Does It Matter If White People Promote Black Causes?

Some people were offended over Rachel Dolezal claiming "Black" status and now the same thing seems to be going on with Black Lives Matters activist Shawn King. So does it matter, especially if when all said and done, White individuals are sincere about helping and promoting what are viewed as causes that primarily focus on/aid with Black issues/problems?





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I welcome the contributions and support of all people of good will in addressing the systemic injustice people of African descent face. As long as black people remain the subject rather than the object of our own struggle for racial justice, I see no problem with it. I think the ability to collaborate with others will better help us all fight collectively for justice in other, non-racial dimensions.

 

But why lie about it? It comes out as really condescending. Listen black people I'll be your ally but let me steer this movement because you can't

 

I agree with this. Black people have to lead the way on issues impacting black people by virtue of race. There'll be plenty of time for collaboration on class, the environment and a lot more. It's not a question of rejecting the help of anyone, but I think there is a value in having historically dis-empowered people taking back a sense of social agency. It's an important step in the fight for equality, in my opinion.

 

Shaun King is one of those cats who grew up very Black identified and apparently didn't correct folks when they though he was a BM.

With his wife.



In HS;

Nearly the same media story as Ms. Dolezal, but I'm not aware of him ever saying he was Black, even if he did represent himself that way.

Look, if Black folks aren't choosing to lead these movements, next man up.
The Abolitionist movement in the 1800s was predominately made up of WHite folk.

In the 1960s and '70s, many of the folks behind the scenes and many of the foot soldiers were multicultural.


About Shaun King, he's from Kentucky and something about him looks 'different'. The man shown in photos as his father doesn't look like him IMO.

Mr. King's explanation;
I refuse to speak in detail about the nature of my mother’s past, or her sexual partners, and I am gravely embarrassed to even be saying this now, but I have been told for most of my life that the white man on my birth certificate is not my biological father and that my actual biological father is a light-skinned black man. My mother and I have discussed her affair. She was a young woman in a bad relationship and I have no judgment. This has been my lived reality for nearly 30 of my 35 years on earth.
All of my siblings and I have different parents. I’m actually not even sure how many siblings I have. It is horrifying to me that my most personal information, for the most nefarious reasons, has been forced out into the open and that my private past and pain have been used as jokes and fodder to discredit me and the greater movement for justice in America. I resent that lies have been reported as truth and that the obviously racist intentions of these attacks have been consistently downplayed at my expense and that of my family.

His race ultimately isn't that important, but for a grown man to call his mother promiscuous to promote a lie, that's extreme to me.
Which means I sort of buy his racial history explanation.

So many mixed people are running around in Kentucky passing BOTH ways.
Muhammad Ali, a Kentucky native, has a White great-grandfather.


End of the day, what matters most to me is his how you live your life impacting the lives of others, not skin tone.

 

Jim Zwerg thought so even though he was turned on by his family and almost died. He had a lot of courage. (Article is too long to post in its entirety, but it's a great story.)

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/05/16/Zwerg.freedom.rides/index.html

 

For the same reasons certain black folks embrace the Confederate Flag as a symbol of heritage rather than oppression or other laundry list of Proud Graduate of Clarence Thomas University level fuckery Black folks choose to engage in.

 

What the fuck is this come on man

 

What's the problem? Did he even claim to be black?

 

Not to my knowledge but to say there are no black people stepping up is complete bullshit. We are really racing towards a narrative where we give all credit to white people who help out in the cause but dismiss blacks who are in it too. Why because they're white they get extra brownie points?

 

I don't really see where this is coming from. I wonder if anyone else feels this way.

 

I say that if anyone regardless of race, religion, national origin and so on, so forth and such like, is really in this for the long haul, I have no problem with it. If these persons are in it for fame and personal glory, they have to move on because fame and personal glory in this case are fleeing. During the Civil Rights movement, a woman named Viola Gregg Liuzzo wanted to help. She left her husband and children to go south. Sadly, she and three black men were pursued by members of the KKK. She was shot and killed. The FBI under J. Edgar Hoover, coerced the surviving men to giving up semen samples and admitting that they had raped her. The samples were placed into Liuzzo's body post-mortem. The Klansmen were not charged in Liuzzo's murder, but were charged with violating her civil rights. Crazy. She didn't do this for the fame or the glory. She did this because she didn't think what was going on down south was wrong and believed that all people should have the same rights as anyone else. This woman and many other people deserve to be recognized for their courageous contributions.

 

Typical white boy enjoying his white male privilege in our community.Negroes love that shit too.

He'd likely shit a brick if his sister married or dated a BM.

I've seen plenty like him.

Malcolm X mentioned it in his autobiography.
Malcolm showed up at a party with a white girl,and overheard this white dude that lived with TWO black females, ask his date...."what are you doing with that nigger".

 

I see where he is coming from...and don't understand how anybody doesn't.

You can't play with anybody else's struggle like that.

 

If it ain't broke then someone is the wrong race? Wish I could say "Only in America."

I'm all about results. If this guy can help or is helping to fix some problems then I'm all for it. Systematic racism has been going on waaaaay to long to be quarreling with people that are willing to help. His race would be totally irrelevant if we were talking about methods of solving problems. If someone had a disagreement about how he was approaching the problem that would be another subject all together, that I could see.

If the goal is separation from whites I would have a problem with his leadership; considering the goals for the movement and the interests of this community (wwbm), i'm fine with his leadership given that it is effective.

 

White people are damned if they do and damned if they don't. The end.

 

No is saying not to give credit where credit is due a d seriously spare me the whoa is me white people can do no right bs. I just don't like giving extra credit to white people for being decent human beings as if there aren't black people on the front lines fighting the struggle too if not more so (we don't have the luxury of getting bored and opting out)
I will give him the benefit of the doubt if he hasn't actually claimed to be black.

 

Is not feeling appreciated really that bad? I get what you are saying but I don't think this guy is going to lose sleep over it. Especially if he is helping to solve bigger problems than his problem of not being black. lol

 

I've just seen the attitude in other discussion groups I'm in. If you're white you either don't care or if you appear to care, you're not genuine. Some refuse to believe that despite the color of our skin, we can care about your struggle and we can want to walk the journey with you.