This week, I chose to focus on the article written by Anastasia Kanjere. In her research, Kanjere looks at the comment section of three different controversial articles written by authors of color. A large part of this analysis of these comment sections is the idea of white fragility and that so many white people take offense to critique of their actions. In particular, I found it extremely interesting to read about the many reactions to a Facebook post by Mustafa (Kanjere 6). In this post, Mustafa is writing about an open invite to an event they are hosting. This specific event is meant for BME women and non-binary people and it is clear in the invite that although it is meant for a certain group of people, they do a very good job at being kind and respectful in their petition to keep men and/or white people out of the event. Unfortunately, the reaction to this post was not ideal and the white people who were "excluded" from the invite took great offense. I think that this is so interesting that some people can get so hurt or upset because they are not included in a specific event for a certain type of people.
The way that I can relate this to my own life is by looking at my team's dynamics. The athletic department is extremely diverse and there are student athletes from all areas of the world and come from many different backgrounds. There is a student athlete group that is mainly for students of color. As a white person, I have never been at an event hosted by this organization, but I can only imagine it can be a place for comfort and comradery among the athletes of color here at the U. I do not feel offended or personally victimized because I am not invited to this group's meetings or their events. In the same way, I go to a weekly bible study with my team. Although there is no explicit rule saying "only religious people can come," there are expectations that non-religious people would not show up to our bible study out of respect to us and our group. I understand that these are two different scenarios, but I feel like it helped me understand this concept a bit better. An atheist should not be offended if they are not invited to my team's bible study, and in the same way, I am not offended when I am not invited to the group for student athletes of color's events. I understand my place here and I respect that others have their own groups that bring them comfort and a community. I know that my relationship with my friends of color is not hurt when I do not disrupt their other group and that I can be an ally even when I am not physically present at certain functions.
I am curious to know what others feel about this idea and their own experiences with groups they are a part of.
Citation:
Kanjere, Anastasia. “Defending Race Privilege on the Internet: How Whiteness Uses Innocence Discourse Online.” Information, Communication & Society, vol. 22, no. 14, 2018, pp. 2156–2170., https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118x.2018.1477972.
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ReplyDeleteHi Grace,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog post this week. The Kanjere article was really interesting to dive into and look at the three different articles. I found the Facebook event invite example really interesting as well. I think these things happen really often on social media when people get mad or feel excluded when they are not invited to an event that does not particularly pertain to them or their identity. To me, I oftentimes do not fully understand why people become so angry or offended when they are not invited to an event for a group they are not a part of. While I can understand how a white person might feel excluded or that it is unfair to not be allowed to go to a group meeting for people of color, I can also see how it is not their place to feel like they should be there. I agree with you and the personal examples you gave that those groups are for people to feel like they are belonging to a community with others like them, there is a time and a place where some people just will not fit into that.
Looking into this more, I think it ties back to the idea that everyone wants to feel like they can be included in any space or group of people. We all want to feel this way and that we have the option to be included in various things, but there is also a line that is drawn where we cannot be fully included because not everyone is the same. There are some things that we can never fully understand because we do not share the same race, background, or identity as another. Recognizing this, we have to accept that we can not be included in everything all the time.
Hi Grace, I really liked your blog post this week because I feel like what you mentioned isn't talked about enough. I also don't understand why people get offended when there is an event going on that they aren't invited to because ti doesn't exactly pertain to them or their identity. To me, I feel like people should understand that all these different type of events happen because it's meant for people to have a safe space where they can be with people who are like them and understand them. I understand people want to be included in everything but there has to be boundaries because there are things we can't fully understand with others when we don't share the same background or race as each other.
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