Hello CSWAC Supporter,
This is part 4 of a 10-part series by Dr. Charley Flint and Jeff Hitchcock, CSWAC’s founders, on our future direction. We value your time and support.
WEEK 4
The Work Begins
Let’s be clear on our purpose. We want a nation with a multiracial center that accommodates everyone. We do not want a nation with a white center that requires everybody else to partially assimilate or accept marginalization. We can begin this work by building multiracial communities in our towns, our workplaces, our places of worship, the public square, etc. But first, what is this thing we are calling multiracial community? If we’re going to study it and promote it, we should know what it is.
A simple definition is that multiracial community occurs when people of more than one racial group come together in meaningful relationship and whiteness is not centered.
It’s not just the numbers. It is crucial to ensure that whiteness is not centered! If we only look at numbers, it is possible to have a white-centered multiracialism masquerading as the real thing. The recent election tells us this white-centered multiracialism is currently forming up as the prevailing racial ideology in our country. It disavows racial identity and enforces colorblind ideology even as it boasts of its gains in BIPOC support.
Never discount the power of white supremacy to change with prevailing conditions. It has in the past. Remember, the Irish were once not white. Today millions of Latines, Asians, and multiracial people are finding the barriers of entry to whiteness softening even as whiteness itself is coming down hard on matters such as DEI, anti-racism, racial justice, Affirmative Action, multicultural education and immigration. The softening of barriers to entry to whiteness has received attention from scholars. Activists have been a little slower to respond. Our recent election tells us we better develop some clarity on the matter. We are seeing the beginning of a multiracial colorblind whiteness taking the dominant position.
A centered whiteness, whether it be multiracial in composition or not, ultimately centers the interests of white people. It might admit individuals of any race, but it will never admit Black and Indigenous people in mass. When it comes to a healthy multiracial society, the condition of Black people and Indigenous people are a bellwether, a canary in the coal mine. White-centered culture will never deliver justice to Black and Indigenous people unless it delivers it to white people first. Whether and how white culture might deliver justice to other racial groups is also very much a question.
So, it’s not just a matter of numbers. Multiracial community must also be based in an anti-racism that attends to all racial groups and focuses resources on delivering justice to those most denied it in a white-centered society. For this reason, we say multiracial community must be anti-racist and we often refer to building anti-racist multiracial community as a reminder.
Finally, multiracial community must also be multicultural. If we are to abandon a culture of whiteness, we need to develop a culture of multiracialism that supports expression of multiple cultures as a core tenet.
Charley Flint . . . . . . Jeff Hitchcock
Next Tuesday: Silos, Everywhere