A step-by-step guide: How to institutionalise white supremacy in your non-profit

A DIRECT TRANSMISSION FROM YOUR WHITE COLONISER ANCESTORS

[read this in white voice]

PREAMBLE

Thank you for tuning in—we have been waiting for you. Contrary to popular belief, white people commune with ancestors too. Albeit, it is infinitely harder when your foundational beliefs system assumes that the body and mind are separate (damn you, Descartes). From where we are, it’s obvious that most intelligence resides in the body, not the mind…but we’ll leave that for another transmission. Your busy mind gets in the way when we are trying to connect with you, which is why are coming to you through this obscure blog.

We have an important message for you, essential for the maintenance of our peoples' power and privilege on Earth in the realm you exist—through what is known as white supremacy. Not the brazen neo-nazis kind, but a smarter, more insidious variety. Our weapons go undetected. You will not find a drop of blood in the places we operate. Perhaps a white tear or two if necessary. The board paper, the file note, the performance review, psychological manipulation via polite conversation, feigning ignorance, unending delays and/or intentional incompetence in response to complaints of racial vilification. If you are studious and careful, you can do a lot of damage without lifting a finger. Stay on top of your reading. Know the language of racism, liberation, oppression, marginalisation, and colonialism (including anti-colonialism/de-colonialism) so that ultimately you can apply this knowledge in enacting a form of re-colonialism (under the guise of post-colonialism).

STEP 1: HIRING A CEO

As a powerful white board chair, obviously, do not hire a CEO based on competence or capability. Certainly not someone who has the capacity for critically reflection, a lived experience of being racialised, or any revolutionary impulses. Although, do not make the mistake of dismissing people of colour who are very rich and/or upper caste, as their ancestors may have a strong track record of performance in violent colonial bureaucracies. You don’t want to miss out on the Rishi Sunak in your midst. You need to find someone who aligns with your agenda; someone you can control. Manage the recruitment process to carefully, ensuring that members with more radical politics have limited influence.

STEP 2: NOT TAKING ACCOUNTABILITY

Despite past and present accusations of racial violence, make a commitment as a board and incoming CEO to take no accountability. Do not apologise, for anything, under any circumstance. Vulnerability to legal action is not an option (though living with being a shitty person is not easy, ngl). Additionally, do not offer any form of reparations. Reparations would send a signal to colonised people everywhere that this is worth striving for—that could lead to all sorts of trouble. Increasingly, concepts such as transformative justice are powerful and painfully simple. For instance—transformative justice seeks to “build support and safety for the person harmed, figure out how the broader context was set up for this harm to happen, and how that context can be changed so that this harm is less likely to happen again” (Kaba 2021). Given how straightforward this is, its essential to make it seem complex, confusing, unfeasible. You could say something like—“Look, those incidents occurred in the past under very complicated circumstances. Instead of re-living the trauma through a transformative justice process, perhaps it’s best we move forward and look to the future ”. A future-focused narrative will prevent staff and other stakeholders from dwelling on the ugly past, and ignore how the past lives on in the present in a multitude of ways.

STEP 3: HIRING SOME DIVERSE PEOPLE

This step is simple. No one can accuse you of white supremacy or make you accountable for racial violence when you have Black and Brown faces in the organisation you can point to. Despite having little to no understanding or experience in creating safe working environments for those who aren’t white and rich—hire a large group of non-white staff. Recruitment won't be difficult. Remember, you do not have to be white to have a saviour complex, or subscribe to rescue politics. Some non-white staff will need to be disciplined, but you are well versed in the weapons I mentioned earlier. In case you need some tips: make sure they have a minimum of 2-3 jobs, undervalue their work, undermine any form of authority they hold, ignore requests for bespoke cultural supports, speak over them in meetings, censor their public outputs to align with your politics, steal their good ideas, and of course, continue to promote white staff with much less capability than them. Make non-white staff as visible as possible — on social media, the cover of your annual report and any other marketing material.

STEP 4: DOING SOME DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION TRAINING

Undertake Diversity and Inclusion training. Conveniently a whole industry (which is now referred to as the DEIJ industry — correct, they are trying to co-opt 'equity' and 'justice' as well) has popped up that promises to solve racism through a series of short workshops. The premise is that filling a knowledge gap around racism will somehow make people less racist. Now let me be clear — we invented racism so we already know about it (it might not be a conscious knowledge but it’s our bones and blood). This industry is not only offers fast and relatively cheap 'solutions', but critically, allows us to evade deeper truth-telling and accountability processes that might force us to reckon with our own trauma and the harm we have caused. Have you read My Grandmothers Hands (Menakem 2017)? That shit is terrifying. Healing at a deep level is messy and stressful. And what would be the point of that—it would challenge everything; the dynamics of domination/subjugation that shape every interaction, organisational systems and processes, and the entire governance structure that you sit atop. It would even challenge every aspect of your daily lives—for instance, your ability to say namaste at your yoga class. If given the option of changing everything or changing nothing (and staying in power)—we recommend you choose nothing. Ambalavaner Sivanandan was right when he said “if those who have do not give, those who haven't must take”. Keep that one on the down low for obvious reasons. The ultimate risk of hiring organisers and campaigners is that they will organise and campaign against you.

STEP 5: PRETENDING TO BE POOR

Despite being a rich white non profit with one of the biggest budgets this colony has ever seen, place staff in precarious work conditions such as short term contracts. Make staff redundant to cut costs rather than reducing other exorbitant expenses. Make others feel like they could be next. Neoliberalism has normalised precarious work, so this shouldn’t be difficult.

STEP 6: DIVIDING AND CONQUERING

Pit non-white staff against on another. There’s a reason our colonial traditional of divide and conquer was so effective — if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

STEP 7: FIRING THE CEO

Eventually some form of resistance to the racial violence will erupt and the masquerade of order will come crashing down. Annoyingly, truth is persistent; like grass finding the sun through cracks in concrete. If you have followed our guidance closely, most people will not tell the truth, for fear of losing their jobs. But some will. Do not despair — before too much of a resistance coalesces, fire the CEO. More precisely, allow this person to resign with their reputation in tact (despite the harm they caused and were complicit in). Let them craft a 'heroes journey' narrative about their exit and achievements. They can post it to LinkedIn —everyone can like and comment on it (e.g. "Thank you so much for your outstanding leadership! What a powerful legacy and transformative impact you are leaving behind. You are such a force for good! Cannot wait to see what the future holds for you next!"). This will ensure this person can go unquestioned onto their next high paying job. In fact, they will likely earn more money than the obscene salary you paid them. Now, the key villain in the eyes of staff is gone, but faces no consequence. Yet the forces they put them in the role (i.e. you) are still there behind the scenes. Critically, you get to position yourself as the ones picking up the pieces.

Next, go back to go Step 1 and repeat...indefinitely.

APPENDIX: INTERNALLY HIRING FOR THE CEO ROLE

If you are interested in this, be sure to ask the following key questions:

• Has this person maintained the silence around past and present cycles of racial and other violence? Or do they have a history of speaking out in solidarity with others, causing trouble or resisting in inconvenient ways?
• Are they compliant? As described by Arendt (1963), you are looking for someone ordinary, bureaucratic, ‘terrifyingly normal’. You need someone who is primarily motivated by career advancement.
• Is this person able to engage with the full weight of their actions and critically reflect? It’s ideal if they are not able to. Someone a bit ‘thoughtless’ (Arendt 1963) is ideal. It’s a messy business this racism thing. You have to be fine with treating people in ways that increase their “vulnerability to premature death” (in the words of Ruth Wilson Gilmore, 2007). This may occur through mental health breakdowns, PTSD, suicidality, chronic health conditions, and countless other long-term harms. It is best for the candidate not to be aware that inflicting such violence inevitably causes them harm too, and irreparably so.

CONCLUSION

Best of luck playing your crucial role in perpetuating white supremacy under the clever guise of progressive politics! (side bar: shout out to the white queers who by all accounts are doing the most in this regard) When you're maintaining colonial structures whilst pretending to dismantle them, no one will suspect a thing. In fact, we've been getting away with it for hundreds of years — deploying 'benevolent' forms of white supremacy as the 'soft control' that works hand-in-hand with the direct control of law enforcement through surveillance, policing and prisons (INCITE!, 2017). For a long time the human rights industry (and yes, it is an industry just like any other) has co-existed and co-evolved with slavery and colonialism. Individualised human rights and the NGO-isation of social change has been a highly successful strategy for disciplining social movements, especially the most dangerous anti-colonial and abolitionist kind, both in the global south and global north. There is a reason those working in NGOs have to blow so much smoke up their own asses. It helps everyone not contend with the reality that these cycles of violence will continue for as long as these organisations exist, because of their centrality to the colonial order. History reveals this clearly, for anyone willing to look. They can say what they want about us (i.e. that we can’t dance, that we age really badly, that our food is bland etc.) but the ingenious adaptability of our supremacy is undeniable.

Kind regards,

Your white coloniser ancestors.

POSTSCRIPT

The non-white ancestors in this realm are relentlessly teasing us about something called 'Burning Man'. It is quite unbearable. If you could find an alternative way to satiate your lack of spirituality/culture, that would be very much appreciated.

Disclaimer: Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.