Katiera Sordjan | Too much activism?

The Melting Pot | Being a social activist is not an excuse for ignorance or egotism

By Katiera Sordjan 10/23/14 2:42am

I am grateful to have met many people over the course of my time at Penn who are passionate. Many students are driven to make changes in the Penn community, and our larger society, by being activists both on and off campus. They regularly speak out about the injustices they see, whether it be transphobia, racism or sexism. I am proud to know people who take the seemingly commonsense idea of equality to the next level and constantly challenge others to re-examine their personal prejudices and biases.

Yet Penn has also introduced me to the darker side of social activism that comes from a place of self-righteousness. Instead of concentrating on increasing awareness for a cause, some have used their social involvement to exude a sense of superiority with the lack of experience to back it.

Too often have I come across a situation such as this one. A white student makes an ignorant, but not always malicious, racial comment in the presence of another white student. This second student will go on to name drop multiple articles that have come up in the classroom and chide this classmate for displaying “white privilege” and “insensitivity.”

As a person of color, I am appreciative to those who stand up to racism when they encounter it. But students cannot use their activism as an excuse to ignore their own privileges. Much of social activism comes from a personal vested interest in the cause, such as being a member of a marginalized group. But there is also a sense of smugness that has befallen the Penn community, where one thinks that simply reading up on a subject or joining an activist group makes them both completely knowledgeable about inequality and morally superior to others.

I don’t care how many gender and sexuality courses you take or how many books you have read about multiracial women of color in America. You will never truly know my experiences if you have not had them yourself. Speaking on behalf of others without first acknowledging your own removal from the subject is at best distasteful. It only serves to put the focus of attention on yourself rather than the cause you are fighting for.

Academia is not an excuse for laziness. If you are intent on making this campus, and the world, a better place, your intentions should come from an inner drive rather than conceit. Forwarding links to scholarly articles cannot replace intimate conversation between peers, and correcting someone’s insensitivity does not allow you to overlook your own.

For example, my fellow columnist Roderick Cook has discussed the need for intersectionality in the queer activist community. I have been in social gatherings that encourage the use of proper pronouns only to make unnecessary comments on race. Only focusing on one area of activism without acknowledging all of the different social factors that come into play when discussing inequality is hypocritical and exclusionary.

Penn is also notorious for failing to acknowledge a particular elephant in the room: socioeconomic status. We must recognize that as a whole, many of us tend to come from well-off backgrounds. We have to consider how this has shaped our outlook as well as that of others. Because so much inequality is tied to class, it needs to be addressed when we think about social activism on campus. The resources we as Penn students have vary considerably across the student body, as well as our larger community.

It is important to make your voice heard in the quest for social change, but before preaching to others, you must first look inward. Even as a woman of color, I cannot ignore the other privileges I have been afforded. Had I grown up as my parents did, I may not have made it to Penn. But their determination to provide a better life for their children got me to where I am today. Before patting yourself on the back for thinking all people should be treated equally, take the time to truly understand your place in society. Use the advantages you do have to combat the injustices you have experienced or witnessed. A holier-than-thou attitude has no place in the fight for social justice.

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