Beyond Open Doors and Performative Allyship: A Subaltern Autoethnographic Account on ‘White’ Allyship in the Post-2020 BLM Protests Era
Keywords:
COVID-19, Pandemic, Malaysia, Youth, Cashless transaction, e-transaction, cashless economy, online transaction, Allyship, Autoethnography, Emancipatory, Performative, Substantive, Symbolic, VacuousAbstract
The COVID-19 Pandemic brought to light the racial inequities in the United Kingdom through its disproportionate impact on racialised minority communities. The murder of George Floyd in the hands of people who should have been protecting him reinvigorated the Black Lives Matter (BLM) social movement in the United States of America (USA). Inspired by social media reports and engagements, BLM messages were appropriated and adopted in many countries across the world, including the United Kingdom (UK). The BLM protests in the UK, on the one hand, highlighted the racial inequalities in the UK and reminded the public of the UK’s colonial history.
It is not surprising that the BLM protests led corporate entities, foundations and even churches in the UK to commission inquiries to explore their history and potential connections to colonialism, slavery, and indentured labour. Many would later issue statements and commit to investing in initiatives to address racial inequalities. These institutions stated that they were shifting from standing against racism to becoming antiracist. In effect, they were committing to becoming allies in promoting racial equity and addressing the structural challenges standing in the way of racial equity. Allyship is not a new concept; literature has covered allyship polarities ranging from performative to authentic/substantive allyships.
The paper is informed by The Open University’s Centre for Voluntary Sector Leadership’s research on collaboration and engagement between the leadership of racialised minority networks and service providers in promoting racial equity. The research is complemented by my lived experience as a racialised minority leader engaged in social and political practices geared towards addressing racial inequities. This autoethnographic paper seeks to explore whether, four years after George Floyd’s murder, approaches to allyship have changed to embody the commitment to antiracist practices on the one hand and a move away from tokenism and promote emancipatory allyship.
References
Sarah Alley, Suzanne F. Jackson, Yogendra B. Shakya (2015) Reflexivity: A Methodological Tool in the Knowledge Translation Process?. 16(3), 426–431.
J. S. Ahlquist, C. Breunig (2012) Model-based clustering and typologies in the social sciences. 20(1), 92–112. https://doi.org/10.1093/pan/mpr039
L. Ashburn-Nardo (2018) What can allies do?. 373–386.
B. E. Ashforth, B. S. Schinoff, K. M. Rogers (2016) "I identify with her," "I identify with him": Unpacking the dynamics of personal identification in organisations. 41, 28–60. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2014.0033
A. Audulv, T. Westergren, M. S. Ludvigsen, M. K. Pedersen, L. Fegran, E. O. C. Hall, H. Aagaard, N. Robstad, A. Kneck (2023) Time and change: a typology for presenting research findings in qualitative longitudinal research. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12874-023-02105-1
K. D. Bailey (1994) Typologies and Taxonomies: An Introduction to Classification Techniques.
K. D. Bailey (2011) Typologies and taxonomies in social science. 1–16.
V. Balakumar, A. Kirubakaran, S. Tariq (2020) COVID-19 AND ETHNIC MINORITIES - Are we responsible for the racial inequalities of COVID-19?. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m2873
D. Baptiste, J. Ungoed-Thomas (2024) Revealed: how Church of England's ties to chattel slavery went to top of hierarchy - Lambeth Palace documents show purchase of enslaved people in 18th century approved by Anglican archbishop. https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/25/revealed-how-church-of-englands-ties-to-chattel-slavery-went-to-top-of-hierarchy
K. Besio (2005) Telling stories to hear autoethnography: researching women's lives in northern Pakistan. 12, 317–331.
K. Besio (2006) Chutes and ladders: negotiating gender and privilege in a village in northern Pakistan. 5, 230–257.
S. P. Borgatti, M. G. Everett, J. C. Johnson (2013) Analysing social networks.
B. Bourke (2020) Leaving behind the rhetoric of allyship. (2), 179–194. https://doi.org/10.1080/23793406.2020.1839786
E. M. Broido (2000) The development of social justice allies during college: A phenomenological investigation. 41, 3–18.
K. T. Brown (2015) Perceiving allies from the perspective of non-dominant group members: Comparisons to friends and activists. 34, 713–722. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-014-9284-8
K. T. Brown, J. M. Ostrove (2013) What does it mean to be an ally? The perception of allies from the perspective of people of colour. 43, 2211-2222. https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12172
G. S. Boutte, T. O. Jackson (2014) Advice to White allies: Insights from faculty of colour. 17, 623-642. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2012.759926
P. Butler (2023) Britain 'not close to being a racially just society', finds two-year research project. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/09/britain-not-close-to-being-a-racially-just-society-finds-two-year-research-project
D. Butz (2001) Autobiography, autoethnography and intersubjectivity: analysing communication in northern Pakistan. 149–166.
D. Butz (2002) Resistance, representation and third space in Shimshal Village, northern Pakistan. 1, 15–34.
D. Butz, Besio (2009) Autoethnography. 3/5, 1660–1674. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-8198.2009.00279.x
D. Butz, K. MacDonald (2001) Serving sahibs with pony and pen: the discursive uses of native authenticity. 19, 179–201.
K. A. Case (2012) Discovering the privilege of Whiteness: White women's reflections on antiracist identity and ally behaviour. 68, 78-96. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.2011.01737.x
H. Chang (2008) Autoethnography as method.
H. Chang (2016) Autoethnography in Health Research: Growing Pains?. 26(4), 443–451.
M. D. Clark (2019) White folks' work: digital allyship praxis in the #BlackLivesMatter movement. 519–534. https://doi.org/10.1080/14742837.20191603104
Department of Education (2017) Children looked after in England (including adoption), year ending March 31 2017. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/664995/SFR50_2017-Children_looked_after_in_England.pdf
L. De Souza, T. Schmader (2022) The Misjudgement of Men: Does Pluralistic Ignorance Inhibit Allyship?. 122(2), 265–285. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8631-1912
N. K. Denzin (2003) Performing [auto] ethnography politically. 25, 257-278. https://doi.org/10.1080/10714410390225894
N. K. Denzin (1989) Interpretive biography.
C. Ellis, A. P. Bochner (2006) Analysing analytic autoethnography: an autopsy. 35(4), 429-449.
V. Dodd (2021) Use of stop and search rises 24% in England and Wales in a year: Equivalent of one in five male minority ethnic teenagers stopped in year ending March 2021. https://www.theguardian.com/law/2021/nov/18/stop-and-search-rose-by-24-in-england-and-wales-during-lockdowns
S. E. Erskine, D. Bilimora (2019) White allyship of Afro-Diaspora women in the workplace: A transformative strategy for organisational change. (3), 319–338. https://doi.org/10.1177/1548051819848993
D. Freshwater, G. Rolfe (2001) Critical reflexivity: A politically and ethically engaged research method for nursing. 6, 526–537.
W. Gardiner (2009) Developing a positive White identity. 17(1), 14–16.
S. M. N. Glegg (2019) Facilitating Interviews in Qualitative Research With Visual Tools: A Typology. 29(2), 301–310. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732318786485
L. Gold (2002) Positionality, worldview and geographical research: a personal account of a research journey. 5, 223–237.
D. J. Goodman (2011) Promoting diversity and social justice: Educating people from privileged groups.
(2023) Stop and search. https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/crime-justice-and-the-law/policing/stop-and-search/latest/#by-ethnicity
(2018) Statutory homelessness 2018 archived. https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/housing/homelessness/statutory-homelessness/latest/#by-ethnicity-over-time-percentages
(2024) Edward Colston statue goes on permanent display in Bristol Museum. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-68569148
W. S. Hesford (2021) Reading the signs: Performative white allyship. (2), 239–244. https://doi.org/10.1080/00335630.2021.1915447
K. Hoique, M. Noon (2004) Equal Opportunities Policy and Practice in Britain: Evaluating the ‘Empty Shell’ Hypothesis. 18(3), 481-506.
S. Holman Jones, T. E. Adams, C. Ellis (2013) Introduction: Coming to know autoethnography as more than a method. 17–47.
S. Hughes, J. L. Pennington, S. Makris (2012) Translating autoethnography across the AERA standards: Toward understanding autoethnographic scholarship as empirical research. 41, 209–219. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x12442983
(2024) BME statistics on poverty and deprivation. https://irr.org.uk/research/statistics/poverty/
Joseph Rowntree Foundation - JRF (2021) A statement from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) Trustees and Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust (JRHT) Board. https://www.jrf.org.uk/news/a-statement-from-the-joseph-rowntree-foundation-jrf-trustees-and-joseph-rowntree-housing-trust
Paul Kivel (2011) Uprooting racism: How White people can work for racial justice.
J. C. Lapadat (2017) Ethics in Autoethnography and Collaborative Autoethnography. 23(8), 589–603.
C. Macduf (2007) Typologies in nursing: a review of the literature. https://doi.org/10.7748/nr2007.01.14.2.40.c6020
P. Mason (2005) Visual data in applied qualitative research: Lessons from experience. 325–346. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794105054458
J. S. Mio, L. Barker-Hackett, J. Tumambing (2009) Multicultural psychology: Understanding our diverse communities.
A. Mohdin, G. Swann, C. Bannock (2020) How George Floyd's death sparked a wave of UK anti-racism protests. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jul/29/george-floyd-death-fuelled-anti-racism-protests-britain
F. Mutwarasibo (2021) CVSL research to explore how to increase the pool of leaders from BME communities that collaborate with local service providers. https://www.open.ac.uk/centres/voluntary-sector-leadership/news/increasing-bme-leaders
F. Mutwarasibo (2023) From the periphery to the centre: An autoethnographic account of positionality, practices and behaviours of Racialised Minority Leaders (RMLs) as gatekeepers. 14(1), 87–118.
A. Myeza, K. April (2021) Atypical Black Leader Emergence: South African Self-Perceptions. 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.626473
S. A. Nixon (2019) The coin model of privilege and critical allyship: Implications for health. 19(1), 1637. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7884-9
E. O'Brien (2001) Whites confront racism: Antiracists and their paths to action.
Office for National Statistics (2020) Coronavirus (COVID-19) related deaths by ethnic group, England and Wales. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/articles/coronavirusrelateddeathsbyethnicgroupenglandandwales/2march2020to10april2020?hootPostID=b229db5cd884a4f73d5bd4fadcd8959b
S. Oppong (2023) Epistemological Allyship. 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1177/09713336231152301
J. M. Ostrove, K. T. Brown (2018) Are allies who we think they are?: A comparative analysis. 48(4), 195–204. https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12502
O. Otobo (2020) UK Universities' Response to Black Lives Matter. https://halpinpartnership.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/halpin-report-uk-universities-response-to-black-lives-matter.pdf
H. R. M. Radke, M. Kutlaca, B. Siem, S. C. Wright, J. C. Becker (2020) Beyond Allyship: Motivations for Advantaged Group Members to Engage in Action for Disadvantaged Groups. 24(4), 291-315.
M. Q. Patton (2015) Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods: Integrating Theory and Practice.
PeerNetBC (2016) What is allyship? Why can't I be an ally?.
S. Pink, J. Morgan (2013) Short-Term Ethnography: Intense Routes to Knowing. 36(3), 351–361.
M. L. Pratt (1992) Imperial eyes: travel writing and transculturation.
D. Reed-Danahay (1997) Introduction. 1–20.
H. Sherwood (2024) C of E hoping to create £1bn fund to address legacy of slavery. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/04/church-of-england-told-to-boost-size-of-fund-to-address-legacy-of-slavery
J. Smith, C. Puckett, W. Simon (2015) Indigenous allyship: An overview.
(2023) UK Prison Population Statistics. https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SNo4334/SNo4334.pdf
(2021) Constructing Allyship and the Persistence of Inequality. 68(2), 358-373.
(2020) Me and White supremacy: How to recognise your privilege, combat racism and change the world.
(2020) Minorities more at risk from COVID-19 because of racism, says the report. https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2020/jun/13/leaked-report-says-racism-and-inequality-increase-covid-19-risk-for-minorities
(1991) From participant observation to the observation of participation: the emergence of narrative ethnography. 41, 61–94.
(2020) Professor Marcia Wilson to join the OU as Dean of EDI. https://www5.open.ac.uk/equality-diversity/content/professor-marcia-wilson-join-ou-dean-edi
(2022) Moving beyond performative allyship.
(2022) Racial inequalities within cost of living crisis revealed by Runnymede Trust research. https://ukdataservice.ac.uk/2022/11/20/racial-inequalities/
(2023) Research England appoints expert advisory group in EDI. https://www.ukri.org/news/research-england-appoints-expert-advisory-group-in-edi/
(2018) 'It Was Standard To See Signs Saying, ‘No Blacks, No Dogs, No Irish'. https://eachother.org.uk/racism-1960s-britain/
(2023) The EThIC Model of Virtue-Based Allyship Development: A New Approach to Equity and Inclusion in Organizations. 182, 783–803.
(2020) Managing microaggressions: Addressing everyday racism in therapeutic spaces.
M. Williams, N. Sharif (2021) Racial allyship: Novel measurement and new insights. 62, 100865.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Authors and Global Journals Private Limited
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
