Diversity, inclusion, and white women
Originally posted on Toward Decolonizing Physics
I recently tried going to a diversity forum at my graduate institution for the first time. I have to admit, given the incredibly low bar in physics in general, I was quite impressed that they were holding an event to discuss the recent American Institute of Physics report, “The Time Is Now,” a plan to increase the number of African American students to receive bachelor’s degrees in physics and astronomy.
When I walked into the room, I noticed an immediate irony – as far as I could tell, at least 80% of the people in the room appeared to be white women, with a scattering of white men and non-Black people of color. There was only one visibly Black person in the room. Both presenters were white. Obviously, I cannot say anything conclusive without participants having the chance to self-identify their race and gender, but what was undeniable was the oppressive atmosphere of white femininity in the room.
And yes, I found the atmosphere aggravating as a white woman (albeit one who was radicalized by women of color). I can’t imagine how the couple people of color in the room must have been feeling, while real psychological violence against Black people in physics became an academic soundbite for the intellectual thirst of white women allies. I walked out of the ensuing discussion — I was in a small group with 3 other white women — sick to my stomach.
I mention this event not to critique it in particular; the white presenters did an incredible job and really, in my opinion, exemplified what it means to be an ally! But I do want to use it to illustrate a really common set of phenomena I see in diversity/inclusion activism in physics, where the most vocal voices in so many institutions so often belong to white women:
White women become the de facto face of diversity and inclusion activism, to the point that we dominate consciousness-raising spaces. There is no acknowledgment of the voices of faculty and students of color, either because they do not exist, their work is silenced, or the culture of the institution demands they keep a low profile.
Discussion about issues of race (or, in many cases, any issue other than [cis]gender) get derailed to either (1) talking about gender completely divorced from other identities, or (2) institutional issues that have little to do with systems of oppression at all. (Usually, discussions explicitly about gender do not get derailed in this way, and when they do, they never end up being about race!)
White women self-congratulate the group on being diverse because it contains a lot of women, even though said women are nearly exclusively white (and usually homogeneous on other axes). We do not stop to consider who is not in the room, or if we do, do not consider it our responsibility. We do not acknowledge ourselves as settlers and oppressors even though we are, foremost.
Much of the conversation consists of assuaging white guilt. Topics like white guilt may be discussed, but only as academic exercises without corresponding self-introspection. Guilt and shame about hegemonic whiteness are offloaded onto the handful of white men present, and white women continue to see ourselves as victims and not as agents.
“Diversity and inclusion” activism becomes coopted as yet another tool for white hegemony in science. Like so often throughout history, (comparatively vulnerable) white women act as emissaries for white supremacy in the name of progressive activism. Even if this type of activism leads to marginal racial diversity gains within physics, it is about giving more people a foothold in the colonizer’s house, not deconstructing the exploitative systems that make Western physics a fundamentally colonialist project. (Not incidentally, this superficial work is the same type of work that white women benefit most directly and disproportionately from.)
Frankly, I’m not sure how to fix this problem, given that so often white women represent the only visible and identifiable underrepresented population in physics with large enough numbers to organize. (I have watched white women at my institution bring in speakers of colors to talk about whiteness and walk out completely unaware the talk was about them!) However, if you are a white woman who finds yourself engaged in diversity and inclusion activism surrounded mostly by other white women – and especially if you are talking about race, or colonization – I urge you to ask yourself:
How do I see myself as a (white) woman in physicist? Am I merely a victim of the patriarchy, or do I acknowledge and fully internalize that I am a relatively privileged agent in a broader matrix of domination? Am I willing to (self)-responsibly interrogate my actions and feelings? Am I really as self-responsible as I think I am?
Decolonization is about repatriating land and power back to Indigenous people, period. Fellow white women in physics, the least we can do is quit clamoring for equal power with our even more over-privileged white male colleagues and start by divesting that which we already have in excess.
