Solidarity versus white savior politics

Racism has made a wreck of the distinctions between solidarity with the oppressed & white savior politics. In the US, Mark Twain’s “Huckleberry Finn” is the pioneering presentation of white savior politics, now a staple in literature & film about relations between Blacks & whites. White savior crap is so pernicious an ethos that while “Huckleberry Finn” traumatizes Black schoolchildren forced to read it as part of the curriculum, white adults swoon at what they perceive its anti-racism message.

Responding to my criticism of Sam Charles Hamad for his attack on BDS, someone said I had a white savior thing going on in my support for Palestinians & the longevity of my commitment reflected a fetish. There’s a lot of ways you can tell the difference between solidarity & white savior stuff since the latter is rooted in a racism which is not subtle. Solidarity is based in reciprocity: we’re in this mess together & we’ll get out of it together. White savior is rooted in charity, pity, noblesse oblige, vanity, & looking down on the oppressed. As for that fetish thing? Is that what commitment looks like to some? Is it my fault that the Palestinian struggle is absolutely central to the struggle against US & European domination of the Middle East?