Performing Humanity has been on an indefinite hiatus, as other projects and interests have demanded attention as of late. But recent tragedies seem to demand a move away from silence.
This blog is a community that explores humanness and human value, largely through historical and pop cultural analysis. There are times when silence, satire, or academic analysis are appropriate. As editor of this blog, I feel like none of these fit the moment. This is a time when straightforward expression is necessary, and when opening the door to dialogue is the only way to accomplish change.
In breaking silence here, I want to acknowledge a number of truths. They are not new, or uttered first here. Yet the more of us that acknowledge them -- out loud, in writing, and through our actions -- the better. Through continuous exposure we can see more clearly the harmful systems around us, can question them, resist them, and work together to deconstruct them.
White privilege exists.
It is a damaging component of our society, deeply founded in a series of religious, racial, sexual, and economic traditions that radically predates us but undoubtedly affects us every day. Its ideological assumptions of superiority or of what counts as "human" affect everything from the color named "skin" on bandages to the sentencing of crimes.
White privilege is a wall built on the degradation of humans, on slavery, on violence. It positions one group above others simply because of a mistaken belief in racial superiority and an enjoyment of the
resulting benefits. It is not unbreakable. And it is only when we work on both sides of the wall -- outside and in -- that we can tear it down.
Equity and Equality are Not the Same.
While equity means that all people receive what they need, equality means that all people receive the same thing.
When the diverse members of our country come together, when we can acknowledge the damage caused by systemic prejudices of racism, white privilege, misogyny, homophobia, we can also recognize that not all people need the same things. What's more, after historic denials of humanity, often it is our collective responsibility to readjust the scales that for so long had been tipped. Thus, the accomplishment of equity may at times require non-identical treatment.
Black Lives Matter.
Brown Lives Matter.
Women's Lives Matter.
Gay Lives Matter.
Only when we change the system so that those lives that have been continually and systemically devalued are treated as equally valuable, and only then, can we say in practice that All Lives Matter.
Morally, all lives matter. But these movements are about righting historical and present wrongs, and about breaking down barriers of exclusion and privilege that treat these lives as less valuable. To respond to the calls of these movements with All Lives Matter is, accidentally or purposefully, to dismiss the importance of declaring and fighting for the value of these specific lives that wider social systems continue to deny.
Joining the fight as an ally does not mean your experiences are the same.
These systems of inequity and inequality damage us all. But not all damage is the same.