Anyone can claim to be an ally, but some of the people making those claims are out there acting in ways that are harmful to the groups they claim to support.
I've seen this most recently in the form of loud martyrdom. People who have a lot to say about how much they do for the cause. They've been hurt for it, bullied for it, silenced, cancelled… Everything they have to say is about what it's costing them to do what they do. It puts them centre stage and almost entirely erases the actual needs and issues of the causes they claim to take interest in.
Being an ally is a choice. It's about being willing to put your comfort aside for the sake of trying to help and support people who are uncomfortable. The person who centres themselves in that is either doing it for the attention, or has a skewed agenda. Often this goes with treating abusively the people you are supposedly an ally to but who disagree with you. Talking over and trying to silence people who - at least in theory - you are supposed to be standing up for, is a red flag. Whatever the cause, it's something to be wary of. Telling people that you - the ally - know more about what's 'really' going on than a person living that experience, is another red flag.
The single most useful thing a would-be ally can do is simply to amplify. It's so easy to do this on social media without centering yourself.
No comments:
Post a Comment