Solidarity Protests on US Security Policy

White people's activism in US‐ based social movements for racial justice

“…While many analysts and activists suggest that systems of dominance, including white supremacy, also harm their supposed beneficiaries (see: McGhee, 2021), scholars often distinguish between two kinds of activists who partake in social change struggles. Directly aggrieved communities who contest an injustice that directly impacts them might be termed “core activists” (Kraemer, 2007) or “movement beneficiaries” (Myers, 2008), while activists who align themselves with the aggrieved but are not themselves the direct targets of the oppression they contest have been termed “conscience constituents” (McCarthy & Zald, 1977), “allies” (Myers, 2008), “privileged outsiders” (Munkres, 2008) and “solidarity activists” (Russo, 2018; Sundberg, 2008). Examples of such movement participants might include caste Hindus allied with Untouchables in the Indian independence movement (Marx & Useem, 1971), US citizens in the Central American Solidarity movement (Nepstad, 2004; Smith, 1996) and men in feminist movements (Messner, et al., 2015; Schacht & Ewing, 2001).…”

“…Solidarity activists are not necessarily similarly positioned to each other, given that their sole unifying feature is that they enjoy at least one privilege or protection that a movements' beneficiaries do not (Russo, 2018). As a parallel insight, scholars have well established that white people are not a monolith, with the experiences and meanings of whiteness shaped by a multitude of other factors and intersectional identities (Hartigan, 1998; McDermott, 2020).…”

“…This is for good reason. Some research suggests that allies are more fickle and less committed when compared to core constituents (Marx & Useem, 1971), though there are examples both past and present in which solidarity activists forge cultures of resistance and engage in long‐term struggle (Russo, 2018; Stanger, 2022). This is no different in the case of white antiracist activists (Aptheker, 1992; Thompson, 2001).…”

“…White people involved in racial justice movements might also be helpfully considered solidarity activists insofar as their racialization as white, by definition, protects them from the most violent and dire ravages of white supremacy. Solidarity activists are not necessarily similarly positioned to each other, given that their sole unifying feature is that they enjoy at least one privilege or protection that a movements' beneficiaries do not (Russo, 2018). As a parallel insight, scholars have well established that white people are not a monolith, with the experiences and meanings of whiteness shaped by a multitude of other factors and intersectional identities (Hartigan, 1998;McDermott, 2020).…”

“…This article explores what scholars know about white people's involvement in US‐ based racial justice efforts in order to pose central questions and quandaries for future study. It begins by conceptualizing white antiracist activists as a case of “solidarity activists” (Russo, 2018), those who contest a form of violence or injustice that does not most directly impact them. This helps to contextualize white activists' motivation and commitment to antiracist struggle within the social movements literature on a particular type of activist.…”