Recipes for Disaster: an anarchist cookbook

It is too simplistic to imagine individual social controllers in the upper echelons of power as the source of all oppression. White supremacy, for example, is not just the billy clubs of white policemen, nor the country clubs of white executives. White power is not just the power of white people: it is a system of dynamics extending throughout every level of a society, present in every interaction and within every individual. This is why there can be white privilege even in nations where?according to conventional North American standards?no one is, technically speaking, white. Likewise, there is no external enemy we can march against to overthrow patriarchy; we are within enemy territory, and the enemy is within us. At the same time as we fight against external manifestations of oppression, we must also struggle against those we have internalized, putting an end to our own oppressive actions and empowering ourselves to cast off the shackles we have received.

Learning to take criticism constructively?even when it's hard to feel that it is intended constructively?is an important part of this. If one is too defensive to receive perspective on one's own attitudes and conduct, one will miss out on countless opportunities to better oneself At the same time, one must learn to recognize the voice of the

oppressor in one's own head, telling one what one can and cannot do, what one deserves and does not deserve. An encouraging, inspiring circle of peers can help to counteract

this internalized oppression.

To be allies to others in the struggle against racism?^to name one example of oppres- Being an Ally

sion?is to recognize that racism exists within us without resigning ourselves to that

fact, and to engage in real resistance that goes beyond the confession of our personal

complicity. It is to accept that we who have internalized racial dominance will never fully

understand the plight of those who suffer the injustices of white supremacy more than

we do, and yet to do all we can to learn from their experiences. It is to take an active role

in fighting against racist institutions, without compromising the autonomy of those

who have even more at stake in this struggle than we do.

People sometimes assume that the means for learning about racism are in scarce supply. This is an absurd, perhaps even subtly racist, assumption, as it ignores the abundance of experience around us. To gain an understanding of the workings of white supremacy, one need not attend endless workshops or become involved in an obscure subculture; indeed, there are reasons to be suspicious of anti-racist organizing in which white experts take the lead in educating and organizing. There are no experts on oppression?or rather, all who experience oppression are experts. Even if you have been so privileged as not to have experienced it yourself, there are people all around you who know firsthand what it is to bear the brunt of racist injustice and inequality. You simply must learn to listen to them, and to conduct yourself such that they v^dll be willing to share their experiences with you.

At the same time, no person more targeted by the racist system than you are owes

it to you to take the time to educate you about racism. They have enough to deal with ^jr

Undermining Oppression

already, without your feeling entitled to make assumptions about or demands of them. Many people of color are exhausted from being asked to speak for all members of their race throughout their lives, or for that matter for all members of all non-white races. Whenever people less privileged than you are willing to take the time to share their perspectives, they are giving a generous gift, one greater than anyone could possibly ask of them and not to be taken for granted. In the meantime, whenever you need to learn about racism and white supremacy and don't know who to approach, you can always consult the vast bodies of literature, film, music, and history made by those of less privileged backgrounds than your own. Aspiring anti-racists of all races, accustomed to listening to popular white views on nearly everything, would benefit from taking in knowledge of all sorts from multiple sources. As programmed as we all have been by this racist society, we owe it to ourselves and each other to begin learning the rest of our history and culture.