John Brown to Robin Diangelo:

An essay deconstructing the practices of white racial violence and regaining our collective humanity. Author: Chris Pratt

“But all people practice violence Chris, this isn’t a White people issue.” Yes, the framework we’re going to lay out here is a European American singularity. The violence we enact is a derangement of two components. 1, we do not understand how to appeal to humanity and practice our interactions as transactions of power. 2, we European Americans frame all of morals as an intellectual exercise.

Violence among the oppressor class* isn’t a practice of survival or communication like we see when marginalized communities send a message of “You are killing us”. White Violence comes from the privilege and potentially subconscious understanding that “Our ideas cannot be spread among each other, so we must physically eliminate the body to kill the idea.” It is a system of power hoarding that is only practiced in White Supremacy Culture. It is a practice of not being able to emotionally regulate each other to the point we end up killing each other.

We see the largest example of this in the national fight of the Civil War. Because White bodies could not emotionally regulate the response of undoing chattel slavery, we end up killing each other and implementing the power structure regardless of ideological stand points.

The Union Hero John Brown is an exemplary figure of this practice due to his raids on plantations and structures of southern political power, which yes, we can AGREE that what he was doing was morally correct, what ends up happening is the violence practiced by John Brown transfers from White bodied person to White Bodied person, and the open White Supremacists take that violence and transfer it to Black, Brown, and Indigenous bodies. We can see that transfer through the civil, into segregation and the outright attacks from hooded white supremacists in the KKK through to what is being carried to the modern day. In very much the same way we see currently with our societal landscape. Because WE European Americans enacted social violence (cutting off family members, reciprocating hate speech with hate speech, and outright attacking modern White Supremacists, we effectively built the foundation for the Alt-Right movement we see today. White Supremacists recognize white bodies as “Equal” if we fall into that internalized system, we will lose at our own game.

“There Were Peaceful White Activists”

Yes, in the context of those White activists holding enough space for racialized communities to marginally step up in the racial and gender hierarchy we live in, was peaceful in the sense that we stopped being OPEN oppressors enough to realize we need to help make the material conditions better for non-white bodied people. We see this across most activists from 1870 to today. We recognize alleviating material conditions is imperative to the liberation of marginalized communities. Edgar Chandler, a retired Navy Chaplain and key leader in the Civil Rights movement is a monumental example of this though his organization of the church to provide a viable refuge and mutual aid system to lift Black people out of segregation enough to gain capital and political power.

Does opening physical space and material conditions help alleviate the felt systems of oppression? Absolutely, and it is necessary work. However, it does not even begin to tackle the internal systems of being an oppressor like the work of Jane Elliot and Robin Diangelo does. Physical conditions do not generate healing among a society, the only placate a sense of comfort that distracts us away from the internal process enough to stop feeling the pressure from marginalized communities. Avoiding that work, ultimately, is placating ourselves into White Supremacy by not building a culture conducive to collective humanity and focusing on the means needs of the individual. We can see this work not being done on a large scale because through every revolutionary action since the nations birth, we continue to act and align ourselves within White Supremacy Culture, regardless of how much we alleviate the means of physical oppression.

“But we cannot see a large scale movement focused on collective healing happening, so we have to fight to survive”

Fighting for survival is exactly the means of which we maintain oppression. Falling into the emotional and psychological reaction of survival prevents us from deconstructing the internal processes through generating a reactionary form of mind vs a revolutionary frame of mind. We cannot maintain collective power through reactionary means. We see it not only in our political system, but our society as a whole. Whether it’s a cop “Just doing his job” to street level activists screaming “No war but the Class war”. From conservatives worrying about losing their access to jobs and housing from migrants to progressives feeling powerless even after gaining political power because “the rich white people in power refuse to change”.

What is the answer to this? Actively participating in pro-humanity and shadow work. Following the guide of Anti-Racism/Pro-Humanity educators such as Ibram X Kendi, Resmaa Menakem, Kokayi Nosakhere, and the internal deconstruction of being an oppressor. Journaling what it means to be “White in America” and sitting with what it means to be active AND complicit within a system of oppression.

In conclusion, I hope this work is a call to action for you. This work is not a criticism, but a work of love and hopefulness that you recognize your power and are willing to begin the steps necessary to heal from our collective trauma. If you do choose to start your journey, the following educators and activists have helped not only myself, but thousands of European Americans start our healing journeys. Many of them have written works and workshops as well that if any of this essay called to you, please put financial support towards these people

@Desireebstephens (tiktok, instagram, YouTube and threads) Desiree has been instrumental in educating on how to calm the nervous system enough for tough conversations to happen.

@RacialEquityInsights(tiktok and Instagram) dives deeply into anti-racist, pro-humanity organization.

@Levertthebassman (tiktok and instagram) heavily educates on racial history and applying the understanding of that history to modern events and society. His joyful demeanor brings a certain optimism that helps handle the internal response to learning about racial history.

@Taz (tiktok, @Cincitaz on X and BlueSky, @TazJ77 on YouTube) brings a fire a and “take no bullshit” attitude to discussing racial history and current events along with engaging in pro-humanity work with constant racial deconstruction workshops and book readings.

@mochaeinstein27 (tiktok and instagram) brings an artist perspective to collective humanity. Co-Creation and relationships are the focus of their work. Through spirituality and connection, we can grow a better world.

@Portia Nior(tiktok and YouTube) brings a joyful resistance to anti-racism/pro-humanity work. Her expertise in grounding and growing a calm and collective idea is something we could all learn from.

@White_woman_whisperer(tiktok) is the fire starter of discussion, bringing a deep understanding of the internal workings of White Supremacy Culture, WWW is the epitome of galvanizing into realization.

@Showme_yourmask (tiktok, YouTube, and threads) focuses on Native American action and political movements for those actions. Everything from current bills to legislative history. If your focus is political activism, she is the source.

Kokayi Nosakhere (royalstar907@gmail.com) is a fantastic grassroots activists. His work is deep level “check yourself at the door before you enter” anti-racism/pro-humanity activism. Kokayi has been instrumental in tackling the soul crushing, yet enlightening activation of not only myself, but European Americans across the country. While others focus on social media, Kokayi believes social media is the start and urges us to go into our communities to be the conduits of change our society desperately needs.