This week, a white man drove 200 miles to Buffalo and murdered 10 people, most of whom were Black, citing the “Great replacement theory” espoused by many right-wing white supremacists. It is horrifying, and my heart breaks for the families of those who were murdered by this racist terrorist.

White supremacy is the root cause of every problem we are trying to address in this sector. The anti-abortion movement, just like the mass shootings by white men and the lack of regulations on guns, are both grounded in white supremacist fear of white people being oppressed or “replaced.” Climate change, poverty, homelessness, everything is tied to white supremacist ideology. And over the past several years, this ideology has been surging.

Democracy in the US is crumbling, rapidly giving way to white fascist evangelical theocracy. There are already plans to get SCOTUS to reverse Obergefell and make marriage equality a thing of the past again. Louisiana is passing laws that would allow people who have abortions, and who provide them, to be prosecuted for murder. And the earth is going to be uninhabitable. All of this, again, will disproportionately affect Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, and NH/PI communities.

With so much injustice caused by white supremacy, it has been so exhausting seeing how the progressive-leaning wing of our sector operates as a whole. When we are not mired in time-wasting activities, we are engaged in white moderate behaviors Dr. King warned about. Especially funders, major philanthropists, board members, and others who have a disproportionate share of power. When hateful, horrible things happen, they will inevitably release some sort of statement condemning injustice, and then go back to the same crappy habits that make it impossible for people to be effective in fighting these hateful, horrible things. If we’re going to be serious about addressing white supremacy and injustice, then we need to do a few things differently:

Funders:

  • Increase your payout rates.
  • Fund organizing work, especially work led by marginalized communities.
  • Get political.
  • Support movement leaders.
  • Knock it off with all the grant application bullshit.

Read the full article about white supremacy by Vu Le at Nonprofit AF.