2020’s White Saviour Complex
Justine Brooks / Nov 15 / Civil Rights
2020 has been a critical moment for civil rights in America and for the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. Social media has allowed this movement to have an international audience, and White Saviours around the globe showed temporary interest.
Expressions of racism adapt to societal trends and historic events, and vice versa. This phenomenon has continuously survived revolutions, both industrial and cultural. Each iteration was once convenient to its context and acceptable to its audience. In 2020, racism has taken the insidious yet accessible form of performative allyship on social media to the detriment of ethnic minorities.
The “White Saviour” Complex
The White Saviour complex is when a white person overemphasises their role in progressive change, often at the cost of overruling the voices of the BAME people involved. This perpetuates the narrative that subjugated groups are helpless, grateful figures who cannot achieve progress alone. This is then used to justify white leadership in activism. It is not the same as an effective allyship. On social media, White Saviourism may be a friend uploading a picture of themselves volunteering in an African country.
White Saviours may genuinely think that they are empowering others; in reality, they are assuming roles that could be filled by BAME people or are speaking for them. It is often counterproductive, as seen with Michael Oher who argued that The Blind Side (2009) impacted his NFL career. Reality is not “good” whites saving the world from “bad” whites. Even anti-racist white people are part of a system that privileges them.
White Saviourism Diluting Black Lives Matter 2020
The summer of 2020 was characterised by White Saviourism. Condemning racism became fashionable. Blackout Tuesday saw hordes of Instagram users post a black square to represent solidarity with BLM and condemn the killing of George Floyd. Not all who posted these squares were white, and many were well-intentioned. Nevertheless, most of these posts did not explain or show any understanding of the relevant issue. It was a declaration of progressive sentiment, an ego-boosting badge of tolerance to put on a profile. I understand the appeal of posting it: I myself posted a square with a caption condemning performative anti-racism, whilst simultaneously feeding into this very performance. Whether they had a positive impact is debatable. What we know for sure is that it drowned the #blacklivesmatter hashtag, made useful information difficult to find, and halted constructive posting for a day. Now, my timeline once flooded with posts and appeals is quiet. It was quiet when BAME trans women were attacked and robbed on the street in Los Angeles; it remains quiet in the wake of Walter Wallace’s death at the hands of police this October.
Celebrities, brands, and influencers piled in, offering one-off specials on racism. It pays to be progressive now that anti-racist statements are attractive to consumers and audiences. Some have entwined it into their brands; after posting a Blackout square, social media influencer Jess Hunt used BLM to promote her Pretty Little Thing clothing collection and proceeded to never condemn racism online again. The Russian Instagram influencer and model Kris Schatzel received significant backlash after briefly appearing at a BLM protest to pose for photos before promptly leaving. A group of white celebrities in partnership with the NAACP released a video claiming to “take responsibility” for their white privilege. In this cringe-inducing clip, the feelings and goodness of white people are centred upon while black people are unseen. White influencers made themselves the emotional main character of the oppression of black people. This self-indulging sentiment was also reflected in an Instagram caption uploaded by Instagram influencer Miss Joslin which begins with, “the past few days I’ve not stopped thinking. My heart aches.” After June, Miss Joslin did not appear to speak on the matter online again. What you show online certainly does not reveal the full picture of your private life. However, it is interesting that after emotively contending that “silence is definitely NOT the answer”, online muteness can follow quite quickly.
Possibly the most striking example of White Saviourism this summer was an ”anti-racist” episode of Logan Paul’s podcast, Impaulsive. A panel of three white men, Logan Paul, Mike Majlak, and Spence Taylor, met to discuss racism in America. It epitomised White Saviourism through self-congratulation accompanied by a plethora of micro-aggressions. They strongly overemphasised their expertise. When protests turned violent, Majlak claimed “that is where someone like me, who vastly understands the cause you are after and fights along with you, that is where I draw the line”. It is not his line to draw, nor is it his place to define what an appropriate form of expression against racism is. Ren Eddo-Lodge, the author of Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race, condemns the white person “who thinks we enter this conversation as equals. We don’t.”
Logan Paul similarly overstates his role by urging black people to “let me speak on behalf of those who can’t or don’t have a voice”. In this statement, Paul reinforces the structure which silences BAME people by insisting on his own leadership. Allyship does not entail being a posterchild while BAME people put in the real work. His statement is patronising and assumes that black people are clamouring for a mediocre white figure to lean on. Graciela Mohamed argues that “people of colour aren’t voiceless, and by taking our voice away the works of people of colour areco-opted at best and erased at worst”. She advises that the best way to be an ally and not a White Saviour is to work with established groups, not for them, then “find who was talking before anyone else was listening and pass them the mic”.
White Saviours often use palatable notions of peace, civility, and reconciliation to police more radical activism. Within this Impaulsive video, the three panellists strongly condemned violence at protests; Mike Majlak claimed that the “protests have turned to riots” which was “destroying the message”. Though looting was certainly condemned by many effective activists, Majlak reductively split protesters into “peaceful protesters” and “hate groups”. The only black person mentioned by name in this hour-long podcast, aside from those killed by police, was Barack Obama, again reflecting generic palatability. Also promoted by White Saviours are white-washed interpretations of what Martin Luther King would have wanted:
These tweets attempt to quieten responses to injustice and so adhere to existing circumstances. By quoting Martin Luther King, White Saviours often maintain that they are helping rather than hindering a civil rights movement by being the “voice of reason”. They may also present themselves as more supportive than the “angry”, “destructive” black people who they condemn. Daniel Rarela, the creator of the series of ‘Inconvenient MLK’ quotes, reminds us that you can twist MLK quotes to condemn BLM, Colin Kaepernick, or race-related protests of almost any form; this does not mean that MLK would agree with you.
White Saviourism may appear benign, but what it has in common with other modes of racism is white egos subjugating black realities. Even in a space designed to empower marginalised groups, whiteness can assume centre stage while black voices are pushed into the background. This is not to forbid white people from defending civil rights – you can read up on how to be an effective white ally here. However, if as a white person you steal focus in a progressive movement to appear sorrowful, morally superior, or heroic, you may be a White Saviour. As a white person, perhaps I am feeding into this complex by writing this article. These thoughts must constantly be considered: we need to continuously question our privilege and be ready for difficult answers. As Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak argues, progression will occur when we learn to speak to, rather than speak for, others.