White Folks Guide to Uncomfortable Conversations
What Philosophy Is Driving This Work?
What Philosophy Is Driving This Work?
When trying to decide what to do with the 70 million people who voted for Trump, and in our anti-racist work in general, it is important to return to our freedom dreams and our core values as abolitionists. In this case, this means turning to transformative justice.
Under transformative justice, we have an opportunity to protect and support survivors of the trauma of the last four years while holding Trump voters accountable in service of creating a more just world.
So what does that have to do with Trump voters?
It helps us see how to move forward via the four principles:
Safety, healing, and agency for survivors
Whatever we do, the safety, healing, and agency of survivors must be centered. This means folks who were harmed by this presidency (BIPOC, immigrants, Muslims, Trans folx, to name a few) must be allowed the time to heal, and should not, unless they want to, be forced to confront Trump voters. White cis-het folks, that means it’s on us.
Accountability and transformation for people who harm
Those of us who are part of the Blue-voting community but not reeling from trauma must hold Trump voters accountable through discussion, not punitively through isolation. This will be hard work that must be rooted in the belief that all humans are capable of transformation, and the wisdom that transformation is not easy or instant. It means believing that even folks with harmful views can change.
Community action, healing, and accountability
The work of transforming the White community needs to happen on many levels. Most obviously, it is transforming those who voted Red, but it is also supporting the continued transformation of White folks who are already in their journey to unlearn White supremacy. Consider where your energy and capacities will be most effective in this transformation.
Transformation of the social conditions that perpetuate violence - systems of oppression and exploitation, domination, and state violence
Individual justice and collective liberation go hand-in-hand. Transformation of the social condition of White supremacy that perpetuated the violence and harm of the current administration will take continued work between individuals, within organizations, across party lines, and on the local-, state-, and national-level.
bell hooks said, “For me, forgiveness and compassion are always linked: How do we hold people accountable for wrongdoing and yet at the same time remain in touch with their humanity enough to believe in their capacity to be transformed?” The work we have to do is transformative work alongside other humans, humans who believe different things than us and have done harm. Yet, it is vital that we remember that we are dealing with humans and humans can change. If we don't believe this, we cannot hold them accountable and we cannot dismantle White supremacy.