thanks for replying, Patricia!
Just ordered Hillbilly Elegies and White Trash. Thanks for mentioning them. I'd like to understand what's happening and these books appear to be one way to find out.
