Antiracist Victimology Narrative

Let’s workshop this poem about the push to view all black-white interactions through a trauma lens in which whites, regardless of intent, cannot help but victimize and marginalize and oppress blacks

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Antiracist Victimology Narrative

We must read every interaction through the lens of blacks being dominated by whites, even innocuous interactions (and often with the result of placing whites into double binds):

a white person interrupting a black person out of excitement (since that activates a silencing history, as well as the intergeneration trauma of that history, in which black folk were repeatedly barred from speaking); 

a white person mispronouncing a black name like TyQuantavia or Quavondric (since that activates a name-erasing history, as well as the intergeneration trauma of that history, in which black folk were called whatever the white master deemed fit);

a white person not mispronouncing a black name like TyQuantavia or Quavondric (since that activates a ridiculing history, as well as the intergeneration trauma of that history, in which black folk were mocked for the unique names they came up with as a form of resistance to the practice of taking on their owner’s names);

a white person complimenting a black person on their hairstyle (since that activates an exoticizing history, as well as the intergeneration trauma of that history, in which black folk were judged on auction blocks primarily for their physical attributes);

a white person not complimenting a black person on their hairstyle (since that activates a white-is-right history, as well as the intergeneration trauma of that history, in which the beauty and cultural significance of black hairstyles were systematically overlooked or devalued);

a white person asking a black person for help with carrying an object (since that activates an enslaving history, as well as the intergeneration trauma of that history, in which black folk were expected to give their free labor to whites);

a white person not asking a black person for help with carrying an object (since that activates a mistrustful history, as well as the intergeneration trauma of that history, in which black folk were deemed neither capable nor trustworthy enough to assist white people);

a white person asking a black person if they need help carrying an object (since that activates a dependency history, as well as the intergeneration trauma of that history, in which black folk were considered unable to do for themselves);

a white person not asking a black person if they need help carrying an object (since that activates a neglecting history, as well as the intergeneration trauma of that history, where the struggles and burdens of black folk were ignored as if they were no more than animals);

a white person laughing at a joke made by a black person (since that activates a performative history, as well as the intergeneration trauma of that history, in which black folk were forced to entertain whites as minstrels and jesters cheesing with Satchmo grins);

a white person not laughing at a joke made by a black person (since that activates an exclusionary history, as well as the intergeneration trauma of that history, in which black humor was marginalized as “for the jungle” and deemed unworthy of acknowledgment in proper society); 

a white person offering a black person even solicited advice (since that activates a patronizing history, as well as the intergeneration trauma of that history, in which black folk were treated as intellectually inferior and in need of guidance by the supposedly superior wisdom of whites);

a white person not offering a black person advice (since that activates a withholding history, as well as the intergenerational trauma of that history, in which black folk’s access to knowledge and resources was deliberately restricted);

a white person telling a black person “good morning” (since that activates a mocking history, as well as the intergeneration trauma of that history, in which black folk were asked “Did you have a good mourning?” so as to make fun of their tears over the beating or murder of a loved one);

a white person laughing too loudly near a black person (since this activates a belittling history, as well as the intergenerational trauma of that history, where black folk's legitimate concerns and sufferings were often dismissed with laughter, as if their pains were merely a source of entertainment for whites);

a white person advising a black person to calm down during a heated discussion (since this activates an emotion-invalidating history, as well as the intergenerational trauma of that history, where black people's expressions of emotion were policed and deemed irrational or overreactive);

a white person catching a black boy after falling from the monkey bars (since that activates a manhandling history, as well as the intergeneration trauma of that history, in which black folk were touched and molested and moved around like mere tools by white people);

a white person not catching a black boy after falling from the monkey bars (since that activates a dehumanizing history, as well as the intergeneration trauma of that history, where black individuals, especially youths, were left vulnerable and unaided on grounds that they were less than human).

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