But what if the response were “Well shoot. I hope I’m not doing anything racist. Can you explain to me what exactly is racist about it so that I can make sure not to do it?”
There’s frequently the sentiment that it’s not on other people to do the work of explaining to white people that they are racist but that it’s the obligation for white people to figure that out themselves.
I understand why a black person might feel tired explaining to all the white people around them what exactly they did wrong.
The situation is quite different if instead this is a woke white person, acting angry of behalf of the hypothetical offended black people, and refusing to explain why. That is simply an attempt to take credit for fighting against racism, without actually spending any energy doing so (other than yelling).
There’s frequently the sentiment that it’s not on other people to do the work of explaining to white people that they are racist but that it’s the obligation for white people to figure that out themselves.
I understand why a black person might feel tired explaining to all the white people around them what exactly they did wrong.
The situation is quite different if instead this is a woke white person, acting angry of behalf of the hypothetical offended black people, and refusing to explain why. That is simply an attempt to take credit for fighting against racism, without actually spending any energy doing so (other than yelling).
“Isn’t that what you’re being paid to do, Miss DiAngelo?”
There is, but it sounds like something out of R.D. Laing’s “Knots” (which I would recommend to everyone).