Layla Saad defines white silence this way: “It is when people with white privilege stay complicitly silent when it comes to the issues of race and white supremacy.” (me and white supremacy, p. 53)
If a white person questions any claims made about anti-racism and white supremacy those questions are dismissed as arising out of white fragility or outright denial to protect your own interests as a white person; Layla states; “You will assume what is being criticized is your skin color and your individual goodness as a person rather than your complicity in a system of oppression that is designed to benefit you at the expense of BIPOC in ways you are not even aware of. This lack of understanding leads to white fragility, either by lashing out to defend yourself or feeling that you . . . are being shamed . . . , thus leaving the conversation.” (Ibid, p. 42)
The word ‘complicit’ requires that if I am involved in some wrongdoing I have knowledge of the wrongdoing and its benefit to me. To be complicity silent about white supremacy and systemic racism I need to be aware of it. How can anyone be complicit in a ‘a system of oppression that is designed to benefit you at the expense of BIPOC in ways you are not even aware of?’ This doesn’t make sense.
If you disagree with any of Layla’s claims you are being defensive and aggressive. If you opt out of the ‘discussion’ you’re silence is taken as evidence that you are overly sensitive and can’t take being confronted about systemic racism. To question the legitimacy of notions like white privilege and white supremacy is defensive and to say nothing or not engage in the discussion is to be violent; “I would like you to understand: white silence is violence. It actively protects the system. [systemic racism and white supremacy]” (Ibid p. 57) There is only one acceptable response to the Layla Saad’s of this world - surrender and submission. To agree and say what they want you to say.
Fat chance - I am not that weak minded. Nor would I ever have agreed with Layla Saad’s drivel just to advance my career.
James Lindsay summarizes the nastiness behind the slogan; ‘White silence is violence.’ He states;
The slogan “white silence is violence” is therefore best understood as an emotional manipulation by people who want you to understand the world in their particular way and to push their particular form of activism, which most of them directly benefit from, no matter what the costs to the rest of us. You don’t have to feel bullied by it, and you don’t have to bean activist, especially not on someone else’s extremely exaggerated terms.
White Silence is NOT Violence, JUNE 15, 2020 · JAMES LINDSAY
Let us turn to the Reflective Journaling Prompts on page 59. They are all loaded questions that are based on the presumption of guilt. Each loaded question is a trap. Once the question is loaded and the trigger is pulled by asking it, the person it is aimed at cannot escape being wounded by it. You are guilty if your don’t say anything and you are guilty if you respond even with a denial. To expose this trap I will change the presumption from ‘You are guilty of ‘the violence of white silence’ with ‘domestic violence’ to arrive at an equally loaded question but with its malicious intent much more apparent.
How have you stayed silent when it comes to race and racism? ==> How have you stayed silent when it comes to your participation along with other abusers who commit domestic violence?
What types types of situations elicit the most ‘white silence’ from you? ==> What types of domestic abuse do you keep your mouth shut about the most?
Has your silence been complicit in upholding racist racist behavior? ==> Has your silence about domestic violence helped you uphold and benefit from spousal abuse?
How did you benefit from white silence? ==> How have you benefitted by being quiet about domestic violence?
Whom in your life did you harm with your white silence? ==> Whom in your life did you harm with your domestic violence silence?
All these reflective journal prompts carry the presumption of guilt. Layla Saad leads with loaded questions. Any person attempting to answer the question is either going to look like they are denying or hiding wrongdoing or they will have to surrender and admit to being guilty even if they aren’t.
There best response that I have found in my research is the mu response. A professor of research methods, Dr. Itamar Shatz explains;
A concept that is often mentioned in relation to loaded questions is that of mu or mu answer.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the original concept of mu has Japanese and Chinese origins, and plays an important role in Zen Buddhism, where it refers to “A state of voidness, nothingness, or detachment which is thought to transcend the concepts of negative and positive”.
The concept of mu is sometimes used to respond to loaded questions, and especially yes/no loaded questions, by rejecting the validity of the questions themselves. For example, if someone is asked a loaded question such as “have you stopped mistreating your pet?”, they may reply by saying “mu”, which means that they reject the premises of the question, since they have never mistreated their pet in the first place.
Loaded Questions: What They Are and How to Respond to Them, Dr. Itamar Shatz
My response to all of Layla Saad’s loaded question traps is; “I reject the presumption of guilt in your trick questions. A Loaded question asked by a DEI consultant is violence against whites! SHAME ON YOU!”