Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
by these privileges. Of course because we have not dismantled heteropatriarchy, white
supremacy, settler colonialism or capitalism, these confessed privileges never actually
disappear in “safe spaces.” Consequently, when a person is found guilty of his and her
privilege in these spaces, the person is accused of making the space “unsafe.” This rhet-
orical strategy presumes that only certain privileged subjects can make the space “un-
safe”asifeveryoneisn'timplicatedinheteropatriarchy,whitesupremacy,settlercoloni-
alism, and capitalism. Our focus is shifted from the larger systems that make the entire
world unsafe, to interpersonal conduct. In addition, the accusation of “unsafe” is also
levied against people of color who express anger about racism, only to find themselves
accused of making the space “unsafe” because of their raised voices. The problem with
safe space is the presumption that a safe space is even possible.
By contrast, instead of thinking of safe spaces as a refuge from colonialism, patri-
archy, and white supremacy, Ruthie Gilmore suggests that safe space is not an escape
from the real, but a place to practice the real we want to bring into being. “Making
power” models follow this suggestion in that they do not purport to be free of oppres-
sion, only that they are trying to create the world they would like to live in now. To give
one smaller example, when Incite! Women of Color Against Violence, organized, we
questioned the assumption that “women of color” space is a safe space. In fact, parti-
cipants began to articulate that women of color space may in fact be a very dangerous
space. We realized that we could not assume alliances with each other, but we would
actually have to create these alliances.
One strategy that was helpful was rather than presume that we were acting “nonop-
pressively,” we built a structure that would presume that we were complicit in the
structures of white supremacy/settler colonialism/heteropatriarchy etc. We then struc-
tured this presumption into our organizing by creating spaces where we would educate
ourselves on issues in which our politics and praxis were particularly problematic. The
issues we have covered include: disability, anti-Black racism, settler colonialism, Zion-
ism, and anti-Arab racism, transphobia, and many others. However, in this space, while
we did not ignore our individual complicity in oppression, we developed action plans
for how we would
collectively
try to transform our politics and praxis.
Thus,thisspacedidnotcreatethedynamicoftheconfessorandthehearerofthecon-
fession.Instead,wepresumedweareallimplicatedinthesestructuresofoppressionand
thatwewouldneedtoworktogethertoundothem.Consequently,inmyexperience,this
kind of space facilitated our ability to integrate personal and social transformation be-
cause no one had to anxiously worry about whether they were going to be targeted as a
badpersonwithundueprivilegewhowouldneedtopubliclyconfess.Thespacebecame
one that was based on principles of loving rather than punitive accountability.
