WHITE SAVIORS Paulino 1

Introduction

White Saviorism is widely discussed in the aspect of missionary trips or other events

where white individuals enter marginalized communities and volunteer there for a period of time.

These trips are often unhelpful to the community, as it does not address the foundational issues

that the community is suffering from. The volunteers create a small band aid fix, while taking

advantage of a space that they know nothing about. The term White Saviorism has now been

used to define other acts that white individuals take that harms marginalized communities more

than it helps them. This topic has been brought up in conversations surrounding many recent

movements like Black Lives Matter, immigration reform, and DACA. The unique aspect of these

new movements is the use of social media. In contrast to those missionary trips, there is no need

to do a physical act, instead you can send money virtually, sign petitions, or even make posts.

Although it made it easier to be an activist, it also made it easier to fake activism.

Performative activism is another topic that is spoken about when addressing issues with

online activism. Being a performative activist means that the individual does not truly care about

the issue and is just trying to appear as though they do. This could be done for many different

reasons, but with online activism, it is easier to be performative. There is no reason to take a

missionary trip, when all that needs to be done is sharing a post. Performative activism online

took on two new terms, Slacktivism and Clicktivism. Both Slacktivism and Clicktivism address

the lack of effort or work put in to create actual change. It refers to the simple “click” of a button

it takes to like a post or share one rather than doing anything more laborious. It is another form

of activism that does not address foundational issues, while also taking advantage of

marginalized communities.

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WHITE SAVIORS Paulino 2

Literature Review

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The globalization of media has allowed individuals millions of miles away from each

other to be connected through a screen. This is a recent advancement that has allowed there to be

global coverage of events happening in any country. Typically, this can be viewed as a positive

change, as the general public will be more educated on foreign cultures, but this has only fed into

white saviorism and poverty porn. The presentation of foreign countries through the media

presents any non-western country as deteriorating. These countries are labeled as crime ridden

and poverty stricken, needing saving by the west. During times of war or natural disaster these

portrayals become worse as a means to gain empathy and build aid. However, as quickly as the

media coverage ends, the aid does as well. The depictions of suffering are used to create a sense

of a collective “us” against suffering, but in reality there is no connection between the audience

and those being filmed. This fact becomes strikingly clear once the screen turns off. Western

audiences are able to walk away from the suffering once they have had their fill.

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I. Clicktivism/Slacktivism

Clicktivism and Slacktivism are two easy methods for individuals to claim to be

participating in social movements without putting in much effort. With a simple click through

social media, people can like, comment, or share posts that will provide the coverage they need

in order to save themselves from public critique. In recent years, “cancel culture” has become a

popular trend on social media, where even the biggest of stars can be “canceled,” a nicer way of

saying “blackballed,” for not keeping up with politically correct appearances. This fear tactic

forces most to comply with the social need for activism, if not for the betterment of society, than
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for the betterment of their image. However, with the globalization of media and the overall

improvements to accessibility, this has created a double-edged sword. On one hand, there is more

social action online for movements across the world. Anyone can make an impact, large or small,

on a community that is within their reach or thousands of miles away. On the other hand, these

easy and bite sized pieces of activism are used by those who do not truly care or want to put

effort towards actual change. This often leads to insignificant actions being taken and no actual

change being had.

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Slacktivism and Clicktivism essentially allow those who are not impacted by those

movements to opt-out, without saying they do not care for it. Although many white celebrities

and allies did do their best to help with the movement, there was still a significant amount of

white people who just wanted to save face. Those black boxes were posted and produced more

harm than good, but to those who did not care to make more change, those boxes were enough.

White saviorism allows for white people to do the bare minimum to create an image of care.

Once these movements lose traction in the media and it is no longer trendy to be against racism,

then those white saviors move on to the next topic of discussion (Williams, 2021). It shows that

they do not truly care for the things they claim to support, that they in fact are just there for a

photo-op and nothing more. If they wanted to create an impact, larger things could have been

done, especially by those with financial means to support causes or time to go to demonstrations

or protests. It is unfortunate that those with the power and ability to make change happen are not

actually interested in those causes, but would rather do the bare minimum so that they do not get

canceled.

II. Corporate Activism and Branding

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Similar to Slacktivism, Corporate Activism allows companies or celebrities to participate

in low effort activism to prevent from being canceled, without having to commit time or money.

Most companies, if not all, have a mission statement in regards to equal access to opportunities

and safe work environments for marginalized communities. Although employers say that this is

something they are dedicated to, their actions may say another thing. Tesla is an electric vehicle

and clean energy company founded by Elon Musk. Found on the Tesla website is the Diversity,

Equity, and Inclusion report, most recently from 2020:

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This report shows Tesla’s mission to diversity, claiming to create a space for all people no matter

their identity. However, in February of 2022, the state of California sued Tesla for its

discriminatory actions against Black employees. Further, Tesla has had multiple other lawsuits in

regards to racial discrimination and sexual harassment. Both lawsuits claim that the Tesla work

site was a hub for slurs and harassment. Tesla had done nothing in response to these toxic

environments which is what led to the current lawsuits. To claim to be a safe environment that is

welcoming to all, while being sued by not only former employees, but also a governing state in

which the company makes profit, is simply contradictory. The DEI statement and report may

have statistics that are correct, but it does not properly represent the values of the company.

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III. Counterpower/Satire

In response to the mass amounts of performative activism that was happening, content

was created to address the situation, but in a more humorous way. Satire became one of the main

tools that content creators used to criticize those who were guilty of Branding Activism or

Clicktivism. Similar to the idea of Counterpower, these creators were attempting to combat the
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dominant culture through the use of memes or comedy sketches. The unique nature of the

content captures the attention of a larger audience, thus educating them on the wrongdoings of

others, while also retaining them through the use of humor.

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Conclusion

White Savior attitudes contribute to more harm than it does good because no work is

actually being done. As expressed earlier, these activists attempt to put a bandaid fix on a larger

systemic wound, and although it is helpful, their intentions are never positive. Online forms of

activism have made it easier for White Saviors to continue their narrative without putting any

effort into the causes they claim to support. Slacktivism and Clicktivism create a space where

sharing a post is enough to be considered an activist. Social media has made activism a trend that

is only focused on when another tragic event happens. Corporations and celebrities are some of

the first ones to hop on these activist trends, as it is important to them to keep their social

standing, and if they were not to show obligatory support for those causes, they would lose their

following. People with actual influence are able to contribute so much more to these causes, yet

they choose to do the bare minimum to avoid being outcasted. Many content creators have begun

to call attention to these negative behaviors both through satire and through educational pieces,

in hopes of putting an end to White Saviorism and Slacktivism. If this trend were to continue,

there would be no work done in activist spaces. Band Aid fixes are not sustainable nor do they

impact whole communities. Activism takes time and effort, but in order to create real change,

that is the route that needs to be taken, not these other forms.