Say It Like It Is: Being direct about the language of White supremacy

We have a tendency in American culture to beat around the bush with our words when it comes to sensitive topics. Of course, this comes from a place of not wishing to offend. And words do have a lot of power, so being mindful of those words is, indeed, important. However, there are a number of contexts, particularly when it comes to racial justice issues, that our indirectness can have the opposite impact where the softened wording therefore softens the act.

This softening of racist actions applies to both the extreme and the everyday contexts.

The horrific mass shooting at the Tops Supermarket in Buffalo presents the extreme example of our indirect language around race. This was especially apparent in so much of the reporting. The White supremacist shooter clearly targeted that particular neighborhood because it was a Black neighborhood. And so many news organizations cast his horrific massacre as a “racially motivated attack.” This softened framing removes the specific intent to the murders and obfuscates the actual act.

The despicable act, however, was as horrific as it seemed: a racist mass shooting, a White supremacist attack. The shooter was not “racially motivated,” rather he was motivated by White supremacist beliefs rooted in the fear that White people were going to be replaced. Therefore, it was a White supremacist attack. In order to report on the actual truth, these acts should be cast as “racist” or “White supremacist.” By naming the specific root of the attack, it sheds light on the roots of the problem, which is White supremacy.

However, our directness shouldn’t exist in the realm of tragic events. Racism exists in the air we breathe and within the systems and structures built by and for White people. Despite all the progress we think we’ve made, Whiteness is the default, so any direct language can feel like an affront to that status quo. So we need to be using the words “systemic White supremacy” and “systemic racism” in those contexts because, like it or not, those are linked directly back to the tragic events that motivated a White supremacist to slaughter innocent Black people going about their daily business. 

While the Buffalo murderer was overt and unafraid of his racism, the ideas of White supremacy exist in all of us, especially those of us White people. It’s White supremacy that causes police to “fear for their lives” when pulling a Black person over in a routine traffic stop. It’s White supremacy that leads Black workers to be paid far less than their White counterparts. It’s White supremacy that causes White parents to see a predominantly Black school and deem it as “low performing.” 

In most cases, these White supremacist actions are carried out without us even knowing we’re doing it. This kind of racism-in-the-air only comes about when the systems are set up not to question the validity. It doesn’t mean we are inherently racist people. Rather, when we don’t question or unlearn the defaults we were raised in, we are continuing to feed that system. 

That is why using direct language about racism is so important to integrate into our everyday lives. By making note of White supremacy or systemic racism when you see it–in yourself or from others–it creates a shift in your brain. When you’re direct in the way you think and talk about it, it helps you see it more. 

This can also be particularly useful for White people who are nervous about making mistakes. For anyone on a path to antiracism, you will make mistakes, it’s inevitable. But when you realize that these come from being a part of a White supremacist system, you’re able to separate it from yourself. It does not absolve you, of course, as any harms you have control over should be addressed. But it links personal actions to a larger system. In that, language can have the power to transform your ability to move in the world in a more antiracist way.