"I hear white liberals talk sometimes as if they've nothing to fear......as if the power of authoritarianism threatens only people of color. It threatens POC more; but it threatens everybody. That's what authoritarianism is. You do nobody any favors by imagining you're immune.

As my daughter saw at the border, authoritarianism targets POC first & most severely; the secondary goal of white supremacy, tho, is to keep white subjects in line through a mix of privilege & subtle punishment for questioning that privilege. Authoritarianism cultivates paranoia & self-censorship. It depends on us to internalize the ways in which it pushes around; it wants us to feel guilty for being afraid. It wants us to speak in the passive voice." Jeff Sharlet