An essay called Dear White Feminists: Your Good Intentions Are Not Enough, originally published by Huffington Post, has been circulating on Twitter recently. It's an uncomfortable read, challenging the 'it's the thought that counts' attitude that many allies have, without pandering to white fragility.
The article is brimming with anger, as it should be. If the political trash-fire that is 2016 has taught us anything, it's that (mostly) white moderates are more than willing to throw minorities under the bus in order to preserve the status quo.
It comes out in their tone policing. It comes out in taking condescending stands that ignore the concerns of the community. It comes out in calls for respectability politics, wherein everyone has a nice 'respectful' dialogue without considering how the socio-political power structures of oppression means minorities are always at a disadvantage in those kinds of conversations.
Again and again, the answer from centrist progressive thinkers seems to be, Why can't everyone just get along?
In a media sphere obsessed with whiteness, it's worth considering what whiteness is. Does whiteness include my brother's second generation Greek-Australian girlfriend? Does it include my classmate with a Maltese background who was teased in school for being 'ethnic'? Does it extend only to those with Judeo-Christian values?
If you care to google the terms, the definitions of whiteness and white are different. Whiteness has always been a moving target that has more to do with power and privilege than race or skin colour. Author and activist Paul Kivel writes that whiteness is 'a constantly shifting boundary separating those who are entitled to have certain privileges from those whose exploitation and vulnerability to violence is justified by their not being white'.
As a construct, whiteness didn't exist until about the 17th century as a way to create a status quo among poor white people and black people. Since the elite white Europeans feared an uprising, they created the idea of a Euro-centric 'whiteness'. Poor white folk were given certain privileges like 'white-only' events and the abolishment of indentured servitude for whites, while black slaves had rights taken away.
From the beginning, creating race tensions was a way of easing class tensions, so that poor white people would identify with rich white people, rather than joining with people of colour. At its roots, whiteness was created as a tool of oppression.
"Paradoxically, the construct of whiteness today is both fragile and prevalent. As more people of colour assert their rights and break through social barriers, whiteness, as it currently stands, is threatened."
Many groups largely considered to be white today were discriminated against until they achieved 'whiteness'. Most people know about the 'Irish need not apply' history in America and Australia in the 19th century. They were not alone in this: Polish, Armenian, Slavic and Jewish people were considered non-white or a 'lesser' white. In recent Australian history, we have seen Greeks and Italians transition from being racialised as 'ethnic' to being generally accepted under a broad 'whiteness' umbrella.
Historically, this transition from non-white to white has been as a result of two reasons. One: the previously discriminated group participates in anti-blackness and racism as a form of assimilation, the mindset of 'Hey I may be x, but at least I'm not y' granting upward social mobility as new ethnicities and cultures became 'other'. Or two: the group is granted 'model minority' status.
Paradoxically, the construct of whiteness today is both fragile and prevalent. As more people of colour assert their rights and break through social barriers, whiteness, as it currently stands, is threatened. Whiteness has only ever existed in the denigration of non-whiteness. With Australia still grappling with its colonial history, it can be uncomfortable to admit how far-reaching the ramifications are.
In a post-Trump, post-Brexit world, the ways in which whiteness has dominated our culture are becoming more visible. Outside of the context of historical oppression that still manifests as economic, social and political inequality, political moderation is fine. But that viewpoint presupposes that everyone is on a level playing field, when that has never really been the case. It seems that in 2016 white people are trying to reclaim whiteness — but we must realise that with 'whiteness', there must also be oppression.
Neve Mahoney is a student at RMIT university. She has also contributed to Australian Catholics and The Big Issue.