Now it’s time to ‘do the work’ that Layla Saad says we must do. Why must we do it? Because we are white or white passing and hold white privilege; “This work is for any person who holds white privilege. . . . , I mean people who are visually identifiable as white or who pass for white. Therefore this includes persons who are biracial, multiracial, or white- passing people People of Colour who benefit under systems of white supremacy from having lighter skin colour . . . . ” (me and white supremacy, p. 15)
For Layla Saad, skin colour says it all. If you’re white or white passing, you have 'white privilege and have benefited from white supremacy. You have bought into and support a social system that is dedicated to a vile domineering racist ideology.
Working from preconceived conclusions never yields valid results. Prejudicial assumptions like - if you’re white, you’re guilty of white supremacy - lead to preconceived conclusions. Allan Schwartz, a clinical social worker states: “The problem of holding preconceived notions as being true is that they can lead us to very negative and critical beliefs about others and that can affect our behaviors toward others.” (Preconceived Notions and Their Impact on Thinking and Behavior)
Layla Saad’s work is a work based on stereotyping; “Stereotyping happens when we make a judgment about someone based on a preconceived notion of the kind of person they are. In other words, we see some traits the person has, and automatically categorize them as someone of a certain kind. We then use our preconceived notions about that kind to make further judgments about the person.” (How Preconceived Notions Hijack Your Mind)
Layla Saad’s work can lead to abuse and harm. Harm to self - if done individually and harm to others (as well as yourself) if done in a DEI setting. Richard Bilkszto’s destruction is a case in point. Michael Teper, a friend of Bilkszto, told The Free Press.
It was not only his job that was taken away from him, but his reputation, because those very people were assassinating his character. They claimed he was a white supremacist, that he was a racist. They knew nothing about him. They knew nothing about what he stood for or what he believed. All they know about is what they believe.
A Racist Smear. A Tarnished Career. And the Suicide of Richard Bilkszto.
What ammunition is loaded into weaponized notions of ‘white supremacy and white privilege?’ Loaded questions form the projectiles that wound those who are drawn into the trap of Layla Saad’s' ‘work.’
A loaded question is:
A loaded question is a trick question, which presupposes at least one unverified assumption that the person being questioned is likely to disagree with. For example, the question “have you stopped mistreating your pet?” is a loaded question, because it presupposes that you have been mistreating your pet.
This type of fallacious question puts the person who is being questioned in a disadvantageous and defensive position, since the assumption in the question could reflect badly on them or pressure them to answer in a way that they wouldn’t otherwise.
All five of of the reflective journaling prompts on ‘white privilege’ in Layla Saad’s, 'me and white privilege’ (p. 38) contain loaded questions. They are, ‘1) In what ways to you hold white privilege? 2) What negative experiences has your white privilege protected you from throughout your life? 3) What positive experiences has your white privilege granted you throughout your life (that BIPOC generally do not have)? 4) In what ways have you wielded your white privilege over BIPOC that have done harm (whether or not you intended to do so)? and 5) What have you learned about your white privilege that makes you uncomfortable?’ (Ibid, p. 39)
How should you respond to these loaded questions? Dr. Itamar Shatz cited earlier gives good pointers:
Once you recognize that you are being asked a loaded question, there are several ways you can respond:
Reply in a way that rejects the presupposition. This involves either an explicit or an implicit rejection of the problematic presupposition, and your response will therefore be different than what the person asking the question is trying to get you to say. For example, if you’re asked “did you stop cheating on tests at schools?”, then instead of answering using a yes/no statement, you can reply by saying “I never cheated on any tests”.
Point out the fallacious reasoning. To do this, you should explicitly point out the issue with the question being asked, by showing that it contains an inappropriate presupposition. Potentially, you can also use examples to illustrate the issues with this reasoning, for example by asking the other person a similar type of loaded question. You can follow up on this by also answering the question in a way that rejects the presupposition, as we saw above, or by asking the person who asked the question to justify their phrasing. For example, if you’re asked “when will you stop cheating on tests?” you can reply by saying “I’ve never cheated on any test, so why are you accusing me of this?”.
Ignore the question or refuse to answer it. In some cases, your best course of action is to explicitly refuse to answer the loaded question, or to ignore it entirely. However, note that in some cases, refusing to answer a question or ignoring it could reflect badly on you, for example by making it appear as if you support the problematic presupposition. As such, it can sometimes be better to first point out the fallacious reasoning in the question, and why you’re not answering it.
Finally, when countering loaded questions, a useful concept to keep in mind is Hanlon’s razor, which suggests that you should “never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity”.
Following Hanlon’s razor, we are left with the question - Is Layla Saad malicious or just plain stupid or just plain wrong?
What do you think?