Where Is Your Wound?

#FirstCoffeeThoughts

Myisha T Hill has a great seminar coming up entitled 𝙇𝙚𝙩’𝙨 𝙏𝙖𝙡𝙠 𝘼𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙄𝙩: 𝙋𝙖𝙞𝙣, 𝙎𝙝𝙖𝙢𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙒𝙝𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝘽𝙤𝙙𝙮 – 𝘼 𝙏𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙥 𝙤𝙣 𝙀𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝘽𝘿𝙎𝙈, 𝙎𝙝𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝘾𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚, 𝙞𝙣 𝙇𝙞𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙠 which deals with something I’ve been talking about for way too many years not specific to white women but just women in general, how they rarely get motivated by anything other than shame and guilt when it comes to making any kind of change.

She brings up this idea of White Wounds which I think is epic.

We all have wounds to be sure … but Black Wounds are very different from White Wounds and when you think about the fact that white women especially tend to actively or subconsciously uphold misogynistic beliefs and work against their own self interests in that regard, it becomes a really interesting exploration of what white wounds look like especially from the lens of a Black woman. I would highly recommend this discussion for many people.

Another thing she discusses is getting white people in touch with their wounds and how those wounds get in the way of their own self development, healing, and how these wounds fuel racism and white supremacist belief systems:

𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙? 𝙒𝙝𝙮 𝙙𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝘽𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙠?

𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙧? 𝙒𝙝𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝘽𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙡𝙚𝙙𝙜𝙚𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙨𝙪𝙗𝙟𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙖 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙧𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨?

𝙒𝙝𝙮 𝙙𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙅𝘼𝘿𝙀? 𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙮, 𝘼𝙧𝙜𝙪𝙚, 𝘿𝙚𝙛𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙀𝙭𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛?

She brings up these questions especially in terms of how white people respond to her expressing her lived experience online (I have the same problems here on CoSo sometimes) and how there is this constant need that white people have to try and shut Black people (or any member of the Global Majority) up or down when they start expressing their truth.

The fact is these behaviors stem from racism and anti-Blackness though white people are reluctant to simply admit that …

These questions:

𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙? 𝙒𝙝𝙮 𝙙𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝘽𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙠?

𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙧? 𝙒𝙝𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝘽𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙡𝙚𝙙𝙜𝙚𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙨𝙪𝙗𝙟𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙖 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙧𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨?

𝙒𝙝𝙮 𝙙𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙅𝘼𝘿𝙀? 𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙮, 𝘼𝙧𝙜𝙪𝙚, 𝘿𝙚𝙛𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙀𝙭𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛?

Are LEGIT questions that I think many white people (and other non-Black folks) need to ask themselves and be able to answer.

Many cannot or simply won’t because the truth is tied to a wound or racism.

I wonder why white people find it so hard to just admit that they are racist or anti-Black.

You can’t work on changing something that you aren’t willing to admit. Or maybe you just feel like you shouldn’t admit something that you were indoctrinated into or groomed into because it’s not your fault? But just because something isn’t your fault doesn’t mean that ignoring it changes your level of personal responsibility regarding how you continuously or subconsciously perpetuate it and cause harm.

𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙? 𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙧? 𝙒𝙝𝙮 𝙙𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙮, 𝘼𝙧𝙜𝙪𝙚, 𝘿𝙚𝙛𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙀𝙭𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 … instead of just admitting that you are a victim of a system that we ALL (no matter what race or culture or gender) have been subjugated, changed, and indoctrinated into.

You’re NOT ALONE in this victimization. You’re NOT ALONE in this imprisonment. You’re not the only person who is racist or anti-Black or who subconsciously perpetuates harm because of things you’ve been taught your entire life.

Admitting that you are also a victim means you can begin a process of HEALING and LEARNING and HELPING OTHERS.

Admitting that you perpetuate harm because you are simply afraid or ignorant means you can begin a process of CHANGING and STOPPING the abuse you are inflicting on others without realizing it.

Why would you NOT want to do these things? Why would you CHOOSE to continue harming others and upholding destructive systems that oppress others?

Because you don’t care is usually the answer.

So the basic answer to these questions … why won’t white people just admit they are racist … is because they don’t care that they are …

It’s because they’re fine being knowing and willing victims of a system that has brainwashed them and made them believe the lie of white supremacy when they are actually a minority.

It’s because they have fear that in admitting they are also victims of oppression and grooming, it means they have to reflect on everything they have done and do.

The concept that white people are ALSO VICTIMS might be a weird concept for some people to understand. Indoctrination, grooming, programming, and brainwashing are not things that ONLY happen to weak people or minorities.

The mere fact that you DON’T think you are racist but probably spend most of your time perpetuating racism without realizing it … MEANS you have been indoctrinated, groomed, programmed, and brainwashed …

It’s not hard to understand this stuff. You’re just choosing not to.