OK, White women besides me, we need to talk: you need to open your eyes and stop. Doing. These. Five. Things.
Full stop.
1. You need to stop bossing people around like you’re in charge. Like you’re above everyone and get to demand how people act. This. Needs. To. Stop.
2. You need to stop making everything about you. It’s not about you. Do you have any idea how it makes me feel when you do that? Shut up! I’m talking. See, all you white women besides me need to listen instead of speak. Your people have been speaking for years. It’s time for someone else to call the shots, write the blogs, and be the voice we need.
3. Ya’ll? need ? to ? stop ? appropriating? other ? cultures ? fam.
Related: Exclusionary White Feminism: What It Is and How to Accuse Women You Don’t Like of It
4. Stop interjecting your views into discussions that aren’t about you. You’re crowding out other voices who are constantly struggling to be heard. There are women of color writers, community organizers, and musicians dying for the attention you receive. So if you’re a writer thinking about pitching a story on race relations, hold up. Let someone with lived experiences write it.
5. Educate yourself. It isn’t up to marginalized people to spend emotional labor on you, let you know when you’ve overstepped your bounds and spoken for them, or embarrassed yourself at a rally or in a major publication.