My Video of White Nationalists Went Viral. Now What?

June 10, 2019 - by Catherine Wigginton Greene

Every other day, it seems, there’s another racist act to stir outrage. Far too many of these involve terror in places of worship, at parties, during police stops, and more. Others involve the N-Word or blackface. None of these are surprising or out of the ordinary, of course. But we get exposed to them consistently on social media.

I often feel frustrated when these incidents go viral. Not because I don’t think we should call out racist acts. But I get worried that when we only pay attention to the most despicable acts by white people, the more we internalize the lie that those people are the racists and the rest of us nice, white people are off the hook.

The outrage becomes addictive. It spikes, weans, and then something else happens to spark outrage, and we go through the cycle all over again.

Well, last weekend, I happened to witness one of those moments up close when a group of white nationalists marched into Politics and Prose, a Washington, D.C., independent bookstore, and disrupted a talk with Jonathan Metzl on his new book “Dying of Whiteness.” With a bullhorn and their own videographer, they spewed an incomprehensible string of words before they started chanting, “This land is our land. This land is our land.” They were met with boos and some middle fingers, which made their faces smirk even more, and then they marched out right past me.

That’s the part I filmed — capturing their smug faces, a few (including one woman) trying to hide behind sunglasses, others proudly staring down the camera. One guy even winked as he passed me. He’s the one I can’t get out of my head.

The whole event lasted about five minutes. After an internal debate and conversations with others around me, I decided to post the video to Twitter.

Within 24 hours, the video had more than one million views, and most major news outlets were covering the incident. Tens of thousands of people on Twitter were talking about it; I was getting phone calls from reporters and messages from distant cousins and childhood friends. The trolls showed up, too.

Another dose of outrage.

In my everyday life, I get to work with a dedicated group of artist-activists. We make documentary films that deal with race and racism and we’ve never had anywhere near the number of eyes on our work that the video I filmed this weekend had.

In fact, the reason why I happened to be near Politics and Prose was because my colleague André Robert Lee and I were screening our documentary I’m Not Racist… Am I? at the first-ever Antiracist Book Festival, organized by the Center for Antiracism Research and Policy at American University.

Our film follows a group of teens through a yearlong exploration of race and racism, and we’ve been screening it around the U.S. as a way to spark a deeper level of awareness about racism and to build the kind of community connections necessary to take action and make systemic change.

It gets messy and complicated and emotional. But, little by little, we see people waking up to understand how racism has been institutionalized and learn the hard truth that one of the young people in our film states so poignantly, “You can’t get rid of racism just by being nice to all races.”

Every time we screen our film, wherever we are, at least one audience member will ask, “Well, we get it here. But what’s it like when you show it up North/in the Midwest/down South/out West where people are actually racist?” This never fails.

All the racists are always somewhere else and someone else.

And this is why I still feel conflicted about posting that video to Twitter. Do we look at those bigots and think that’s the only version of racism? To paraphrase a lesson in our film from the organizing group The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond, if we rounded up all the racists and sent them to outer space, would that get rid of racism?

The answer is no.

Racism is a brilliantly designed, built-to-last system. Which means it’s going to take a long time and an almost unimaginable collective effort to take it apart and build something new. But we must try. And we can’t make progress if we don’t understand it as a system of laws, policies, and practices that benefit white people at the expense of people who are not white.

I’m going to reference our film one more time. I can’t help it. It’s filled with wisdom from some of the most effective antiracist educators around. Working with the students in the film and addressing the guilt that the white kids feel about the benefits they have, Dr. Liza Talusan says to them, “Guilt is a feeling. Not an action.”

If my viral video compels you to pay attention to anything I say, let me tell you this:

Outrage is a feeling. Not an action.

Feel that feeling. It’s normal and necessary. But, please, let’s take that outrage and use it to motivate ourselves toward learning more and taking action. Become an antiracist, not just an outraged voyeur. I’d like to see that go viral.

What Is Expected of “Straight White Men”?

August 3, 2018 - by Catherine Wigginton Greene

As subject matter learners, we value any opportunity to learn from new experiences and perspectives. So last Friday our team saw Straight White Men, Broadway’s first play written by a Korean-American woman, Young Jean Lee.

PML team takes a selfie at "Straight White Men." — PML team takes a selfie at “Straight White Men.”

The play’s title has an ironic draw. It’s simple and says exactly what you need to know — this show is about straight, white men. And the performance follows suit.

When the show opens we are greeted by two chorus characters — one transgender, Native person and one gender non-conforming white person named Person in Charge 1 and 2, respectively. They are, as their names suggest, “in charge” of the action onstage. These characters serve as buffers for what might be triggering or uncomfortable content for audience members who aren’t straight, white men. Person In Charge 1 and 2 feel familiar and, despite their complex identities, more relatable than the title characters.

The principal characters, Jake, Drew, and Matt, are all brothers visiting home for Christmas with their father, Ed. They spend time reminiscing over their childhood, recalling moments of radicalism and protest while playing an amended version of Monopoly, developed by their mother, called “Privilege.” We get a sense that this family is “liberal” in that they believe (at least on the surface) in liberal ideals. But as the action unfolds, so does the facade of those liberal ideals.

During an intimate Christmas Eve dinner, Matt breaks into tears — an awkward and unfamiliar experience for the family. This moment looms over them into the next day, leaving everyone unsettled, especially Drew who insists that Matt seek therapy. Everyone has an answer to Matt’s problem: money, insecurity, depression. Matt’s answer is simple: he wants to be useful.

Ed, Jake, Drew and Matt enjoy Christmas Eve dinner — Ed, Jake, Drew and Matt (left to right) enjoy Christmas Eve dinner.

At the core of the production’s story is a discussion of expectations. What is expected of white men? What does accomplishment look like for white men? What destiny is chosen for these characters and for people who look like them? And does failure to meet those expectations decrease their worth?

Lee leads the same way Point Made Learning does — with empathy. While this play challenges the privileges of white manhood, it also exposes the dangers. White men, at least the archetypal white man, benefit from the various systems of oppression designed by and for them. The assumption is that they live without injury. Lee challenges that assumption by suggesting that white men face at least one difficulty: themselves. Matt does not get to choose his destiny, though the privileges of his whiteness, education, and wealth create the illusion that he has self-determination. His destiny (or expectation) is that of the other straight, white men before him — to conquer whatever space he enters. But Matt does not want that, and his family, noticeably missing its matriarch, cannot reconcile his decision or lack thereof. Why wouldn’t he use his privilege to his advantage? Why wouldn’t he participate in white supremacy? Those are their expectations of him and other straight, white men for that matter. But Lee asks another question: are all white men the same?

Marginalized people may find this question difficult to answer. Why should we use our energy to consider the dilemma of white manhood? It’s unfair, and that feeling of inequity lingers after the show closes. But in an era of quick judgement and harsh consequences, Lee looks for a middle ground: an understanding. Where is the empathy?

In the end, there is no clear answer. It is — to borrow a term from Jennifer Yim, one of our mentors and partners — “deceptively simple.” On one hand, Young Jean Lee’s writing and Anna D. Shapiro’s direction leave little to the imagination. Everything is simple, like the play’s title. But there’s also an irony to its simplicity. It makes you wonder why it was so easy. And that maybe it was not so simple at all. There may not be an answer but we can at least commit to learning more.

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Race-Based Legislation, Implicit Bias Testing and Criminalizing Debt: What We Read This Week

February 24, 2018 - by PM Learning Staff

Here are some interesting things we read this week about race and equity in the United States.

“‘Resist White Supremacy’: A sign. A farm. And the fury that followed.”

Cox Farms has a history of practicing free speech through their business, a practice that has elicited controversy for the owners’ family. Their recent poster, as detailed in the article’s title, stirred their Northern Virginia town into a frenzy. Aaron Cox-Leow, daughter of the farm’s owner, expressed that, “when it comes to speaking out against systems of oppression and injustice, wwe see it as our moral responsibility to se our position of privilege and power… to engage visibly and actively in the fight for justice.”

“Secrets, statistics and implicit bias.”

Microaggressive behaviors reflect the ways we, as a society, have been conditioned to respond to specific demographics. For example, clutching one’s purse when a person of color enters an empty elevator is a response to our conditioned understanding of men of color as inherently criminal. Implicit bias tests seek to exploit those conditioned responses and use them to uncover our own biases, regardless of gender, race, and other intersections of our identity.

“Jones and Williams Discuss Racism During Focus Week Chapel”

From Barb Lee: “Go, Baptists! If I had not heard this “sermon” myself, I would not have believed that this happened in a Baptist Church in Oklahoma. Bam! Caught in my own biases again. This video is incredible for those of us who grew up in white Southern Baptist churches. This makes me hopeful.”

“ South Carolina Lawmakers Want to Ban Baggy Pants Because What Other Political Issue Could Possibly Be More Pressing?”

Link: https://www.theroot.com/s-c-lawmakers-want-to-ban-baggy-pants-because-what-oth-1823225714

The title speaks for itself. In an effort to further police people of color, politicians in South Carolina plan to criminalize sagging pants, overlooking the racially loaded implications of instituting such a law. It is a boldface attempt to criminalize citizens based explicitly on their race, though politicians from the area would like to convince us that the law will affect people across races.

“A Pound of Flesh: The Criminalization of Private Debt”

From the ACLU: “Arrests stemming from private debt are devastating communities across the country, and amount to a silent financial crisis that, due to longstanding racial and economic inequalities, is disproportionately affecting people of color and low-income communities.” Attached is the full report conducted by the ACLU. Read this article for a synopsis of the report.

Halloween, Harvey Weinstein, How to Show Up, and More – What We Learned this Week

November 3, 2017 - by Catherine Wigginton Greene

We say all the time at Point Made Learning that, when it comes to the topics of race, identity, and equity in the U.S., we are subject-matter learners. Not experts. In fact, we think these issues are so complex that the best any of us can hope for is to continue learning. As a team, we consistently challenge one another to stay curious and question our own thinking. That’s because we ask people in our screenings and workshops to do the same thing. So each week, we’d like to share with you what we’ve learned.

What we've learned: collection of books on race and racism — What we’ve learned about race and racism started with these books.

We know there are so many resources available that trying to stay informed can seem overwhelming. That’s why we’re sharing a few select articles and videos that we’ve found insightful as we do our work.

We hope this helps you continue learning, too. And feel free to leave a comment if you think we’ve left anything out!

From Barb Lee

First Person: Sexual Harassers Are Poisonous, and So Are the Companies That Protect Them – IndieWire

This article gets to the institutional power of sexism in the workplace. The author – a friend of mine – points out the pervasive use of non-disclosure agreements and how they silence sexual assault victims. More than that, they’re designed to protect criminals. Reading this may help people think about ways we misuse power to maintain systemic and institutional racism, too. That’s my hope, at least.

For Guys Reading #MeToo Testimonies – On Being

I like this article because it so aligns with how white people can approach anti-racism work when they first begin. And, it’s just perfect advice for men who are trying to figure what to do with all the news about sexual assault.

Checking My Male Privilege – NY Times

This inspired me to keep doing the work we do. Charles Blow gets it right.

From Catherine Wigginton Greene

Three Tensions at the Heart of Fighting Racism as a White Person – On Being

I’m a big fan of On Being. In the current climate of never-ending information and opinions, I land on the On Being website and can literally feel my breath slow down. Unlike so much else out there, On Being contributors aren’t adding to the noise just for the sake of being involved in the conversation. Rather, their work is insightful, complex, and questioning. In the piece I’ve linked to above, Courtney E. Martin shares some really helpful suggestions for white people who are trying to interrupt racism. And I suggest anyone interested in exploring some of the bigger questions of our time visit the site regularly.

Ta-Nehisi Coates Schools John Kelly On History Of Civil War And ‘Compromise’

So, I’m all for calling people in (instead of calling them out) so that we can have more constructive dialogue. And I almost always advocate for these types of interactions to happen in-person, not online. BUT! Constructive dialogue is impossible with people in positions of power who use their platform to lie, bully, and defend the indefensible. And in those cases (of which there are way too many these days), we need to speak truth to power. And that’s just what Ta-Nehisi Coates did this week via Twitter in response to John Kelly’s disturbing interpretation of what caused the US Civil War. Read Coates’ mic-drop-worthy, historical takedown of Kelly’s statements. It’s satisfying. But more importantly, you’ll likely learn something about the Civil War that you didn’t know before.

Cultural Appropriation at Halloween: My Culture Is Not a Costume – Teen Vogue

Teen Vogue continues to kill it these days with content that goes deep and hits hard in looking at inequity in American society. I really appreciated this video they released this week. It features young women sharing what it can feel like for them when they see their culture being portrayed in a costume. Use this and our I Wish I Were Black educational video and discussion guides to really get to the heart of cultural appropriation.

From Deionna Wilburn

Swipe my race: ‘If you’re only dating someone for their skin colour, you should consider why’ – The Guardian

Daters gonna date and they should have the right to choose…but in walks racial preference. Does the inclination for one race over another stem from or lead to insensitive stereotypes? The London-based Swipe My Race video explores how “liking what you like” can be problematic and hurtful for everyone involved.

From Sam Rosenthal

Schools are segregated because white people want them that way – Vox

This powerful interview with MacArthur “genius grant” awardee Nikole Hannah-Jones sheds light on the perspective she brings to her work. Jones’ award-winning reporting on schools and segregation should be read by all Americans who are trying to better understand systemic racism.

From Barb Lee

From Catherine Wigginton Greene

From Deionna Wilburn

From Sam Rosenthal

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