Episode 13: Why Do We Need White People to Do DEIB?

Today we discuss a common issue that arises in DEIB work surrounding white allyship.

Often we hear from white people “I don’t want to step on any one’s toes,” “I don’t know how to participate or what to do.” and others have said that marginalized groups have told them “We don’t want you there.”

We want to address these comments by answering the question: Why do we need white people to do this work?

Links to Mentions & References:

-Du Bois, W.E.B. John Brown: A Biography. 1909. Reprint, Yardley, PA: Westholme Publishing, 2024.
-Du Bois, W.E.B. "The Souls of White Folks." In The Souls of Black Folk, 161–180. Chicago: A.C. McClurg & Co., 1910.
-Hill, Jane H. The Everyday Language of White Racism. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2008.
-hooks, bell. "Representing Whiteness in the Black Imagination." In Displacing Whiteness: Essays in Social and Cultural Criticism, edited by Ruth Frankenberg, 165–179. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1997.
-Baldwin, James. "On Being White… and Other Lies." In The Cross of Redemption: Uncollected Writings, edited by Randall Kenan, 123–127. New York: Pantheon Books, 2010. Originally published in Essence, 1984.
-Miner, Horace. "Body Ritual Among the Nacirema." American Anthropologist 58, no. 3 (1956): 503–507.
-Willing Observers. 2024. “What It Is and Why It Matters: Allyship.” Instagram. Accessed September 2025. https://www.instagram.com/p/C3Fl_0ZpRJs/