Why Performative Allyship Feels So Hurtful

Republished with permission from Dear Dark Skinned Girl Blog

By Naima Autumn Rose

As I swiped through my Instagram story these past few days, it’s all posts in support of protests for George Floyd. This is how it should be– no one should be silent about his murder. There is video evidence of a black man being killed by a police officer, evidence that is angering and upsetting.

I’m grateful that I don’t have mutuals who are firing back by defending the police or saying “All Lives Matter.” The flood of Instagram story posts means that my non-black peers are listening, spreading awareness, declaring themselves as allies…right?

For me, it becomes more complicated because I know these people outside of their Instagram story activism. When I think of everyone who’s posted in support of Black Lives Matter but has never actively defended black students at my school in times of racial incidents, or genuinely engaged in conversations surrounding marginalized communities, it’s hard to see their posts as sincere.

There shouldn’t have to be a murder for people to care about what’s happening to black people in America. There shouldn’t need to be a video for George Floyd’s story to feel real. It hurts to realize that many of the people posting about solidarity would never try to stand for me, or other black people, in real life.

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Naima Autumn Rose, Creator of Dear Dark Skinned Girl Blog.

Dear Dark Skinned Girl Blog was started by Naima Autumn Rose, a high school student who wanted to fill a gap in the way she has always experienced black womanhood growing up and by addressing a piece of the black experience that she feels isn’t talked about enough: colorism. She has expanded her coverage to focus to other issues as well.