Why Empathy is Not Enough w/ Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein

From Woke to Work: The Anti-Racist Journey

Empathy is what inspired host, Kamala Avila-Salmon to put The Anti-Racist together; more specifically, it was the LIMITS of empathy that inspired her. While empathy is very important, and for many it feels good, it will not by itself free us from established patterns of shock, outrage, protest, and then complacency. On this episode, Kamala connects with her dear and brilliant friend, Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein to address why empathy is not enough.

Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein is an assistant professor of physics and astronomy and core faculty in women’s and gender studies at the University of New Hampshire. A particle cosmologist by training, she is a dark matter theorist and also conducts research in Black feminist science, technology, and society studies. She is also one of under 100 Black American women to earn a PhD from a department of physics. She is an outspoken and inspiring voice on issues of race, gender, queer identity, and decolonizing science, and basically how Kamala decides if I’m on the right side of most important social justice topics of the day.

Jump straight into:

(00:45) - How sympathy is not really empathy, and the racist past and present inside the scientific community - “We can’t afford to rest on our laurels and assume that change will just magically flow from this fount of feelings.”

(08:51) - Feelings are not actions: How NOT to reach out to your black friends - “It’s actually anti-work. You're basically asking them to perform emotional labor to be there with you as you process your feelings.”

(23:02) - Whiteness and racism: On conversations around white skin privilege - “A lot of people don't want to talk about whiteness, but it’s still operating between two people, even if you think you're on the same page.”

(27:23) - How empathy can turn into white empiricism - “What a strange thought! A movement for black people without black people. What is that?!”

(32:09) - The Frequent Ally Question: How to do the work without either burdening or excluding black people? - “ You're not obligated to read everything, but you're obligated to do something.”

Resources

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein

Preorder The Disordered Cosmos by Chanda Prescod-Wenstein

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From Woke to Work is a show produced and hosted by Kamala Avila-Salmon in partnership with Julian Lewis and TJ Bonaventura at StudioPod. Edited at Nodalab, art by Tommy Gomez, and music produced by davecantrap.