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Where Are the Consequences?
Don’t hold your breath. As long as White men are in power, they’ll protect their own.
“And therein lies the heart of Wednesday’s race riot. It was about White men having to answer to anyone but White men — this time, voters and rules and due process.” We may a little biased here at LEVEL, given that David Dennis Jr. is down with the squad as a longtime contributor, but we have no trouble saying he’s one of our favorite chroniclers of the psychology of Whiteness. Last week he issued a clear-eyed condemnation of what led to the armed siege of the U.S. Capitol—and this week, on his personal blog, he examines what’s really at work when people defend Donald Trump or protest his deplatforming. The answer, in a word: preservation. Preservation of a status quo, preservation of unchecked power, preservation of the ability to get away with damn near anything.
That’s how the George Zimmermans of the world go free, how the Derek Chauvins get slaps on the wrist, how White men cry when a White man gets fired for fondling himself during a Zoom call. The idea of a White man facing consequences feels like an affront to the very nature of being White. What’s the point of White skin and the power it brings if you have to turn around and answer to someone?
