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But what does it really mean for someone to act as a “white ally,” and what is their role in the social justice movements centered around anti-Black racism?
In the wake of a resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement and the unjust killing of many Black Americans at the hands of police, there has been greater awareness of the concept of racial justice allyship. But what does it really mean for someone to act as a “white ally,” and what is their role in the social justice movements centered around anti-Black racism? Unfortunately, when trying to answer this question, there seems to be a disconnect between how people see themselves versus how they practice allyship in the real world. For example, white people frequently call themselves “allies,” but, when real-life opportunities arise to act on these convictions and dismantle systems of oppression, white people rarely show up. Is it really enough for someone to simply call themselves an ally? And what makes a person a meaningful ally?
Who are Allies? What is Allyship?
Allies are members of a dominant social group, or ingroup, who work towards fairness for people in a nondominant group, or outgroup. According to Brown and Ostrove (2013), allyship consists of supporting nondominant groups through meaningful relationships and taking concrete action to dismantle inequitable colonial systems. Ally behaviors can include calling out discrimination and fighting for inclusion, and consist of both public and private behaviors.
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Smith et al. (2016) clarify some key points about racial justice allyship. First, allyship is about support, not leadership. Second, allyship is a continuous process that cannot be “achieved,” but to which one works towards. Last, one cannot give oneself the “ally” title; it is a designation given by members of the nondominant group with which one strives to ally oneself.
Spanierman and Smith (2017) further clarify white allies are those who: “a) demonstrate nuanced understanding of institutional racism and white privilege, b) enact a continual process of self-reflection about their own racism and positionality, c) express a sense of responsibility and commitment to using their racial privilege in ways that promote equity, d) engage in actions to disrupt racism and the status quo on micro and macro levels, e) participate in coalition building and work in solidarity with people of color, and f) encounter resistance from other white individuals.”
Unfortunately, many confuse white allyship with white saviorship—engaging in performative acts of helping others for benefit, self-image, or recognition.
Unfortunately, many confuse white allyship with white saviorship—engaging in performative acts of helping others for benefit, self-image, or recognition. White saviors practice more of a charity model or paternalistic view of helping those they consider “less fortunate,” while still maintaining notions of white superiority and social and emotional distance.
Are White People Allies as Much as They Say They Are?
Research has shown that white people frequently label themselves as allies, yet most of this research is based on self-report. Very little research exists examining people’s real-life behaviors and objectively rating it as in line with allyship or not.
For example, a study by Mekawi and Todd (2018) sought to measure allyship using self-report measures. They found that the majority (93%) of university students reported that they would behave in an allied manner if confronted with racist situations in real life.
However, there was no follow-up behavioral assessment to verify whether these allied intentions predicted allied behavior in real life. In fact, based on reports from people of color, who often feel abandoned by would-be allies (Buchanan, 2020), and the persistence of microaggressions, since they were first identified in the 70s, it is highly unlikely that these self-reported allied intentions are acted upon. Rather, it seems that, more often than not, microaggressions against people of color go unconfronted by self-proclaimed “white allies.”
Our Study
Our Lab for Culture and Mental Health Disparities run by Dr. Monnica Williams at the University of Ottawa conducted an experiment to find out how much White people who claim to be allies really act like it. To do this, we designed a laboratory behavioral task that we used as a behavioral (“real life”) measure of allyship. We also had participants complete a self-report measure of allyship. We then compared participants’ scores on each measure.
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In the behavioral task, participants engaged in three 5-minute discussions with another research participant (who was actually an undercover research assistant [RA]) about racially charged news stories in the United States. Each participant was greeted by a Black RA who introduced the participant to the undercover RA who was white and informed them that they (the Black RA) would be watching their interactions in the other room via live video recording. The interactions were coded and scored based on the number and quality of supportive statements made by the participant toward outgroup members.
The news stories were selected based on their ability to provoke racial microaggressions. These news stories were controversial and had generated discussions about racial issues in the popular press. The first story (“Monument”) described the fight between activists and the city government concerning the removal of a Confederate monument in Kentucky, a painful reminder of slavery and an example of an environmental microaggression. The second story (“Police”) described the killing of an unarmed Black male college student by police after a car accident, the type of problem that sparked the Black Lives Matter movement. The third (“Party”) described a fraternity party that involved members employing Black stereotypes, resulting in their suspension and a campus-wide debate about free speech. The discussion generated by these news stories provided ample opportunity for participants to express microaggressions or allyship behaviors.
The results showed that meaningful white allyship is low and white people consistently do not act as racial justice allies towards Black people in the real world, despite their intentions of allyship or their view of themselves as allies.
The results showed that meaningful white allyship is low and white people consistently do not act as racial justice allies towards Black people in the real world, despite their intentions of allyship or their view of themselves as allies. For example, although most participants reported allied intentions on the self-report measure, only 3.2% of participants (1 person) behaved in an allied manner in all three situations in the behavioral task! This means that people act like allies less often than they say they will, or such behaviors may not be as supportive as people think. We also found that participants had more thoughts about saying or doing something supportive than beliefs that they would actually carry it out.
Why are There So Few Allies?
Allies may be rare because maintaining society’s status quo serves to benefit white people the most. Therefore, perhaps on a visceral level, many do not, in actuality, want to address the racism that exists in order to maintain the status of “most privileged” and all the accompanying unearned benefits that affords. Nevertheless, they may want to maintain the image of being an ally and behaving in ways that seem allied performatively but, in fact, do not authentically address the issues that need to change to create an antiracist society (e.g., joining groups, committees or task forces to address these issues but not making meaningful structural or personal change). Furthermore, behaving as an ally means potentially being rejected by the ingroup or facing other social or career consequences. Indeed, white allies and people of color who push for meaningful change face negative social consequences for doing so by those who do not want to dismantle oppressive structures.
Finally, low ally behavior may be a result of a lack of adequate education and training around these issues. Many institutions do not educate and discuss issues around racism in depth to their students, staff, etc., so it may be that many people simply do not know how to behave in allied ways since they lack the necessary knowledge and sensitization to issues of race.
Why It Matters
Poor allyship behavior by white people has implications for both the would-be allies and the marginalized groups they have failed. White people may experience cognitive dissonance between their ideals or values and their behaviors, which can result in anger, sadness, and even giving up their allied ambitions altogether. People of color may feel abandoned, disappointed, more distrustful of white people, or even experience more serious and disruptive problems, such as impacts on mental health, everyday life, relationships, work, school, or parenting.
So, how can we improve the connection between allyship intention and behavior? Unfortunately, traditional diversity training has not been found to be successful at improving allyship. Enthusiasm (feeling impressed, inspired, and enthusiastic about people of color) and engagement (a desire to know people of color and learn about their experiences) have been found to best predict allyship (Williams & Sharif, 2021). Consistent with these findings, the origins of antiracist white allies have been attributed to opportunities for intergroup communication, mentorship, involvement in socially active organizations, and challenging stereotypes. As such, more opportunities for cross-racial connections may be important for fostering allyship.
Some exercises that may also help to foster allyship include role-plays around responding to microaggressions, celebrating cultural differences, and sharing excitement over stories of antiracism victories that include allies. Of course, the best way to become a racial justice ally is by actually doing antiracist things.
Concrete Steps to Becoming a Racial Justice Ally
In that spirit, some concrete anti-racist actions prospective allies can take include initiating conversations with family and friends about racism, donating to organizations and movements run by people of color, advocating to policymakers around issues facing people of color, amplifying the voices of people of color, increasing support of businesses run by people of color, and calling out microaggressions one encounters in public spaces. In our article in Table 3, we highlight some characteristics and actions that differentiate allies from saviors and can help orient white allies towards more meaningful allyship behaviors, as opposed to white saviorship.
While most white people intend to act in solidarity with people of color, and know what it takes to do so, when faced with racism in real life, white people rarely show up.
Our study suggests that the problem with meaningful white allyship is not a lack of intent, but rather a lack of follow-through and meaningful action. While most white people intend to act in solidarity with people of color, and know what it takes to do so, when faced with racism in real life, white people rarely show up. We’ve flooded social media with black squares and posted statements of solidarity with Black Lives Matter. Now it’s time for white people to take the leap from intention to action and show up in a more meaningful way for people of color.
Note: This article is an adaptation of another paper. You can read the full study here.
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Art by Mariom Luna and Randi Pace.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my co-authors, Dr. Monnica Williams, Dr. Noor Sharif, Sophia Gran-Ruaz, Amy Bartlett, and Dr. Matthew Skinta, without whom this research would not have been possible. I would also like to say a special thank you to Dr. Williams and Sophia Gran-Ruaz for their input and revision and to Dr. Williams for her unwavering guidance and support.
References
Brown, K. T., & Ostrove, J. M. (2013). What does it mean to be an ally?: The perception of allies from the perspective of people of color. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 43(11), 2211–2222. https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12172
Buchanan, N. T. (2020). Researching while Black (and female). Women & Therapy, 43(1–2), 91–111. https://doi.org/10.1080/02703149.2019.1684681
Mekawi, Y. & Todd, N. R. (2018). Okay to say?: Initial validation of the acceptability of racial microaggressions scale. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 24(3), 346–362. https://dx.doi.org/10. 1037/cdp0000201
Printz Pereira, D. & George, J. (2020). The ethical obligation of allyship: Why and how white professionals need to foster Black equality. The Behavior Therapist, 43(6), 194–200.
Smith, J., Puckett, C., & Simon, W. (2016). Indigenous allyship: An overview. Office of Aboriginal Initiatives, Wilfrid Laurier University.
Spanierman, L. B. & Smith, L. (2017). Roles and responsibilities of white allies: Implications for research, teaching, and practice. The Counseling Psychologist, 45(5), 606–617. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000017717712
Williams, M. T. (2019, January 16). How white feminists oppress Black women: When feminism functions as white supremacy. Chacruna Institute. https://chacruna.net/how-white-feminists-oppress-black-women-when-feminism-functions-as-white-supremacy/
Williams, M. T. & Sharif, N. (2021). Measuring allyship: A novel technique and new insights. New Ideas in Psychology, 62, 100865. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.newideapsych.2021.100865
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