Can A White Person Help Black People And Be Racist?

For sure “Yes”, here’s how

Just recently I came across a white lady from South America who claimed she couldn’t possibly be racist because she was involved in charity work in Africa. I believed her. That was until I found out she was a card-carrying member of a right-wing, xenophobic political group here in Switzerland.

I was perplexed at how she — let’s call her Shirley, considered herself nonracist given the racist ideas she supported via her political affiliation. She held a strong anti-immigrant stance and thought that Switzerland should significantly reduce the number of refugees it gave asylum to – especially if these refugees hailed from the global south.

According to her, white Ukrainian refugees were fine because as she shared, “They have the same culture as us”.

I actually take issue with that comment because it's false to say that because they are white, Ukrainians have a similar culture to the Swiss, or all white people for that matter. I would argue that African cultures are actually much closer to European ones given the remnants of colonialism, than Ukrainian culture. But here I digress. That’s the subject of a whole other blog post.

Shirley also had a visceral hatred for Muslims and when she had a few drinks in her, she admitted she didn’t want to see too many Black people on the streets of Geneva because she believed they could only be involved in dealing drugs or engaging in prostitution.

Despite all these derogatory and racist comments, she didn’t consider herself racist.

Shirley worked extensively to send used medical equipment as well as toys and clothes to African countries. Whenever she did that, she’d send me numerous photos of the goods being forklifted onto airplanes or being received in hospitals and communities across the continent.

She drowned my WhatsApp feed with these pics as if to say, “Look at how generous I am to Africans, I am not racist”. She chanted that in an almost Mantra-like fashion.

It was almost uncomfortable for me and most times I’d send her a monosyllabic response to acknowledge I’d seen all the photos and signal that I believed she was helping the continent. She shared those pics with the whole world, as though to convince herself and others that she wasn’t a racist. It was all very disturbing.

The only problem with all this though was that she was a staunch closet racist. She sent stuff over to Africa with the rationale that if she sent Africans all she thought they needed, there was no reason why they should immigrate or seek asylum in Switzerland.

“Stay in Africa, don’t come over here”, was her message.

She thought that since she was basically giving them all they needed, they shouldn’t need anything more. Already that’s quite presumptuous don’t you think? Assuming you know everything Africans need? I’m pretty much convinced that a white person that lives in Switzerland and has never set foot in Africa, has no clue about what people there need. But anyway, this was her thinking.

I’ve come across many profiles like this. According to them, Black people are fine if they stay in Africa, they shouldn’t seek to come to Switzerland. If these people do risk their lives to get to Switzerland, Shirley would be the type to vote against them being let into the country. The reality is that she’s racist but feels guilty about being so. She quenches that guilt by delivering used goods to Africa. She feels powerful in this role because she is the white savior saving all those “poor” Africans through the stuff she provides.

But if one of those Africans dares to come to her doorstep, she’ll see to it that he/she is returned back to his/her country. Yep, folks, that’s how the racist windmill works. People might appear to be a certain way, but harbor resentment toward certain groups and take on an almost Dr. Jekel, Mr. Hyde persona when it comes to their behavior versus ethnic or other minorities.

Don’t get me started on the comments she made to my gay friends who had become parents using the surrogacy route. She outright told them that what they had engaged in wasn’t “normal”.

She was despicably close-minded.

There are lots of Shirleys around the world. These are the women that voted for Trump. They pretend as though they are liberals but deep down inside, they harbor deep resentment for Black and brown people, and marginalized groups.

These are the worse type of racists because they hide behind a facade and they can even trick you into believing they aren’t racist. Sooner or later, however, their words will erase all the actions they engage in to cover up their true nature.

Shirley invited me for drinks the other day and said she wanted to get to know me better. At the end of the evening, she offered to drive me home.

She headed toward my village and immediately took the route toward a series of 70s-looking apartment blocks where mainly immigrant populations live. She packed on the side of the street and started to wish me a “good night”.

“But I don’t live here”, I said.

“How come? This is where people like you (aka Black people) live”.

In her mind, there was no other place I could possibly live in that village.

She seemed surprised I lived somewhere else.

I would even go as far as to say she probably didn’t believe me when I asked her to drop me off in another neighborhood. The whole thing intrigued me for a few seconds and then I chuckled. Racists always imagine Black people a certain way. For her, I could only live in a certain part of town because I am Black.

Somewhere in my mind, I want to show Shirley she is mistaken about Black people. The reality though is that I can’t spend my life doing this – I don’t have the energy for this anymore.

My blog here is now how I am contributing to the fight against racism. I need to contain myself within this boundary in order to preserve my well-being and mental health. I’m leaving it to someone else to convert the Shirleys.

Thank you for reading my perspective.