Role of people not directly receiving the suffering?

As a white male American I have not had to deal with being a minority. The closest I came was in Los Angeles. I was born and lived in LA until I was 10. In school, whites were the minority in terms of numbers but I did not have to deal with any of the issues associated with being a minority. I have lived a very privileged life. I have never had to worry about a roof over my head, having clean drinking water, or having enough to eat. I have been fortunate enough to go to college and be able to travel around the world. No matter how much I read, learn, or try to understand what it’s like to not have these, I can’t truly understand. As much as I want to help bring human rights across the world, what is my role? How do I reconcile Gandhi’s idea that the movement must be carried out by, in this case, Indians. Does that mean, when I see injustice in sweat shops, migrant rights, international human rights, et cetera, should I just ignore them because I am not the direct recipient of the injustice (or in some cases I help perpetrate injustice, by not purchasing clothes that are sweat shop free)? I say no. I like King’s approach to non-blacks engaging in the movement—he welcomed them. I believe and hope that I even though I am not the direct recipient of the violence, I can have an impact. I think that my actions can be effective in two different ways. 1) I believe I can use my ability as a person of privilege to help work for human’s rights through my purchasing of products, trying to influence congress, et cetera; 2) Join a movement and help stand up with the people who are the victims of injustice.

However, does the movement need to be organized by the people who are oppressed? I don’t know. Let’s do a thought experiment. Imagine the civil rights movement being led by whites. I think that a movement like this would not help work towards equality. It would be still be characterized by the dominant group telling the minority group what would be best for the minority group. Whether the changes would be good or not is irrelevant. I believe that the majority group can assist with the movement but leadership must at least originate with minority group. It must begin there and then assistance can be given.