To my fellow political observers, analysts, scholars and human beings who like to know what is happening in our world: There is an increasingly apparent idea that, in order to be considered “credible” in our political analysis, we must be unbiased and/or neutral. Methodological imperialism has created an artificial “zero point” from which we dare not depart in our analyses or face rejection for not maintaining enough “critical distance.”

Critical and emotional distance from occupation, massacres, the stripping of our dignity, black genocide, usurpation of land and rights is our zero point of “balanced” analysis and reasoning. Our only way to be heard and taken seriously by (for a lack of a better term) the White Man is to remain politically neutral to injustice. That way, we can avoid the vague discomfort of acknowledging modern-day oppression both within our borders and abroad. That way, we can continue business as usual. That way, we can continue the same narrative used by colonizers that makes subjugation sensible or acceptable, perpetuating a level of white supremacist domination by reproducing a tired trope that there is space to remain neutral.
We are to treat our facts, what we know to be truth, as another viewpoint to be equally balanced against another.

Often times, we fail to see that neutrality and objectivity are two different levels of analysis. There need not be a fact-value split when our values stem from hard facts.

As those invested in current events, we should note that bias is the product of our objective reading of the politically constructed reality that has been built. Neutrality is a colonial tool that has been built to keep us from speaking the truth. By embracing this ideology, we are stripped not only of our humanity, but of our objectivity too. Take pride in standing for justice and speaking up against injustice. #BlackLivesMatter #FreeGaza