What is a white saviour complex?
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The idea of the white saviour complex has been discussed a lot recently following Stacey Dooley’s Instagram post with a child in Africa with the words ‘obsessed’.
Some have called her out for using a poor African child as an ‘accessory’ while others have defended her for her charitable work and don’t think her race should be bought into it.
But what exactly is a white saviour complex and why is it so heavily contested?
The phrase refers to a white person who acts to help non-white people, but in a context which can be perceived as self-serving.
When white celebrities pose with an African child or praise unfortunate and vulnerable people for being ‘brave’ and stoic, there is an element of privilege that adds to the controversial trope.
Celebrities like Stacey, Ed Sheran, Madonna have all been accused of using their celebrity status to push a charitable image of themselves. Usually, these images and videos are accompanied by tears too.
However, many feel that this is problematic as it adds to the idea that Africa and other poor parts of the world are vast barren lands, teething with poverty when there are other true narratives.
Some feel that this one depiction of these places facilitates one-dimensional views of people from there, proven by the countless stories of people who face ignorant questions about these places, whether they hail from there or not.
But the term is contested due to its intentions; the idea that a well-intentioned action whether visiting a refugee camp or a poverty-ridden country to raise awareness for it becoming a negative thing seems counter-productive to some.
Many felt that Stacey’s caption ‘obsessed’ reduced the young child to an accessory. Some also raised the issue of consent, asking whether the child knew they were going to be shared with a large group of people due to their ‘poor circumstances’.
Followers of Stacey also referred her to No White Saviours, an Instagram account whose bio reads: ‘We never said “no white people”. We just know you shouldn’t be the hero of the story. If you’re not uncomfortable, you’re not listening.’
Those who criticise the complex also argue that it’s not the intentions nor the actions that are wrong (as these endeavours often raise money for important causes) but rather its approach.
For example, every year Comic Relief (or the like) shows poor people, usually in Africa or Asia) with flies around them, as a (often) white celebrity comes to see them, is moved by their story, and then helps them with their situation.
But there are other true narratives from these continents, thriving parts, beautiful landscapes, positive stories which are seldom shown.
Michael Mumisa, a scholar at the University of Cambridge tells Metro.co.uk that the complex has historical connotations that make it a negative thing.
‘It’s not about individual intentions but impact. Its impact is the continued dehumanisation and colonial infantilisation of over a billion Africans. The white saviour complex can be traced back to the racist brutality of colonialism.’
Journalist Kieran Yates also makes a similar point: ‘This isn’t a criticism of the work they aim to do to eradicate poverty obviously. It’s about approach, one-dimensional depictions of blackness in videos that have affected the mainstream perspective of power dynamics. The “eat your food/starving kids in Africa” stuff alone says it all.’
Some also felt that you don’t have to pose with poor people to raise awareness for their cause.
RE: the white saviour debate. Would you go to South Shields and pick up a random geordie kid and take a picture with them to show that you support helping working class white boys going to uni?
People are not accessories to your charity.
However, many lept to Stacey’s defence, saying it shouldn’t matter what the skin tone of a person is, as long as they’re helping vulnerable people.
‘David Lammy’s tweet has made my red blood boil! This world needs more ‘saviours’, no matter their colour,’ wrote one person in defense of the presenter.
‘Should only black people try to bring Africa’s issues to the public?’ asked another.
But the use of celebrities to help ‘rescue’ Africa from poverty or disease was also criticised last year by the Charity Commission for England and Wales, the non-profit sector’s watchdog. They urged agencies to stop chasing celebs (who in turn cost more resources to be accommodated) and focus on those who need the help.
Others have also said it’s often white celebrities that are lauded for helping, or become the centre of attention, while local heroes who do the heavy lifting year-round and more go unnoticed.
While the phrase is used to criticise the way charity work or cases of poor and vulnerable individuals are handled when shared with a mainstream audience in a self-congratulatory way, it does not discredit those who do the work.
What Is White Savior Complex, and Why Is It Harmful? Here’s What Experts Say
White savior complex has historically undermined BIPOC people’s autonomy.
What can I do to help? It’s a question you might ask yourself after seeing people—especially people of color—in need during or after a natural disaster, an environmental disaster, a pandemic, or any other humanitarian crisis. Or maybe it’s a question you ask yourself after seeing the day-to-day inequities that Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC, for short) face.
But is what you’re doing to «help» making you feel good about yourself more so than actually combatting the systemic problems that affect BIPOC people? Enter the white savior complex.
While helping out your fellow humans is a noble idea, the white savior complex is something that can stand in the way of addressing the real work that needs to be done. But what exactly is the white savior complex, and why is it bad? Here’s what you need to know about it—and how you can avoid it.
What is white savior complex?
The white savior complex is an ideology that is acted upon when a white person, from a position of superiority, attempts to help or rescue a BIPOC person or community. Whether this is done consciously or unconsciously, people with this complex have the underlying belief that they know best or that they have skills that BIPOC people don’t have, according to Savala Nolan, author of Don’t Let It Get You Down: Essays on Race, Gender, and the Body and the director of the Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice at UC Berkeley School of Law.
«[They think] they are somehow in the position that should enable them to have more power in terms of solving the problem than the people who are impacted [by the problem],» Nolan tells Health.
This mindset isn’t anything new. In fact, white saviorism is a centuries’ old concept that can be traced back to the days when many white Westerners believed that they inherently had the knowledge, skills, and ingenuity to solve the problems of other people all around the world, especially people in the developing world, and especially Africans. «I think it’s been a fundamental underpinning of Western imperialism, and it’s been evident in the global empire-building enterprise,» Danielle Taana Smith, PhD, a professor in the Department of African American Studies at Syracuse University, tells Health.
Although its roots may be hundreds of years old, white saviorism is still alive around the world and within the walls of the US. Today, it tends to take the shape of focusing on providing immediate solutions, especially during humanitarian crises, to people at the individual level, Smith explains. While these immediate solutions are important because they meet urgent needs in times of crisis, the white savior approach doesn’t look beyond those immediate needs—in other words, the long-term needs of individuals and communities are not addressed.
«I think that these solutions don’t pay much attention to how complicated the interactions are between social and economic and political factors,» Smith says. «And part of what that means is that white savior mentality encourages individual dependency rather than long-term community building or long-term community self-sufficiency.»
What does the white savior complex look like in action?
The white savior complex can be played out in pop culture and in real life. In movies, a white person coming to town to help «save» a group of BIPOC people—whether they are students, athletes, or wrongly accused prisoners—is a common storyline. In real life, white savior complex was most recently on display during the pandemic. COVID-19 disproportionately affected BIPOC people in the US. As the country saw them getting sick and dying, the response was to come up with solutions to meet the needs of individual sick people. And that immediate response was needed to save lives. But someone with a white savior mentality might believe that they’ve already provided the solution and then shift their focus the next disaster rather than think about the structural barriers in place that put BIPOC people at a disadvantage when it came to health access and outcomes during the pandemic, Smith says. And without addressing those barriers, substantial change can’t happen in the long run.
Is white savior complex harmful?
Yes. «I sort of liken someone who’s engaged in white saviorism to a person who rushes into the emergency room wanting to help, but if they don’t have training as a nurse or a doctor, they may actually end up doing more harm than good,» Nolan says.
But how can someone who wants to help actually wind up doing more harm than good? By only putting a Band-Aid on the problem. That Band-Aid will eventually come off, revealing the deeper barriers that still exist. «It’s essentially a form of blindness,» Smith says. «It’s not going to allow you to perceive what is in front of you accurately. And if you can’t see it accurately, then you can’t be of really profound use in solving the problem.»
The person who is trying to render aid may not mean any harm. But white saviorism «perpetuates white supremacy as the system by which we organize our society,» Nolan believes. And research shows that white supremacy—whether conscious or unconscious—leads to poor health outcomes for BIPOC people. «Physicians typically tend to see the patient as an individual person presenting a specific illness or symptom, and they don’t see the larger issues like living in poverty and living in places with high crime rates,» Smith says. «These social factors impact peoples’ health and well-being, and if health care providers want to treat people holistically for them to be healthy over a long period of time, you cannot only treat the symptom that they are presenting. And that is what the white savior mentality does; it focuses on the individual and their specific symptoms … rather than focus on the larger systemic structural issues that cause these illnesses.»
How to avoid white savior complex
White people who want to help people and communities of color first need to take a backseat, Smith advises. «Follow the lead of the people of color in the space that [you] are entering,» she says. «[You] need to be willing to not be at the center of the work of the solution and to follow the advice, expertise, and request of the people who are closest to the pain and the problem.»
It’s also important that the work white people do addresses structural societal issues. Instead of narrowing the focus to the individual level, think broadly and consider what systems are in place that might be influencing their health and well-being.
If you see other people or an organization engaging in white saviorism, call them out. But then call them back in. «If you have an understanding of what white saviorism is, then you are in a position to see it and to think about it,» Nolan says. «And hopefully if you’re working to avoid it, you’re also in a position to articulate what the harm of it is, how it can be avoided, and how much more impactful whatever the work the [person or] organization is trying to do will be if [white saviorism wasn’t at play.]»
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Voluntourism: what’s wrong with the ‘white savior complex’?
Two minutes and 23 seconds is all it took for a group of white women in traditional Ugandan dress to cause a stir on social media. But what is wrong with ‘voluntourism’? Social change advocate Teddy Ruge explains.
In the recently uploaded video, the group of young female missionaries can be seen dancing with plastic jerry cans on their heads and donning mosquito repellant before they bathe their ‘orange feet,’ all whilst singing and dancing to the tune of US singer Justin Timberlake’s «Sexy Back» – with satirized text to include «I’m bringing missions back.»
The video, which was uploaded by Luket Ministries, an Oklahoma missionary group, and which has since been removed by the organization, sparked fierce debate online as to whether the women, dubbed the ‘dancing missionaries’ and the ‘Luket five,’ are mocking Ugandan culture with their parody.
Social change advocate Teddy Ruge joined Pulse host, Jessie Wingard from Kampala, Uganda, to talk about «White Savior Complex,» the effects it’s having on locals and how Africans should demand global equality.
DW: Teddy, let’s talk about the video featuring the white female missionaries working in Uganda, do foreign aid workers or volunteers demean or simplify African life with videos such as this?
Teddy Rouge: We shouldn’t simplify it and say that all of them actually do. But, I think there is a narrative out there about the continent, where we are constantly infantilized, where missionaries, aid workers and volunteers think that they have an absolute right to do what it is that they are doing because their defense is ‘we are doing good and whatever it is that we are doing in volunteering shouldn’t be questioned.’
Again, it’s the same narrative – it’s the infantalization of a continent with 54 countries and a billion people and in thinking that we are a continent that cannot help itself. So, it’s everyone’s responsibility – and by everyone, I mean every white savior out there who feels like they buy into this narrative that Africa is completely helpless, that it cannot help itself.
It is important for us as Africans, those of us who are, at the very least, visible and are able to communicate our disgust to defend against those narratives. It is important for us kick back against that.
Yes, we are a young continent, but we’re not a stupid continent and it worries me that if we continue to let these kind of narratives go, that half the continent that is under 15, that is 500 million children, will grow up thinking that their troubles, their issues on the continent and their future can only be saved by an outsider, a benevolent outsider, a benevolent white person that comes in, be it a missionary or volunteer, teacher or western government responsible for fixing our problems when it is actually quite the opposite.
We are responsible for fixing our future, for creating systems and institutions responsible for our social issues, our infrastructure, our medical issues, our health sector – whatever it is, we are sovereign nations – 54 of them on this continent and I think it’s time we began to take responsibility and a lot of that begins with slapping the hand that feeds us – the one that constantly thinks that we are infants.
There is a role to be played by the entire world. It’s 2016 – it’s a global village, we all want to engage. The more that we are continually infantilized and we are put in a lesser role than everyone else – we want to be equal partners, we want to contribute to the global village, we don’t just want to simply be recipients from the global village.
We are equal participants in this world and I think it is important that we are viewed that way. It’s high time that we stopped begging for equality and representation at the global table and begin demanding it.
We may be poorer, we may be less equipped in a lot of our industries, that does not make us privy to just accepting any kind of treatment and any way we are written about or viewed or made fun of.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Born in Uganda, Teddy Ruge is a social change advocate as well as a successful global entrepreneur.
СОДЕРЖАНИЕ
Trope
В «Белизне ночи Оскара» (2015) Мэтью Хьюи описывает повествовательную структуру поджанра:
Тропа «Белый Спаситель» продолжает широко использоваться в фильмах, часто принимаемых критиками. Джозеф Фогель пишет о тропе в Django Unchained :
В решающей кульминационной сцене сохраняется образец центральной роли белых. Это [белый доктор] Шульц, а не [освобожденный раб] Джанго, мучимый совестью, убивает Кэлвина Кэнди и, поступая так, жертвует собственной жизнью. На вопрос Генри Луи Гейтса-младшего, почему он решил сделать короля Шульца фигурой Христа, Тарантино заявил, что он просто опирается на тропы вестерна.
Типы рассказов
Вдохновляющий учитель
История белого учителя-спасителя, такая как « Вверх по лестнице вниз» (1967), « Опасные умы» (1995) и «Писатели свободы» (2007), «рассказывает о группе небелых горожан из низших слоев общества (как правило, чернокожих и латиноамериканцев / а) которые борются через социальный порядок в целом или систему образования в частности. Тем не менее, благодаря жертвам белого учителя они трансформируются, спасаются и искуплены к концу фильма ». Как вдохновляющий рассказ о человеческом духе, сюжетная линия белого Спасителя-учителя не является расистской сама по себе, но является культурно проблематичной, потому что это вариант повествования о белом спасителе, который фактически искажает культурную и социальную реальность, которая существует. Существуют учителя из групп меньшинств, которые успешно обучают (расовых, этнических, культурных) учащихся из групп меньшинств в своих общинах без спасительного руководства со стороны белых людей.
Принципиальный человек
Список связанных фильмов
| Фильм | Год | Описание |
|---|---|---|
| 12 лет рабства | 2013 | В историческом фильме, действие которого происходит в 1841 году, афроамериканца свободного происхождения Соломона Нортапа (которого играет Чиветел Эджиофор ) похищают и продают в рабство. В развязке фильма белый канадец (которого играет Брэд Питт ) спасает Нортапа от порабощения. Хотя в « 12 лет рабства» основное внимание уделяется устойчивости Нортапа, а канадец действительно спас Нортапа, фильм был идентифицирован как кинематографическое представление рабства, в котором изображен белый спаситель. |
Atlantic ‘ s Ной Berlatsky сказал использование Развязка в белой спасителя,то время как исторически точным,было необходимости, «Как это, в контексте Голливуда, ошеломленный / онемели благодарность Нортуп в конце фильма имеет тенденцию стираться в монтаже других чернокожих актеров со слезами на глазах, которые с трепетом и удивлением смотрят на удивительное, чрезмерно решительное благородство того или иного белого актера ».
A Critical Look at the White Savior Character in Urban Education
Apr 14, 2018 · 7 min read
INTRODUCTION:
In Freedom Writers (2007), new teacher Erin Gruwell takes a job at a school with a recently implemented voluntary integration program. This puts White Gruwell in charge of classes full of minority students performing poorly academically and involved in gangs.
As seen in the film clip above, tension exists between Gruwell and the students but she provides them the opportunity to open up through journals and, when they do, they bond (LaGravenese et al., 2007) as seen in the image below.
Her identity as a W h ite, middle class woman in authority though creates a film centered on the “White Savior”. Though just a film, this kind of image impacts real-life race relations in education. Reynolds (2014) said that “Films, TV, best-selling novels, and other media are not merely entertainment but texts that teach viewers about things they are not familiar with, lead viewers to expect certain experiences in particular situations, and suggest ways to behave” (p. 1). Consequently, we’ll argue how this image of a “White Savior” in the media maintains racism in two ways: 1. Those who identify with Gruwell end up desiring the outcomes of her behavior and learn to implement such practices in their own teaching, and 2. It oversimplifies minorities in a way that upholds institutional racism.
CLAIM 1: Identification with film characters carries into classrooms and perpetuates institutional racism.
There are many ways to identify with teachers in media. The following meme from Frabz is just one example.
When you identify with a film character, it’s easy to imagine yourself in that role. According to Derman (2009), we should “Keep in mind the power of books” (p. 3) because they influence children’s interpretation of the world. The same rule applies to adults and media. Wright (2013) explained how learning for adults is reinforced through popular culture. Films like Freedom Writers (2007) then educate future teachers, especially White, young female teachers, in what role they should play.
As seen below, many teachers express wanting to inspire their students.
When a film is centered around that, it speaks to this demographic. The portrayal of Gruwell’s ‘successes’ in the film makes those viewers who identify with her want to replicate such results; after all, it’s easy to watch a teacher change students’ lives and dream of accomplishing the same thing, but, ultimately, we must be aware of the social constructs that influence those dreams. Harro (2010) noted how society builds and reinforces biased messages. These reinforced messages impact our desire to inspire as well as cause racism.
When hopeful teachers go into teaching to ‘change lives’, this assumes that there are good and bad lives with the bad lives needing to be changed. Images of the good life demonstrated in media can perpetuate racism, even with the best intentions. Crystal Paul (2016) expressed in her blog post that, as a Black student, her experiences differed from her White teachers. In some cases, she was considered bad for behaving culturally, but that doesn’t make her wrong. She further explained in her post what teachers need to do to avoid racism:
While teachers may have good intentions, Gorski (2008) and Sensoy and Ali-Khan (2016) acknowledged that good intentions are not enough because, despite well-meaning intentions, practices in place perpetuate social hierarchies.
Thus, when viewers see themselves in the characters on screen, especially what they consider to be positive characters compared to negative ones like some in the Frabz meme (Perception vs. fact), it’s easy to desire similarities. If someone is mimicking behaviors like Gruwell’s though, they may actually be fighting students’ cultures and perpetuating racist hierarchies. Consequently, when real-life teachers mimic characters from the media, media plays a part in perpetuating racism.
CLAIM 2: The “White Savior” uses stereotypes and oversimplification of minorities to perpetuate social hierarchies.
The “White Savior” is a role seen in many films. It is so common, in fact, that MADtv created a parody of the character-type (Klaustrophobic, 2007).
The White Savior role is when a White teacher enters a classroom with a false sense of saving minority kids.
Rolf Straubhaar (2015) explained that the White Savior Complex is “The idea that socially privileged individuals possess, simply by virtue of their position, some unique ability or power to help less-privileged people in ways they’re unable to help themselves.” Ultimately, those teachers end up disappointed when they discover that there is a low success rate with students successfully adapting to forced assimilation (Downs, 2016).
This way, Gruwell can be portrayed as having to sacrifice so much of her “good” life to “save” the kids she teaches. She takes on more jobs to afford supplies, spends time putting together field trips, and even ends up losing her marriage as seen in the clip below (keith dent, 2013).
By stereotyping the students and making it easy to sympathize with the White authority figure, the film supports many people’s cultural maps. Hall and Jhally (2002) said, “The capacity to classify is a basic genetic feature of human beings but the particular system of classification used in society is learnt.” One way we learn it is through media (Wright, 2013) and then we apply this learning to institutions. Sensoy and DiAngelo (2017) defined institution as a large-scale set of laws and practices that govern the political or social life of people. Because viewers perceive Gruwell’s ‘changing the kids around’ as a good thing, society’s expectations of ‘bettering’ minorities continue, upholding racism through the positive image of Gruwell’s success. Furthermore, when people involved in institutions take in messages that affirm stereotypes, the film with a White Savior helps uphold social hierarchies in institutions.
CONCLUSION:
In this presentation, we exposed the danger of the “White Savior” character. Though positively depicted in the media, we have found that the actions taken by Erin Gruwell can perpetuate institutionalized racism as well as negatively depict minority students. Serving as current K-12 educators in Detroit, we chose to investigate two claims that are part of our own socialization. In reflecting on our course learnings this semester, we were able to interrogate our own conceptual maps in order to ensure that our actions in our own classrooms were not perpetuating institutional racism found in both claims (Hall, 2002). Through a multicultural education lens, we can learn a great deal by analyzing the actions of Gruwell. Good intentions aren’t enough because despite well-meaning intentions, practices in place perpetuate social and political hierarchies (Gorski, 2008; Sensoy and Ali-Khan, 2016). Thus, as educators, it is our responsibility to reflect on our own biases to provide an equitable education for all students.
References
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[Ashleigh Rebecca]. (2014, Dec 13). Freedom Writers: I hate white people [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPoi4hktrJQ
Downs, K. (2016, March 28). What ‘white folks who teach in the hood’ get wrong about education. Retrieved April 8, 2018, from https://www.pbs.org/newshour/education/what-white-folks-who-teach-in-the-hood-get-wrong-about-education
Freedom Writers Toast. Benali, 15 Aug 2016. benali.mondoblog.org/2016/08/15/freedom-writers-toast-changement/
Gorski, P. (2008). Good intentions are not enough: A decolonizing intercultural education. Intercultural Education, 19 (6), 515–525.
Hall, S. & Jhally, S. (Director). (2002). Representation & the media [DVD]. Northampton, MA: Media Education Foundation.
[Hannah Thompson]. (2013, Sep 25). Why do I want to be an English teacher? [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7429I07—c
Harro, B. (2010). Ch. 6 The cycle of socialization. In M. Adams, W. Blumenfeld, R. Castaneda, H.W. Hackman, M. Peters, X Zuniga (Eds.), Reading for Diversity and Social Justice (45–51). New York: Routledge.
[keith dent]. (2013, Jun 9). Freedom Writers (break-up scene) [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKWz9hhmKx4
[Klaustrophobic]. (2007, Jul 12). Nice White Lady [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVF-nirSq5s
[Movieclips]. (2011, Nov 22). Freedom Writers (3/9) Movie CLIP — When Will I Be Free? (2007) HD [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c5pbePUc2g
nice white lady: Saving the World One Ghetto School At a Time. culykidz, curlymama, 1 Nov. 2009. www.curlykidz.wordpress.com/?s=nice+white+lady
Paul, C. (2018, March 20). 10 Books I Wish My White Teachers Had Read. Retrieved April 9, 2018, from https://www.bustle.com/articles/153390–10-books-i-wish-my-white-teachers-had-read
Reynolds, P. J. (2014a). Representing “U”: Popular Culture, Media, and Higher Education (Introduction: pp.1–11)
Sensoy, Ö., & Ali-Khan, C. (2016). Unpaving the road to hell: Disrupting good intentions and bad science about islam and the middle east. Educational Studies, 52(6), 506–520.
Sensoy, O., & DiAngelo, R. J. (2017). Is everyone really equal: An introduction to key concepts in social justice education. New York: Teachers College Press.
Straubhaar, R. (2015, August 15). Will you commit class suicide with me? Retrieved April 08, 2018, from https://www.opendemocracy.net/transformation/rolf-straubhaar/will-you-commit-class-suicide-with-me