Fearing people of colour

One of the reasons it is so hard for a white person to get started on any discourse about race is that we are afraid.
Not just generically afraid that we might say something stupid and get called a racist, or that we might discover to our dismay that we actually are racist – although we [...]

What is institutional racism?

The first time I ever heard the expression “institutional racism” was in connection with the Stephen Lawrence report back in 1999.
(You can read the report in full here, the chapter on racism is here.)
At the time, the expression struck me as pretty stupid. How can an institution be racist? Institutions aren’t racist, people are. If [...]

Why am I, a white person, standing against racism?

I had a plan for today’s post, but it will have to wait because I have some important listening to do, and then I have a question to ask myself.
In “White Women and Self-Obsession“, Allecto of Gorgon Poisons writes about white feminists “who have proposed self-flagellation as their method of combating racism”. She says “it [...]

Certainly not a game

Maia and I are putting a great deal of thought and energy into this project, and we welcome, as we said, discussions with feminists who are interested in moving toward truth and understanding, and toward justice. I hope and believe that’s what we’re all looking for.
We all read the same feminist blogs; we are listening to [...]

Poor visibility

One of the many reasons for my getting involved in the white noise project is that I am from the UK. Here, racism and white privilege happen in a very different cultural and historical context – not isolated from the rest of the world, but certainly different. And one of the things that I would [...]

Welcome to white noise!

First, BIG thanks to Maia for the idea of this blog as a place where white radical feminists can talk about our white privilege and its implications (oppression and racism). As radical feminists, we are in a great position to do this work, since race privilege/race oppression fits neatly into the corresponding template of sex [...]

Introducing white noise

Secondwaver and I (Maia) decided to set up this site a couple of days ago, and all of a sudden – here it is!
We’re hoping to make this a discussion space and a place where feminist writers or bloggers from all over the world can share their thoughts and experiences. Please, get in touch if [...]