A Constant Reminder of My Role as a White Person
I don't mean to make light of the proposal to create an International Liberation Reference Person (ILRP) for White People, but I thought it might be useful to share my recent insights that came from considering an unusual thought: What if the ILRP were not an actual person but only a potted plant, like a fern?
The main obstacle to eliminating my racism is the invisibility to me of my own white identity and the racism glommed onto(*) it. The majority of those around me collude with and support this, leaving me feeling stuck in unawareness and misinformation. Even if the ILRP were only a potted plant, it would be a constant reminder to me of my role as a white person. It would be a wedge between reality and numbing forgetfulness, reminding me that it is always possible to take on(**) my racism.
If that's what an inert plant could do, think how much a brilliant, flexible white person could accomplish as ILRP! He or she could remind us of our goodness and help us fight any distresses that get in our way of eliminating racism.
This current initiative is poised to push a piece of my racism over a cliff and mess with it beyond the point where it could ever recover.
Barry Joseph
New York, New York, USA
(*) Glommed onto means firmly stuck to.
(**) To take on means to confront and deal with.