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]
Resource Links Tagged with "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]
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]
I Need to Talk to Spiritual White Women about White Supremacy, Part II
by Layla F. Saad | August 2017
PART II: In this second letter, I want to provide some guidance and resources on how to begin doing the work – both inside yourself and in your comma ignites – of anti-racism work.
TAGS: [Strategies] [2010’s] [Tips-Dos/Don’ts] [Anti-Racism] [Individual Change]
Polite White People Are Useless
by Damon Young | August 2017
Polite white people—specifically, polite white people who call for decorum instead of disruption when attempting to battle and defeat bias and hate—aren’t as paradoxical as tits on a bull. But they’re just as useless. They provide no value, they move no needles, they carry no weight (metaphysically and literally) and they ultimately just get in the way. They’re humanity’s tourists: the 54-mile-per-hour drivers in the left lane refusing to get the {} out of the way so others can pass. And if you get enough of them in one place, they cause accidents. Unfortunately, they’re every{}where. They’re on Facebook threads and sitting behind you at work. They’re your neighbors and (sometimes) your family members.
TAGS: [Individual Change] [2010’s] [White Blindness]
The Problem Isn’t White Nationals, It’s White Moderates
*Paywall Alert
by Kevin Shird | September 2017
In his 1963 “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote, “I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizens Councilor or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to order than to justice.” That’s as true today as it was then. The silence of white moderates who won’t speak up when faced with extreme racism exacerbates the problems we have today. White moderates have become comfortable with their lives and don’t want to “rock the boat” or make too much noise. To white moderates, I say that your silence is aiding and abetting their agenda and your moral leadership is needed now more than ever.
TAGS: [Individual Change] [2010’s] [White Culture] [Accountability]
Why All White People Are Racist, but Can’t Handle Being Called Racist: The Theory of White Fragility
by Dustin Dwyer | March 2015
“The number one most effective adaptation of racism over time,” DiAngelo says, “is the good/bad binary, this idea that a racist is a bad person and a good person is not racist. And so it’s about individuals who are either good or bad or who either do or don’t engage.” One of the side effects is that many white people come to believe that if they just don’t talk about or think about race, then they are not racist.
TAGS: [Individual Change] [2010’s] [White Fragility/Tears] [Systemic Racism] [Accountability]
8 Ways People of Color are Tokenized in Nonprofits
by Helen Kim Ho | September 2017
There’s a type of racism in the workplace many of us have personally witnessed, perpetrated or experienced: tokenism. Nowhere have I seen this play out more than in the nonprofit space. But how can a sector dedicated to the common good fail at being the most diverse, safe and woke-est place imaginable? Because the vast majority of charitable dollars are generated from rich white men, which ultimately influences the direction of funding. So what does tokenism look and feel like?
TAGS: [Individual Change] [2010’s] [White Culture] [Tips-Dos/Don’ts] [White Privilege]
Why Should I Be Civil to White People Who Don’t Care about People of Color?
by WOC & Allies | November 2018
We’ve all been there. You get on Facebook or Twitter and see an article, think piece, or status. You read it, enjoy it, or maybe find it informative. But then the big question rears its ugly head: Is the “comments” section safe? Twice this week, I’ve read something that I felt I needed to address and gotten into altercations with other people on the thread. That doesn’t bother me. What does bother me is when I see that I’m supposed to be civil in conversations about race.
TAGS: [Individual Change] [2010’s] [Systemic Racism] [White Privilege]
White People Are Cowards
by Michael Harriot | June 2018
…And most white people don’t actively fight to eradicate inequality and injustice because they usually benefit in some small way. The Southern economy was built on evil slavery. Jim Crow laws maintained a national order with white people firmly planted atop the social hierarchy. Systematic injustice keeps black people in their place, but it also comforts white people to know that the big black bogeymen are being kept behind bars. Inequality and racism exist not because of evil but because the unaffected majority put their interests above all others, and their inaction allows inequality to flourish. That is why I believe that silence in the presence of injustice is as bad as injustice itself. White people who are quiet about racism might not plant the seed, but their silence is sunlight.
TAGS: [Individual Change] [2010’s] [White Culture] [Systemic Racism]
When Spiritual Bypassing Meets Racism Meets Gaslighting
by Camille Williams | October 2017
Racism and spiritual bypassing are harmful in and of themselves, and their combination compounds the harm. Add gaslighting, and you’ve got an exponentially toxic brew. Add gaslighting, and you’ve got an exponentially toxic brew. In this case, the manipulative elements and dizzying doublespeak were staggering. There were acknowledgements that racism had in fact occurred, followed by denials that it did, round and round. There were fauxpologies followed by defending, round and round. There were expressions of caring for those who had been hurt, immediately followed by not-so-subtle digs at them, round and round. Article also provides a list of more articles on racism, white privilege, and white fragility.
TAGS: [Individual Change] [2010’s] [Faith-Based/Spiritual]
How White People Handle Diversity Training in the Workplace
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]
Let’s Stop Pretending White People Can Be Objective On Racial Issues
by Shae Collins | October 2016
Instantly, I thought, Was this a terrorist organization? Was this flight going to make it to its destination safely? Then I thought, Oh my God, I’m a racist! Shame on me. I’m a black, self-proclaimed feminist who writes about injustice, and here I am wondering if this man is a terrorist simply because he is brown, wearing a turban, and video chatting with folks that look like him.
TAGS: [Assumptions] [2010’s] [Systemic Racism] [Individual Change] [Tips-Dos/Don’ts]
It’s Time to Get Over Your White Feelings and Start Taking Action for Black Lives
by Ann Friedman | August 2016
There’s a protest sign I’ve seen at several marches and sit-ins this summer that reads, “Black lives matter more than white feelings.” If, like me, you’re a white person who believes deeply that black lives matter, it’s easy to read that sign as commentary on other white people — the ones who support Donald Trump because they “feel voiceless.” … But the white feelings called into question by that protest sign aren’t just the anger and alienation of Trump supporters. They are also the fear and guilt and perceived helplessness of white people who want to end the epidemic of state-sanctioned violence against black Americans. People like me and you and every white person we know who posts messages of grief each time a new name becomes a hashtag. It’s easy for us to stand back and criticize Trump supporters for putting anger and fear above facts. It can be much harder for white people who support racial justice to realize just how hung up on our own feelings we are.
TAGS: [Collective Action] [2010’s] [White Fragility/Tears] [White Blindness] [Accountability] [Individual Change] [Anti-Racism]
Two White Women Launch ‘White Nonsense Roundup’ to Unburden People of Color (VIDEO)
by Egberto Willies | July 2016
Racial strife has exploded in America once again. Two Washington state women believe ‘White Nonsense Roundup’ could play a part in educating and healing and “to unburden people of color from social media ‘race-splainig.’” I titled my Sunday DailyKOS front page article with the provocative headline “Black Lives Matter needs white bodies” for a very particular reason. I figured using the ambiguous term would get more eyeballs to a story that needed more visibility. The feedback from the article was much more than I expected, good, bad, and indifferent. One particular email piqued my interest. The email suggested that I get in touch with Terri Kempton and Layla Tromble in Washington state. These two women launched the Facebook page ‘White Nonsense Roundup‘ hoping to be a part of the solution……
TAGS: [Collective Action] [2010’s] [Black Lives Matter] [Accountability] [White Privilege] [Systemic Racism] [Individual Change] [“All Lives Matter”] [White Fragility/Tears] [White Blindness]
Curriculum for White Americans to Educate Themselves on Race and Racism-from Ferguson to Charleston
by Jon Greenberg | July 2015
When Teaching about Race and Racism, I Invite Participants to Consider the Following Analogy: Think of racism as a gigantic societal-sized boot. “Which groups do you think are fighting the hardest against this boot of racism?” I ask them. Invariably, participants of diverse races answer that those fighting hardest to avoid getting squashed by the boot are people of Color. Includes a list of articles from Ferguson to Charleston, articles specifically written for white americans, understanding whiteness, white privilege, microaggressions, and a history of racial discrimination, joining groups, and parenting racially-conscious children. A helpful collection of resources.
TAGS: [Collective Action] [2010’s] [White Privilege] [White Culture] [History] [Accountability] [Tips-Dos/Don’ts] [Individual Change] [White Supremacy] [Implicit Bias] [Microaggressions]
This is What White People Can Do to Support #BlackLivesMatter
by Sally Kohn | August 2015
Educate yourselves, put your bodies in the streets and help dismantle white supremacy …In his searing new book, “Between the World and Me,” Ta-Nehisi Coates implies that it’s not his job — or, by extension the job of other black voices or leaders — to coach white folks, let alone worry about their feelings. Which it’s not. The whole point is that we white people should be the ones thinking more about black people — their feelings, their experience and their reality, which can be dramatically different than our own. But at the same time, Coates concludes his text noting that structural racism won’t change until white people change.
TAGS: [Collective Action] [2010’s] [White Privilege] [Systemic Racism] [Accountability] [Tips-Dos/Don’ts] [Black Lives Matter] [“All Lives Matter”] [Individual Change]
Jesse Williams Discusses Biracial Privileges and Social Justice: ‘Black Americans Are Not Angry. They Are Hurting’
by Diana Ozemebhoya Eromosele | October 2015
He’s not running away from, or ashamed of, the insight he’s gained as a black activist who is half-white. It has always been a pet peeve of mine when biracial people seem to ignore their white side and act as if the world perceives them as black through and through. I always felt that in their determination to identify solely and sternly as black, they were missing out on an opportunity to share some of the insight they may have about how white people feel and think about race relations. That they might be missing out on an opportunity to act as a conduit between both racial groups. He recalled how he cringed when an older white woman basically told him that his brand of blackness was better that that of people who are fully black.
TAGS: [Collective Action] [2010’s] [White Privilege] [Accountability] [Role Model] [Individual Change]
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Dear White People
Being Allies
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Spiritual Foundations
Dear White People
Being Allies
Reparations
Spiritual Foundations
Public Displays
Performance Art
Workshops
Activist Resources
Assessment Tools
History
Appropriation / Aggression
White Privilege / Supremacy
Introduction
Definitions
Facts
Maps
Dear White People
Being Allies
Reparations
Spiritual Foundations
Public Displays
Performance Art
Workshops
Activist Resources
Assessment Tools
History
Appropriation / Aggression
White Privilege / Supremacy
Introduction
Definitions
Facts