Strategies

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Quakers, Social Justice, and Revolution: NNA [National Network Assembly], Race and Community Building

by Jeff Kisling | August 2019
It is not enough to talk about racial injustice. White people must experience, live it. We can only be authentic when we speak from our own experience. I am so grateful I was given the opportunity to spend significant amounts of time in the Kheprw Institute (KI) community, a black youth empowerment organization. That taught me that white people must spend significant amounts of time, in a variety situations, with black people to even begin to understand racial injustice. Developing friendships is essential, before any real work can be done together.
TAGS: [Strategies] [2010’s] [Quaker] [White Supremacy] [Tips-Dos/Don’ts] [White Privilege] [Accountability] [Myths] [Faith-Based/Spiritual]

Quakerism and racism: Reclaiming Faith From the Wreckage of White Supremacy

by Greg Elliott | December 2015
With the recent rise in hate speech and hate crimes against Muslims, the ongoing white backlash against Black Lives Matter and the Movement for Black Lives, and the recent non-indictment of the border patrol agents responsible for the murder of Anastasio Hernandez-Rojas, the need for racial justice organizing has never been more urgent. As mosques are burned, as unarmed Black people are murdered by police, and as millions of undocumented migrants are detained and deported, Communities of Color and their white allies, co-conspirators, and comrades are responding with a sense of urgency that is required by these dire times.
TAGS: [Quaker] [Faith-Based/Spiritual] [2010’s] [Strategies] [Advocacy] [Collective Action]

Confronting White Supremacy in the Work Place

by Caroline Taiwo | Date 2010’s
Two years ago, I started work as a recruitment and retention specialist for a small Minnesota nonprofit. The organization’s mission was to serve youth in crisis and their matriculation rate was 90 percent poor Black kids. I was hired on to replace a woman they fired a month prior, a Black woman, for reasons unresolved. She had been telling people that she was pushed out for challenging racist policy. Our department had tripled the number of volunteers coming in for weekly shift rotations but incredibly, the entire pool was white. When I brought it up, and offered to lead an effort to all in more volunteers of color, the more outspoken of the bosses interjected with, “Well we could look for more Black volunteers but I don’t think they would pass our background check.”
TAGS: [Strategies] [2010’s] [White Supremacy] [Systemic Racism] [Silencing POC] [Accountability] [Employment] [Denial] [White Culture] [White Blindness] [Economics] [White Privilege] [White Defensiveness] [White Culture] [Assumptions] [Myths]

White People, It’s Time To Prioritize Justice Over Civility

by Tauriq Moosa | May 2017
In striving to be ‘civil,’ white moderates provide cover for deadly white supremacy. .. Welcome to our current reality, in which white supremacists are treated like B-grade celebs on a reality TV show.
White supremacists are, after all, routinely landing profiles in leading media sites — because it’s apparently surprising Nazis can brush their hair and tuck in their shirt — and often getting invited onto popular shows, as if their ideas deserve more attention and platforms. …The way things are doesn’t equate to how things should be.
TAGS: [Strategies] [2010’s] [Systemic Racism] [Politics] [White Supremacy] [White Blindness] [White Culture] [Prison System] [White Privilege] [White Fragility/Tears]

White Teachers, Here’s How to Handle Being Called Racist

by Tad Rademacher | July 2017
So, you may get called racist. In a way, I get it. It hurts to be called racist, especially when you feel like you’re trying super hard not to be racist. Get over it. Being called racist is not the worst thing that can happen to someone. Being the constant victim of systemic and personal racism is way, way worse than being called racist, so get over it.
TAGS: [Strategies] [2010’s] [Teachers] [Tips-Dos/Don’ts] [Individual Change]

No, I Won’t Stop Saying “White Supremacy”

by Robin Diangelo | June 2017
White people like me should use the term because it shifts the race problem to us, where it belongs. Many people, especially older white people, associate the term white supremacy with extreme and explicit hate groups. However, for sociologists, white supremacy is a highly descriptive term for the culture we live in; a culture which positions white people and all that is associated with them (whiteness) as ideal.
TAGS: [Strategies] [2010’s] [White Supremacy] [Definitions] [Individual Change]

For Our White Friends Desiring to Be Allies

by Courtney Ariel | August 2017
I have been asked by two dear friends, “how can I be a stronger ally?” I am not going to do much coddling here; I don’t know that I believe that love requires coddling. Being an ally requires you to educate yourself about systemic racism in this country. Ask when you don’t know- but do the work first. You’re going to make mistakes- expect this. But keep showing up. Six things you can do that will make you a stronger ally.
TAGS: [Strategies] [2010’s] [Colorblindness] [Reparations] [Individual Change] [Tips-Dos/Don’ts]

11-Step Guide to Understanding Race, Racism, and White Privilege

by Jon Greenberg | October 2017
In the wake of terrorism against Black Americans in Charleston, beyond outraged and fed up, I compiled a list of race-related resources for fellow White Americans, who too often have the privilege to remain ignorant of the realities and toll of racism.This Curriculum for White Americans to Educate Themselves on Race and Racism – from Ferguson to Charleston clearly struck a chord. The piece has been read and shared hundreds of thousands of times and been linked to by NPR, The Huffington Post and Teaching Tolerance.
TAGS: [Strategies] [2010’s] [White Privilege] [Systemic Racism] [White Supremacy] [Tips-Dos/Don’ts] [History] [Policing] [Definitions]

Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People about Race

by Reni Eddo-Lodge | May 2017
For years, racism has been defined by the violence of far-right extremists, but a more insidious kind of prejudice can be found where many least expect it – at the heart of respectable society. We tell ourselves that good people can’t be racist. We seem to think that true racism only exists in the hearts of evil people. We tell ourselves that racism is about moral values, when instead it is about the survival strategy of systemic power. When a large proportion of the population votes for politicians and political efforts that explicitly use racism as a campaigning tool, we tell ourselves that such huge sections of the electorate simply cannot be racist, as that would render them heartless monsters.
TAGS: [Strategies] [2010’s] [White Blindness] [White Privilege] [Black Lives Matter] [Policing] [History] [Systemic Racism] [Colorblindness]

I Need to Talk to Spiritual White Women about White Supremacy, Part I

by Layla F. Saad | August 2017
Part I: So today I want to share my thoughts on racism, sacred activism and the responsibilities of those who choose to walk the priestess path. I’m also going to talk about white privilege and the role that white women must play in combating white supremacy. Unless you have been living under a rock for the past few days, you’ll know that a white nationalist rally took place in Charlottesville in the US over the weekend. Many were injured. A woman, Heather Heyer… was killed. A young black man… beaten with poles.
TAGS: [Strategies] [2010’s] [White Supremacy] [White Fragility/Tears] [White Privilege] [Accountability] [Anti-Racism] [Systemic Racism] [Individual Change]