Read coffeeandink 's post:

I was in an anti-racism workshop a few years ago and one of the most valuable things that I got out of it was when one of the black facilitators pointed out that one of the white participant was doing the meta move -- that is, she was shifting the focus of a heated discussion away from race and racism by abstracting it into "Let's take a step back from talking about this stuff because I want to talk instead about how we're talking about this stuff, and isn't it interesting that when it sounds like people are upset and disagreeing, what I actually hear is simply people talking past each other from different cultural contexts that aren't really about race at all, and it's not even about who's right and who's wrong because everything that people are saying is valid from their own context, so maybe if we could all see things my way and listen for each others' contexts then we'd realize that we don't have anything to be upset over or disagree about because -- and I'm sure everyone can at least agree on this -- after all, deep down we're all good people trying our best, right?"

Not coincidentally, the meta-move attempt to reframe race and racism into a seemingly value-neutral issue of culture and communication in order to defuse tension and anger came exactly at the moment in the workshop when another white participant was being held accountable for his words and actions -- primarily by the people of color participating in the workshop.

I've had some mixed feelings for a while about the recent adoption by many white fans of anti-racist rhetorics, politics and identities. It often reminds me of new converts to 12-step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, who sometimes take on radically different belief systems, lifestyles, and social networks without fully digesting the fundamental changes that they're called upon to make. So they parrot the slogans with their newfound fervor, and cast scorn at those pathetic deluded wretches who haven't found recovery or -- worse yet -- have relapsed or otherwise rejected it. It's understandable; not ready to confront their own overpowering shame over their own addiction and the harms that they've done to themselves and to others, they manage their shame by externalize it, projecting it onto the bad others who for all intents and purposes were themselves 30 or 90 days ago. All while they wrap themselves in the mantle of enlightment, even as they're still far from achieving any real insight or wisdom of their own. Fake it 'til you make it, as they say.

And they also say that it works if you work it -- so maybe, despite a certain proneness to flights of narcissism and sanctimoniousness during the newcomer phase, this too is just part of the process. But it's those temptations to externalize and project -- that racism is somewhere else, that the racist is someone else -- that go hand in hand with the meta move, and that's what bothers me about those discussions that coffeeandink  points to.