By Steve Sailer
07/15/2017
From At the Intersection: Blog about the Intersection of Libraries, Law, Feminism, and Diversity:
Posted on 18 Days Ago by April Hathcock
I just spent the last 5 days at the American Library Association annual conference in Chicago, and I am suffering serious race fatigue.
Race fatigue is a real physical, mental, and emotional condition that people of color experience after spending a considerable amount of time dealing with the micro- and macro-aggressions that inevitably occur when in the presence of white people. The more white people, the longer the time period, the more intense the race fatigue.I usually come back from conferences pretty exhausted anyway. Iâm an introvert, an over-achiever, and an over-joiner, so Iâm always faced with having to be conscious about taking breaks, saying no, and engaging in other forms of self-care. But when you combine that with 5 days of being talked at, over, and through by folks in a profession thatâs 88% whiteâŚwell, letâs just say I hit my limit.
Its been 5 straight days of being tone-policed and condescended to and âsplained to. Five days of listening to white men librarians complain about being a âminorityâ in this 88% white professionâwhere they consistently hold higher positions with higher payâbecause they donât understand the basics of systemic oppression. (Theyâre librarians. Youâd think theyâd know how to find and read a sociology reference, but whatever.) Five days of having ânice white ladiesâ tell you to be âcivilâ and âprofessionalâ when you talk about the importance of acknowledging oppression and our professionâs role in it.
Even with well-meaning white people, friends even, itâs been exhausting; the fatigue is still there. Five days of having white colleagues corner you to âhear moreâ about the microaggressions youâve suffered and witnessed, not because they want to check in on your fatigue, but because they take a weird pleasure in hearing the horror stories and feeling superior to their âless wokeâ racial compatriots.