Violent Arrest of Teacher Caught on Video; Officers Face Investigation

by Tony Plohetski | September 2018
Officials are investigating an Austin police officer’s violent arrest of an African-American elementary school teacher who was twice thrown to the ground during a traffic stop for speeding and comments by a second officer who told her police are sometimes wary of blacks because of their “violent tendencies.” Video from the previously unreported June 2015 incident was obtained by the American-Statesman and KVUE-TV this week. The video shows the traffic stop escalating rapidly in the seven seconds from when officer Bryan Richter, who is white, first gives a command to 26-year-old Breaion King to close her car door to when he forcibly removes her from the driver’s seat, pulls her across a vacant parking space and hurls her to the asphalt.
TAGS: [Racial Terrorism] [2010’s] [Policing] [White Supremacy] [-ing While Black] [Systemic Racism] [White Privilege]

Why Reverse Racism is a Myth

by Noshin Jannat | September 2019
In today’s society, the term ‘racism’ has been for the most part, incorrectly used. The term is not interchangeable or synonymous with ‘prejudice’. Prejudice describes having irrational and unreasonable feelings or attitudes towards a group of people. Racism occurs when people act on their prejudice — it is action, not just internal feelings. To go further, racism is a system that disadvantages groups based on race. Therefore, people of colour simply cannot be racist as they cannot benefit from it.
TAGS: [Assumptions] [2010’s] [Myths] [“Reverse Racism”] [Systemic Racism] [White Privilege]

Speak Out! Dangerous White Woman

by Pegi Eyers | September 2016
There are no shortage of tools for the highly-relevant learning curve that Allen Johnson calls “racial reconciliation and cultural competency.”1 And whether we are approaching anti-racist activism as a new direction or have been working as a change agent for years, it is extremely useful to look at the model of “The 8 White Identities” by Barnor Hesse… White Suremacist, White Voyerism, White Privilege, White Benefit, White Confessional, White Critical, White Traitor, & White Abolitionist.
TAGS: [Assumptions] [2010’s] [Definitions] [White Supremacy] [White Privilege] [Individual Change] [Collective Action]

11 Things White People Need to Realize about Race

by Emma Gray and Jessica Samakow | July 2015
Article by two white women contains embedded links and short videos further explaining the points made in the article. Points in the article include; “Everyday racism is subtle and insidious.” “Don’t think you know it all — or even most of it. Listen, listen, listen.”
TAGS: [Individual Change] [Tips-Dos/Don’ts] [Systemic Racism] [Colorblindness] [White Privilege] [White Culture] [Implicit Racism] [Black Lives Matter] [“Reverse Racism”] [2010’s]

Anti-Racism Work is Messy: Observations from the Road

by Shay | May 2019
Too often, we conflate anti-racism, racial equity and racial justice work as being one and the same. In reality, while they are very much related, I don’t believe them to be the same. One can engage in racial equity, implicit bias or racial justice work while still dancing around the core issue of dismantling white supremacy. In fact, as we discussed at a recent board-staff retreat at my organization, equity is rapidly becoming the newest buzzword, much like “diversity” in the early 1990s. Increasingly when I hear people using it, I ask them to explain what they mean. People theoretically want equity, but without the larger framework, they are not committed to the type of systemic change that will require white people to actually give up something. And the fact is that active reallocation of resources is essential to equity.
TAGS: [Strategies] [2010’s] [White Supremacy] [Systemic Racism] [White Fragility/Tears] [Anti-Racism]

Hope for the White Supremacist Within

by LVM Shelton | September 2016
The author, a Black woman, writes: “Understanding white supremacy as addiction and as a disease of the spirit brings many of the tools of the well‐proven 12‐step recovery paradigm to hand…. Some individual spiritual practice for self‐examination is needed for progress in becoming whole. However, community—indeed, communion—is an essential feature of practicing a 12‐step program.” The author ends the article by proposing “12 Steps to Overcoming White Supremacy.” The 12 steps she then lists follow the pattern of traditional 12-step programs.
TAGS: [Individual Change] [Tips-Dos/Don’ts] [White Supremacy] [Quaker] [Faith-Based/Spiritual] [2010’s]