by Robin DiAngelo | June 2018
Confronted with their own shortcomings, white employees often shut down the dialogue—or frame themselves as victims. White fragility functions as a form of bullying: “I am going to make it so miserable for you to confront me that you will simply back off.”
When I consult with organizations that want me to help them recruit and retain a more diverse workforce, I am consistently warned that past efforts to address the lack of diversity have resulted in trauma for white employees. This is literally the term used to describe the impact of a brief and isolated workshop: trauma.
TAGS: [Individual Change] [2010’s] [White Fragility/Tears] [Accountability]
by Ana Swanson | January 2017
President-elect Donald Trump was lifted into office by white adults over 25 without a four-year degree, who favored him by a margin of 39 percentage points. Their economic frustration and suffering are real, and white working-class America is a large group – 42 percent of the country. Yet month after month, economic data show that African Americans and Hispanics in the United States are, on average, in a worse position. Jobs data released last week put the white unemployment rate in December at 4.3 percent, compared with 7.8 percent for African Americans and 5.9 percent for Hispanics. “Even just looking at one month, we can say that the economy disproportionately has worse outcomes for workers of color,” said Elise Gould, senior economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute.
TAGS: [Assumptions] [2010’s] [Economics] [Systemic Racism] [Employment]
by Evotte Dionne | August 2018
In this piece black feminist writer, editor, and critic Evette Dionne explains how many famous white people working for women’s suffrage were actually racist, too. The singular focus on Anthony and her white women peers, including Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Carrie Chapman Catt, seemed to echo the historical maligning of black women activists, writers, and thinkers who were integral to the women’s suffrage movement. While Anthony and Stanton are in history books — and will soon be on the $10 bill — their failure to check what many perceive as their racism worked against black women who were also denied access to the ballot box.
TAGS: [Racial Terrorism] [2010’s] [History] [Silencing POC] [Politics] [White Supremacy]
by David Lowe | June 2016
In a society in denial, racism is proclaimed dead and an historical phenomenon. Yet it is very much alive, as manifested in the behavior of Black folk. In her book, Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America’s Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing, Dr. Joy DeGruy discusses the condition that serves as the title of her book in a video.
TAGS: [Racial Terrorism] [2010’s] [Slavery] [White Supremacy] [History] [Systemic Racism] [Black Lives Matter]
By Rabbi Shai Held | May 2017
Amidst all the carnage, you may have missed the story of Richard Collins. If so, you missed a story that we must not ignore: Richard Collins III, a young black man and a student at Bowie State University, was murdered after he refused to step aside to let a white student pass by.
TAGS: [Racial Terrorism] [2010’s] [Faith-Based/Spiritual] [Accountability] [-ing While Black] [Black Lives Matter]
by Rev. Emily C. Heath | August 2017
In a time when nine African-American churchgoers were massacred at their church by a man wearing that flag, and in a week when seven black churches have been burned with little media attention, those flags tell everyone that you could care less about what is happening. Others can suffer, so long as you get to wear your flag. It’s like showing up at a funeral and dancing on the grave. I think you believe that the flag brands you as a “rebel” or somehow honors your outlook on life. It doesn’t. It brands you as a racist. You may not think you are one, but flying that flag is a racist act.
TAGS: [Racial Terrorism] [Confederate Monuments] [History] [2010’s]
