Partnering with fellow white, male activists and potential activists is necessary. Working alone is not a viable option. We should support each other, in challenging, caring ways.
We must start locally, and expand, coalescing nationally. As we develop critical mass, we can branch outward. We should build connections with less woke men, especially poor and working class men, who may have bought the right’s lies.
We need to listen, and really hear others. Hearing their stories, we may be able to share some of ours. Then we can confront – The Blame Game – helping white (wo)men learn that they are played off against Black, Latino, and Native People. We can share how wealthy elites profit by hurting the rest of us.
We need to help others see how class is used against us. We can share how we are needlessly, deliberately divided by: race, gender, class and similar. Our diversity should be a strength, rather than a polarizing agent.
When we judge other white men, before listening to their concerns, we typecast them, typically erroneously, as “the enemy”. We need to presume that many of them are reachable. They have commonly bought into the “zero sum myth” – that falsely says that if “the others” gain, that they must lose.
We play the right’s “games”. We argue facts. We accurately state: “climate change is destroying the earth”. They play upon fears and emotion. “Those immigrants steal your jobs”. “Blacks and gays aren’t waiting in line, instantly pushing above us.”
The right has six likely Supreme Court votes against us. They are suppressing the rights of many BIPOC people to vote. Soon abortion will not be a woman’s right.
We are trying to find ourselves. We don’t feel an urgency to act now. We don’t experience immediate threats that others face every day. We don’t want to make any mistakes! Every day that we don’t do all that we can, we face increasing odds against us!
Now we need to begin doing much more! We must join others in “doing the work”, building towards meaningful, systemic change! Let’s:
- Listen and learn from others – sharing what works and doesn’t work
- Have urgency – with patience,
- Support BIPOC, Women, Queer/Trans People – following their leadership,
- Do both our Personal and Political Work – with each other such as being an active member of a white affinity group,
- Take care of ourselves – share food, celebrate, relax, take limited time off
We must recognize how toxic masculinity hurts others, and ourselves. We must hear each other, recognizing both our commonality and uniqueness, as white men.
We must model a new masculinity !!
- Moving into our hearts and spirits – (using, but not being stuck in our heads),
- Being curious,
- Extending the ”cocoons”, limiting us, building ever widening circles and spheres, far beyond what we can envision now.
I need to build curiosity and learn about menstruation, East African cultures, the lives of my Queer and Trans brethren, as well as other important issues like climate change.
Building lasting community requires us to:
- Do both our personal, and political work, into the distant future,
- Help Motivate others – white men (and others) – in our own unique ways,
- Show Loving care for others, and ourselves, and
- Honor – the spirit the: sun, moon, and the raging and peaceful water.
Thanks!
Two excellent organizations to support and join their work are:
SURJ – Showing Up for Racial Justice – https://surj.org/ – has a lot of women, but far fewer men. They have a lot of local chapters, a paid staff, and multiple ways we can connect with their/our work.
Men 4 Choice – https://www.men4choice.org/ – is doing some great work organizing men – working on Reproductive Justice (including Abortion Rights) – supporting the work of multiple women lead groups.
A F E W – S U G G E S T E D R E S O U R C E S
BOOKS
- Charlene Carruthers – Unapologetic: A Black, Queer, and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements – http://www.workingtowardsendingracism.org/2020/03/charlene-carruthers-incredible-book.html
- Catherine Fosl – Subversive Southerner: Anne Braden … – http://www.workingtowardsendingracism.org/2020/08/anne-braden-bio-excellent.html
- Alicia Garza – The Purpose of Power… – http://www.workingtowardsendingracism.org/2021/08/the-purpose-of-power-alicia-garza-wow.html
- Ian Haney – Dog Whistle Politics… – http://www.workingtowardsendingracism.org/2021/10/dog-whistle-politics-fantastic.html
- bell hooks – The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love – https://www.georgemarx.org/2022/03/the-will-to-change-men-masculinity-and.html
- Carolyn L Karcher (editor) – Stories of Personal Transformation: Reclaiming Judaism from Zionism – https://www.georgemarx.org/2021/06/reclaiming-judaism-from-zionism.html
- Heather McGhee – The Sum of Us … – http://www.workingtowardsendingracism.org/2021/04/the-sum-of-us-by-heather-mcghee-great.html
- Rezma Menakem – My Grandmother’s Hands… – http://www.workingtowardsendingracism.org/2021/09/my-grandmothers-hands-classic.html
- Richard Rothstein – The Color of Law – http://www.workingtowardsendingracism.org/2020/12/the-color-of-law-richard-rothstein.html
- Joseph E Stiglitz – People, Power and Profits … – https://www.georgemarx.org/2019/06/people-power-and-profits-joseph.html
VIDEOS
From Division to Unity: The Race-Class Narrative with Ian Haney Lopez – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6sMRuEdAOE
Green Book – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Book_(film)
The Hate U Give – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hate_U_Give_(film)
Promising Young Woman – https://www.georgemarx.org/2021/01/promising-young-woman.html
The Anatomy of Race with Jane Elliott – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLI1QIbyRoA
P O D C A S T S
Himpathy – https://www.sceneonradio.org/episode-53-himpathy-men-part-7/ – text
http://www.sceneonradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/MEN-Part-7-WEB.pdf
I N C O M E and W E A L T H T A B L E S
INCOME TABLE I
Race/Ethnicity | Average Income | Median Income | Top 1% Income |
White Non-Hispanic | $71,125.40 | $50,106.00 | $401,400.00 |
Black | $48,761.39 | $35,002.00 | $251,800.00 |
American Indian | $48,174.95 | $33,876.00 | $285,270.00 |
Asian | $79,119.52 | $55,002.00 | $404,494.00 |
Pacific Islander | $52,218.11 | $36,000.00 | $311,500.00 |
Two or More Races | $52,238.76 | $36,388.00 | $317,500.00 |
Hispanic or Latino | $42,164.96 | $30,760.00 | $212,000.00 |
https://dqydj.com/income-by-race/
INCOME TABLE II
Median weekly earnings of full-time workers were $1,010 in the fourth quarter of 2021. Women had median weekly earnings of $930, or 84.3 percent of the $1,103 median for men. (See table 2.) • The women’s-to-men’s earnings ratio varied by race and ethnicity. White women earned 83.2 percent as much as their male counterparts, compared with 99.4 percent for Black women, 77.7 percent for Asian women, and 86.7 percent for Hispanic women. (See table 2.) • Among the major race and ethnicity groups, median weekly earnings of Blacks ($805) and Hispanics ($799) working full-time jobs were lower than those of Whites ($1,030) and Asians ($1,384). By sex, median weekly earnings for Black men were $807, or 71.5 percent of the median for White men ($1,129). Median earnings for Hispanic men were $845, or 74.8 percent of the median for White men. The difference was less among women, as Black women’s median earnings were $802, or 85.4 percent of those for White women ($939), and earnings for Hispanic women were $733, or 78.1 percent of those for White women. Earnings of Asian men ($1,499) and women ($1,165) were higher than those of their White counterparts. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/wkyeng.pdf
***
If you believe in the work we are doing here at The Good Men Project, please support our mission and join us as a Premium Member.
All Premium Members get to view The Good Men Project with NO ADS. Need more info? A complete list of benefits is here.