Yesterday, I received a shipment of my
forthcoming book, White Allies in the
Struggle for Racial Justice. This book is the product of nearly four years
of love and labor, as I researched and then
wrote the stories of 18 White Americans who joined people of color in the
struggle for racial justice. Their stories are relatively unknown, and I have
shared them to provide examples for White people today on what it means to be a
true anti-racist ally.
What follows are a few excerpts from the
first chapter, where I share my purpose in writing the book. I hope you find
these words intriguing and worth reading more. The book is due out November 20 but can be pre-ordered through Amazon or Orbis Books. Enjoy!
Excerpt
One day in the 1850’s, a young girl
named Abbie Whinnery was swinging on the iron gate in front of her house. Abbie
was the daughter of John Whinnery, one of the stationmasters of the underground
railroad in the staunchly abolitionist town of Salem, Ohio. The night before, a
group of runaway slaves had been shepherded into Salem and, at that very
moment, were hiding in the Whinnery’s attic until the evening fell and they
would be moved further north in the network of safe houses that had been
developed through Ohio from Kentucky to the Canada. As Abbie played in her
front yard, a marshal and two deputies rode up to the house. Even though Ohio
was considered a “free state,” the Fugitive Slave Law empowered law enforcement
officials from the slave-holding states to seek and arrest slaves who had
escaped north to places like Ohio.
Approaching the young girl in pigtails,
the marshal asked Abbie “You folks got any slaves in your house, Miss?” Without
batting an eye, Abbie replied “Not a one.” Because Abbie and her family were
Quakers, and Quakers were known not to lie, the marshal said “Come on then,
men. She’s a Quaker” and went on their way.
After the men had departed, Abbie’s
father who had overheard the whole conversation came out to the gate. “Abbie,
he said, “I heard what thee said to the men who came here. Thee knows there are
six men hidden in our attic this minute. Did thee tell an untruth?”
Again without hesitation Abbie
responded, “Oh no, Papa. He asked about slaves, but thee told me that no human
beings are ever slaves. They are free men to us, aren’t they?”
Whether this story is true or
apocryphal, it illustrates that, despite the racism that prevailed throughout
the United States of the 1850’s in both the North and South, there were White
people like the Whinnery family that were able to transcend the attitudes of
their time, and who risked arrest, ostracism and in some cases even death in
order to oppose that racism and to ally themselves with those brutalized and
degraded by it. All too often the stories of these brave anti-racist allies
like Abbie Whinnery are left untold.
-----
My conviction is that White people who
have become sensitized to the challenges of racism can be encouraged by stories
of White anti-racist allies who have gone before them. These stories provide
models and examples as to how Whites today must face the challenges of White
privilege and White supremacy. Whites who have become aware of the horrific
history of White oppression of People of Color need to know that in spite of
that awful history, there were people who saw beyond their “White blinders” and took actions toward racial justice in their time. These White anti-racist allies bucked the
trends of their time and for that they need to be remembered. I am in no way
suggesting that they were somehow without prejudices and flaws, for indeed they
were. However despite those flaws, the very fact that they lived as they did
can give Whites hope that even though they may still struggle with the effects
of conscious and unconscious racism throughout their lives, they too can join
the forces for reconciliation and justice.
---
In telling the stories of these White
anti-racist allies, I do not want to suggest that their stories efforts surpass
the accomplishments of those courageous People of Color who have always had to
lead the way….Rather, I hope to show that throughout the history of racism
there have been White folks who have been willing to follow courageous People
of Color in their fight for justice, and that they chose to use the power and
access that their Whiteness afforded them to work for a more racially just
society… [D]espite [their]
shortcomings the people highlighted in this book came to a place in their lives
where they took an active stance to oppose the racist practices and policies of
their day, sometimes at great personal cost… My hope is that these stories
will inspire the telling of other stories, many of which may be known in only
limited circles. Moreover, I hope that Whites and People of Color reading this
book can see that, despite the horrific history of White racism over the past
500 years, there is also a legacy of opposition comprised of White anti-racist
allies from whom we can learn and in whose steps we can follow.
The story of Abby Whinnery comes from Dale Shaffer, Salem: A Quaker City History (Charleston,
SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2002),43.
The term "white blinders comes from Spencer Perkins and Chris Rice, More Than Equals: Racial Healing for the Sake
of the Gospel – Revised and Expanded (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press,
2000).
