Countering performative allyship: Courageously calling our own bluff | Angie Freeman | TEDxOshkosh

Active Allyship: From Silence to Intervention

Key Concepts:

• Active Allyship: Moving beyond self-identification as an ally to taking meaningful action in support of marginalized communities.
• Bystander Effect: The phenomenon where individuals are less likely to intervene in a situation when other people are present.
• Microaggression: Subtle, often unintentional, expressions of prejudice or discrimination.
• Privilege: Unearned advantages based on social group membership (e.g., ability, race, gender).
• Performative Allyship: Allyship that is expressed publicly but lacks genuine commitment to action and systemic change.
• Intervention Muscle: The ability to confidently and effectively address harmful situations.

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The Weight of Silence & Personal Experiences

The speaker begins by acknowledging the uncomfortable experience of witnessing offensive, insensitive, or harmful behavior – including racism, ableism, and sexism – and the internal struggle to respond. This struggle is rooted in fear, discomfort, and the worry of being perceived negatively. The speaker shares personal experiences from three perspectives: being harmed, inflicting harm, and remaining silent while others were harmed. They describe the exhausting internal debate: “Should I say something? But if I do, it needs to be gentle…forget it. It’s exhausting.” This silence, they emphasize, communicates a message of isolation and indifference.

A specific example is recounted: during a Zoom meeting, the speaker’s pronouns (they/them) were misgendered when a colleague paraphrased their chat message, omitting the pronoun clarification. Despite the clear misgendering, no one in the meeting corrected it, leading to a painful silence and a feeling of invisibility. The speaker highlights that even unintentional mistakes become harmful when left unaddressed, signaling a lack of respect.

Recognizing Privilege & The Impact of Assumptions

The speaker then shares a humbling experience where they reacted with road rage towards a driver who nearly caused an accident. Upon closer inspection, they realized the driver was deaf or hard of hearing, explaining their lack of response to the horn and yelling. This incident served as a pivotal moment, revealing the speaker’s own ability privilege and the tendency to make assumptions about others. This realization sparked a journey of learning American Sign Language and a deeper understanding of their own privileges and responsibilities. The speaker states, “This experience really activated my social justice journey.”

The Bystander Effect & The Illusion of Politeness

The speaker recounts another instance of witnessing inaction – a workshop participant declining to use a microphone despite someone in the audience expressing difficulty hearing. The speaker wanted to intervene but was paralyzed by fear of disrupting the “politeness” of the situation and preserving the status quo. This illustrates the bystander effect, a psychological phenomenon where the presence of multiple witnesses decreases the likelihood of intervention. Psychologists note that approximately 60% of people intervene when only one person is present, compared to a lower rate when multiple people are around. The speaker questions why we fear naming existing controversies, stating, “Why do we fear saying things that may be perceived as controversial when in actuality the controversy already happened?”

Moving Beyond Performative Allyship

The speaker, working in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB), argues that simply identifying as an ally is insufficient. Actions must align with stated beliefs. Displaying symbols of allyship – pins, training certificates, social media posts – are meaningless without consistent, courageous intervention in real-life situations. This is described as “performative allyship,” which the speaker dismisses as inauthentic. The focus should shift from allyship as an identity to allyship as a consistent practice.

Building the “Intervention Muscle” – A Practical Framework

The speaker provides a three-step framework for moving from passive observation to active intervention:

1. Self-Reflection: Notice silent moments of harm and honestly assess whether your actions align with your values. The speaker admits their own inaction in the Zoom meeting, wishing they had demanded accessibility. A suggested intervention in that scenario is: “Look, I know most of us can probably project our voices, but that still may not be accessible for everyone. So, let's just continue using a microphone just to make sure that everyone can hear as clearly as possible.”
2. Practice & Repetition: Treat courage like a muscle, strengthening it through repeated practice in challenging situations. The speaker envisions a world where misgendering is immediately corrected by others: “Hey, quick correction. Angie uses they/them pronouns.”
3. Leadership & Modeling: Leaders and those with privilege should set the expectation for courageous behavior and model it themselves. The speaker shares an example of a director pausing a meeting to address an ageist comment, reinforcing the team’s values.

Courage as Contagion & A Call to Action

The speaker concludes with a powerful call to action, challenging everyone to hold themselves accountable for their claims of allyship. They propose a thought experiment: what if everyone committed to intervening the next time they witnessed harm, even if it’s uncomfortable? They acknowledge the fear of being perceived as “too sensitive” or “complaining” but suggest that judgment should be reserved for those who remain silent. The speaker uses the metaphor of “courageous germs” to illustrate the potential for courageous behavior to spread contagiously. The core message is to prioritize courageous action over personal comfort and to move from passive allyship to active, impactful intervention.

Technical Terms:

• DEIB: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging – a framework for creating a more just and equitable environment.
• Microaggression: Everyday slights, insults, invalidations, or offensive behaviors that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative messages to target persons based solely upon their marginalized group membership.
• Bystander Effect: A social psychological phenomenon where individuals are less likely to offer help to a victim when other people are present.
• Privilege: Unearned advantages and benefits conferred upon individuals based on their social group membership.