White Folks Guide to Protesting

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you think when the white kids went down to the South in the 50s and 60s to organize voter registration drives they were told to shut up? No. They worked with the black organizers as a team.

You don’t recruit allies by telling people to STFU. You bring them in as part of the team.

This!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you think when the white kids went down to the South in the 50s and 60s to organize voter registration drives they were told to shut up? No. They worked with the black organizers as a team.

You don’t recruit allies by telling people to STFU. You bring them in as part of the team.

If you go back and look at pics from that time, you'll see white people "allowed" to be in the front and in range of the photographer. They were also "allowed" to write books and articles about their experiences participating in marches. I guess they were "centering themselves" and should have shut up right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you think when the white kids went down to the South in the 50s and 60s to organize voter registration drives they were told to shut up? No. They worked with the black organizers as a team.

You don’t recruit allies by telling people to STFU. You bring them in as part of the team.

This!

I've read so many posts from what seem to be white people asking how they can be more supportive and the answer always seems to be something along the lines of STFU, you don't understand our struggle. Okay, fair enough. I'll stay home then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you think when the white kids went down to the South in the 50s and 60s to organize voter registration drives they were told to shut up? No. They worked with the black organizers as a team.

You don’t recruit allies by telling people to STFU. You bring them in as part of the team.

If you go back and look at pics from that time, you'll see white people "allowed" to be in the front and in range of the photographer. They were also "allowed" to write books and articles about their experiences participating in marches. I guess they were "centering themselves" and should have shut up right?

And they also brought awareness to other white people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you think when the white kids went down to the South in the 50s and 60s to organize voter registration drives they were told to shut up? No. They worked with the black organizers as a team.

You don’t recruit allies by telling people to STFU. You bring them in as part of the team.

This!

I've read so many posts from what seem to be white people asking how they can be more supportive and the answer always seems to be something along the lines of STFU, you don't understand our struggle. Okay, fair enough. I'll stay home then.

Me too. Home is where we are supposed to be right now anyway. Remember the part about slowing the spread, saving lives, and not overwhelming the hospitals?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A friend of mine posted this today. Has anyone else seen it. I am a liberal white woman but this list does not sit well with me and I am afraid to make a comment on her post.

White Folks Guide to Protesting

If you are a white person considering joining a protest this week, here is a list of rules put together for you. Friends of color, if they have forgotten anything, please add.

1, FOLLOW CALLS ONLY. Do not initiate or lead calls. Your job is to follow and add your voice when it is called for.
2. DO NOT TAKE SELFIES. Ask to take pictures or videos of individuals. You are there to witness only. Film the police as much as possible. Your goal is documentation to ensure that the true narrative is told.
3. BE HELPFUL. Hand out water and snacks. Make sure protest leaders are hydrated and fed. This is exhausting work, help keep their energy up.
4. FOLLOW DIRECTIONS. If a black person tells you to do something, you do it immediately without question. You respect the authority and the decisions of the black protesters at all times.
5. STAY IN THE BACK UNTIL YOU ARE CALLED FORWARD. If you hear “White people to the front” or “Allies to the front” step forward and link arms with other white people to form a human shield.
6. WHEN YOU ARE AT THE FRONT, YOU ARE SILENT. Your job is to be a body. You are there to support only. The only voices on the police line should be black voices.
7. REMAIN CALM AT ALL TIMES. This is difficult. You will be emotional and your system will be flooded with adrenaline. Remember this is life and death for the protesters. Save your emotions for home. DO NOT AGITATE.
This is not a game. Joining a protest is a serious decision. Make sure you are there for the right reason. Support the safety of black protesters at all times.
Copied/pasted.

No thank you to everything in bold. I'm a human being capable of my own thoughts, decisions and actions. If you don't like it, I'm out.

+1. People are losing their minds over this sh!t.

I disagree. Except for 4, which is so extreme it is ridiculous, replace "black" with "women" and "white" with "men". If you are a man at a women's march, it's painfully ridiculous if you start showcasing yourself as a leader. You aren't. There are already leaders. Listen to them.

Also, if you are on social media at all you can see that some white people use the march as a background for selfies to show how deep and woke they are. I'm sure it can be helpful to have white people create a barrier. But how annoying to suddenly have white people rushing to the front at unnecessary times in a show of self importance. Also not helpful to have white people go to the front and yell threatening things at the cops, even if they are asked to be there.

Just follow directions. Or stay home and support the movement in other ways.

Oh, and as for 4 you can just inject a little common sense into that one. Follow directions from black people if those directions seem reasonable. If not following all directions seems to cause a problem, go home. Done.

Then it should have been written that way.

Yes, let's shut down the whole movement because we found a Facebook post that makes a few white people feel upset.

God, just stop. You all are embarrassing me.

[Anonymous]

I think the gist behind this post is that there's a sudden influx of white folks who want to virtue signal about how amazingly woke they are and the response is that this is not primarily about your and your newfound feelings of white guilt. If you want to help, great, but don't take over and this is not an opportunity to post on FB about how anti-racist you are. Black people need to make their voices heard first and foremost. White people, we are the back up singers.

I also think that people are responding from the tone of "do this," because white people are not used to be told what to do, get in line, you're not the center of attention, what you have to say isn't automatically the most important, most brlliant and most necessary. Examine your feelings of anger around that.

related memeory:

I was on a panel that was discussing privilege and racial and sexual harassment in the context of our specific profession last year. We were all supposed to do a 90 second-2 minute intro. The one white male on the panel talked at least 10 minutes instead of 2...about how much he was doing for racial/gender equality, his realizations around his privilege, coming to terms with his privilege...all the while demonstrating it. The rest of us on the panel--women, poc--just looked at each other. It was for him, clearly, a performance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A friend of mine posted this today. Has anyone else seen it. I am a liberal white woman but this list does not sit well with me and I am afraid to make a comment on her post.

White Folks Guide to Protesting

If you are a white person considering joining a protest this week, here is a list of rules put together for you. Friends of color, if they have forgotten anything, please add.

1, FOLLOW CALLS ONLY. Do not initiate or lead calls. Your job is to follow and add your voice when it is called for.
2. DO NOT TAKE SELFIES. Ask to take pictures or videos of individuals. You are there to witness only. Film the police as much as possible. Your goal is documentation to ensure that the true narrative is told.
3. BE HELPFUL. Hand out water and snacks. Make sure protest leaders are hydrated and fed. This is exhausting work, help keep their energy up.
4. FOLLOW DIRECTIONS. If a black person tells you to do something, you do it immediately without question. You respect the authority and the decisions of the black protesters at all times.
5. STAY IN THE BACK UNTIL YOU ARE CALLED FORWARD. If you hear “White people to the front” or “Allies to the front” step forward and link arms with other white people to form a human shield.
6. WHEN YOU ARE AT THE FRONT, YOU ARE SILENT. Your job is to be a body. You are there to support only. The only voices on the police line should be black voices.
7. REMAIN CALM AT ALL TIMES. This is difficult. You will be emotional and your system will be flooded with adrenaline. Remember this is life and death for the protesters. Save your emotions for home. DO NOT AGITATE.
This is not a game. Joining a protest is a serious decision. Make sure you are there for the right reason. Support the safety of black protesters at all times.
Copied/pasted.

No thank you to everything in bold. I'm a human being capable of my own thoughts, decisions and actions. If you don't like it, I'm out.

+1. People are losing their minds over this sh!t.

I disagree. Except for 4, which is so extreme it is ridiculous, replace "black" with "women" and "white" with "men". If you are a man at a women's march, it's painfully ridiculous if you start showcasing yourself as a leader. You aren't. There are already leaders. Listen to them.

Also, if you are on social media at all you can see that some white people use the march as a background for selfies to show how deep and woke they are. I'm sure it can be helpful to have white people create a barrier. But how annoying to suddenly have white people rushing to the front at unnecessary times in a show of self importance. Also not helpful to have white people go to the front and yell threatening things at the cops, even if they are asked to be there.

Just follow directions. Or stay home and support the movement in other ways.

Oh, and as for 4 you can just inject a little common sense into that one. Follow directions from black people if those directions seem reasonable. If not following all directions seems to cause a problem, go home. Done.

Then it should have been written that way.

Yes, let's shut down the whole movement because we found a Facebook post that makes a few white people feel upset.

God, just stop. You all are embarrassing me.

For me, it’s not about the rules. It’s about the bizarre, cruel, mean-girl culture in this movement that they stem from. It’s pen to paper on the things that drove me out of participating.

And clearly the movement is fine without me. Maybe I was too “fragile” to be invited. But the toxicity does need calling out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you think when the white kids went down to the South in the 50s and 60s to organize voter registration drives they were told to shut up? No. They worked with the black organizers as a team.

You don’t recruit allies by telling people to STFU. You bring them in as part of the team.

If you go back and look at pics from that time, you'll see white people "allowed" to be in the front and in range of the photographer. They were also "allowed" to write books and articles about their experiences participating in marches. I guess they were "centering themselves" and should have shut up right?

Right. I guess the thousands of white Americans—over half of whom were Jewish, so were taking significant risk themselves—who went down to Mississippi to register voters during Freedom Summer should’ve just shut up.

I guess that includes Andrew Goodman, a summer volunteer, and Michael Schwerner—a Congress for Racial Equality organizer—who were killed that summer. They should’ve just shut up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the gist behind this post is that there's a sudden influx of white folks who want to virtue signal about how amazingly woke they are and the response is that this is not primarily about your and your newfound feelings of white guilt. If you want to help, great, but don't take over and this is not an opportunity to post on FB about how anti-racist you are. Black people need to make their voices heard first and foremost. White people, we are the back up singers.

I also think that people are responding from the tone of "do this," because white people are not used to be told what to do, get in line, you're not the center of attention, what you have to say isn't automatically the most important, most brlliant and most necessary. Examine your feelings of anger around that.

related memeory:

I was on a panel that was discussing privilege and racial and sexual harassment in the context of our specific profession last year. We were all supposed to do a 90 second-2 minute intro. The one white male on the panel talked at least 10 minutes instead of 2...about how much he was doing for racial/gender equality, his realizations around his privilege, coming to terms with his privilege...all the while demonstrating it. The rest of us on the panel--women, poc--just looked at each other. It was for him, clearly, a performance.

I dunno, I guess people are feeling exactly how a ln ordinary black person might feel if someone told them "you can come to this potentially dangerous event, but if any rando white person commands you to do something, you must obey."

Problem with all sorts of crazy activist types is that they're all so militant. It's impossible to say "oops, I think item #4 was worded poorly, sorry about that."

Nope gotta double down every time. Just like Trump, actually. You and him were made for each other and together you're wreaking havoc on this country.

[Anonymous]

But can I bring a little pillow for when I kneel for forgiveness for my race?


You are so self-centered if you think this about forgiveness for your race. It isn't about your race.

Because it’s such a great idea to fight for racial equality and unity without inviting anyone else to the table.

These protests are not primarily about unity. they are about the fact that BLACK LIVES MATTER. About protesting systemic racism and economic inequality and the mental, emotional and physical toll that racism takes on people of color. So, all these white people getting their feelings hurt because they don't like being told "sit back, this is not your fight", feel like people are being "mean" because of all the mixed messages they've gotten in their 13 days of allyship and are now going to take their toys and go home ...you're not woke.

Yes, some of the language was harsh, but people are tired and fed up and the last thing protestors need is other people interrupting with their own agenda. You don't have to do everything the protest organizers tell you but I have witnessed just yesterday organizers asking everyone to sit down and raise their hands in silence and some white dude instead decides to get up and start antagonzing the police because he feels so moved about the injustice done to black people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

But can I bring a little pillow for when I kneel for forgiveness for my race?


You are so self-centered if you think this about forgiveness for your race. It isn't about your race.

Because it’s such a great idea to fight for racial equality and unity without inviting anyone else to the table.

These protests are not primarily about unity. they are about the fact that BLACK LIVES MATTER. About protesting systemic racism and economic inequality and the mental, emotional and physical toll that racism takes on people of color. So, all these white people getting their feelings hurt because they don't like being told "sit back, this is not your fight", feel like people are being "mean" because of all the mixed messages they've gotten in their 13 days of allyship and are now going to take their toys and go home ...you're not woke.

Yes, some of the language was harsh, but people are tired and fed up and the last thing protestors need is other people interrupting with their own agenda. You don't have to do everything the protest organizers tell you but I have witnessed just yesterday organizers asking everyone to sit down and raise their hands in silence and some white dude instead decides to get up and start antagonzing the police because he feels so moved about the injustice done to black people.

Ok fine, but ultimately there will not be change until there is unity and until white people are recruited as allies.

Telling white people to shit down and STFU isn’t going to accomplish that.

If SNCC and CORE could do that in the 60s, BLM can do it now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I like these rules. I'm annoyed by the performative element of white people protesting. I don't think it accomplishes anything and is just there to show other people they're not racist - specifically if they're taking selfies, etc. Civil Rights peaceful protests were effective because they were backed by an extremely organized movement. The current protests will only be effective if the BLM, etc, (generally run by people of color) are actually allowed to run the protests according to their goals and methods. So to me that says white people should show up and do what their told. If you can't do that, then that says to me you're there to show off how unracist you are, rather than to actually make change.

Agree. Firmly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the gist behind this post is that there's a sudden influx of white folks who want to virtue signal about how amazingly woke they are and the response is that this is not primarily about your and your newfound feelings of white guilt. If you want to help, great, but don't take over and this is not an opportunity to post on FB about how anti-racist you are. Black people need to make their voices heard first and foremost. White people, we are the back up singers.

I also think that people are responding from the tone of "do this," because white people are not used to be told what to do, get in line, you're not the center of attention, what you have to say isn't automatically the most important, most brlliant and most necessary. Examine your feelings of anger around that.

related memeory:

I was on a panel that was discussing privilege and racial and sexual harassment in the context of our specific profession last year. We were all supposed to do a 90 second-2 minute intro. The one white male on the panel talked at least 10 minutes instead of 2...about how much he was doing for racial/gender equality, his realizations around his privilege, coming to terms with his privilege...all the while demonstrating it. The rest of us on the panel--women, poc--just looked at each other. It was for him, clearly, a performance.

YES

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

But can I bring a little pillow for when I kneel for forgiveness for my race?


You are so self-centered if you think this about forgiveness for your race. It isn't about your race.

Because it’s such a great idea to fight for racial equality and unity without inviting anyone else to the table.

These protests are not primarily about unity. they are about the fact that BLACK LIVES MATTER. About protesting systemic racism and economic inequality and the mental, emotional and physical toll that racism takes on people of color. So, all these white people getting their feelings hurt because they don't like being told "sit back, this is not your fight", feel like people are being "mean" because of all the mixed messages they've gotten in their 13 days of allyship and are now going to take their toys and go home ...you're not woke.

Yes, some of the language was harsh, but people are tired and fed up and the last thing protestors need is other people interrupting with their own agenda. You don't have to do everything the protest organizers tell you but I have witnessed just yesterday organizers asking everyone to sit down and raise their hands in silence and some white dude instead decides to get up and start antagonzing the police because he feels so moved about the injustice done to black people.

Man you do not get it. I’ve been involved for 2 decades now. I’m not the one who is new here. The mean girls of BLM are new. And they’re jerks. Maybe you’re new too and that’s why you can’t tell.