Dedication
I will forever owe debts of love, generosity, and education to my besties, KW and Gates, for challenging how I think about and act on the privileges and tangible benefits afforded me by my whiteness and the pervasive structures of white supremacy.
Introduction
When we first started talking about our plans to move to Mexico with our inner circle, we were asked some questions that made me uncomfortable and pushed my thinking about how our vectors of identity and subsequent privilege (as white, cis, degreed, middle class, able-bodied, U.S. passport holders) made this move possible, desirable, and complicated. I still have more questions than thoughtful responses, but I wanted to go ahead and write about this to position these questions as a constant frame for the blog. I’ll revisit these questions in writing as we experience and learn more.
My questions
- In what invisible ways does whiteness afford us easy access to places we otherwise wouldn’t be welcomed or comfortable in, and how might we expand that access?
- How might we gracefully hold the simultaneous, complex truths that–in Mexico, specifically–whiteness can identify us as targets and also position us as part of a highly protected class?
- How can we leverage our privilege(s) to promote equity without directing attention to ourselves or otherwise positioning ourselves as white saviors?
- What does it mean to arrive at a place without any meaningful local or historical connections? Mexico or elsewhere, how can we understand and work through the deep entanglements of our choices and the violence of colonialism?
- Can a person choose their home? Or is home a circumstance of birth? If one can choose a home, how do limiting factors bound that choice? How do economic limitations, in particular, shape patterns of movement and identity? When economic factors are inextricably linked to racial identities because of the long history and continuing promotion of structural white supremacy (in the U.S.), how might we correct the relative flatness of travel narratives and experiences due to their glaring whiteness?
- As white people immigrating to a place of historically colonized and exploited brown nationals, what behaviors, practices, and ethics should be in place to mitigate harm and promote respect?
- As people writing and talking about international travel, how can we use language and details while maintaining transparency to insulate our stories from stereotypes, artificially universalizing our experiences, or performing any ownership in a place where we are privileged guests?
- What are the ethics of community in a move like this one? Is there any ethical way to move to a country not your own on a non-permanent basis? I have strong beliefs about the necessary reciprocity of community, and I don’t know how the dynamics of making this our for-now-home complicate or prohibit the nuances of real, connected community.
What questions would you add? Are there specific ways you expect us to hold ourselves accountable for our choices and stories on this blog?
More posts coming soon. I anticipate describing our cross-country road trip will be a useful way to activate some of these questions. Plus, there’s a special guest drafting a post about beaches in Mexico, so stay tuned!
Happy weekend, everyone.