The Sugarcoated Language of White Fragility

by Anna Kegler | Updated December 2017
*The language we use to talk about racism is obviously distorted, a big clue that something is being hidden. It’s pretty easy to pinpoint the source: most White people can’t handle talking about racism. We flail. We don’t understand the subject, we get really uncomfortable, and we either clam up because we don’t want to say the wrong thing, or we bust out the whitesplaining (FYI, this is a best-case scenario. It can be much worse).
TAGS: [Individual Change] [2010’s] [White Culture] [White Privilege] [White Supremacy] [Implicit Bias] [White Fragility/Tears] [“All Lives Matter”]

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]

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]

Conversations on Racism with White People Getting Stuck or Looping? Thirteen Questions to Get it Moving Again

by Tad Hargrave | August 2017
In this blog post the author, a white man, suggests 13 questions that white people might consider including in their conversations with other white people about racism, as well as possible follow-up strategies depending upon the answers given. A sample question: “If you woke up as a person of colour or indigenous person tomorrow in North America do you think it would change anything in your life? If so, what?”
TAGS: [Individual Change] [Tips-Dos/Don’ts] [Definitions] [White Culture] [White Fragility/Tears] [White Privilege] [History] [Systemic Racism] [2010’s]

The Real Reason White People Say ‘All Lives Matter’ – Why “Black” Makes Us Uncomfortable

by John Halstead | July 2017
“Dear fellow white people, … notice that no one was saying ‘All Lives Matter’ before people started saying ‘Black Lives Matter.’ So ‘All Lives Matter’ is a response to ‘Black Lives Matter.’ Apparently, something about the statement “Black Lives Matter” makes us uncomfortable.”
TAGS: [Individual Change] [Tips-Dos/Don’ts] [Implicit Racism] [Colorblindness] [Black Lives Matter] [“All Lives Matter”] [White Culture] [2010’s]

When Compliments Are Racist


by James Mulholland | December 2018
“Note to my white self…I did it again. I offered one of those back handed, racist compliments that expose how much work I still have to do as a recovering racist.” Models a “woke” person’s ongoing need for self-reflection and openness to being “called out” (held accountable) for one’s own unconscious bias. Author details 4 circumstances under which a a white person’s qualifiers and compliments about a black person are likely to be racist.
TAGS: [Individual Change] [Accountability] [Implicit Bias] [Tips-Dos/Don’ts] [2010’s]