WP Tuesday Evenings Sept-Nov 2020 Virtual Anti-Racism and Racial Justice Cohort – Weekly Recaps & Additional Resources
Week 4 – Appropriation of Racial Oppression (Tuesday October 6, 2020, 6-9pm EST)
- Opening Grounding Share:
- “Defining freedom cannot amount to simply substituting it with inclusion. Countering the criminalization of Black girls requires fundamentally altering the relationship between Black girls and the institutions of power that have worked to reinforce their subjugation. History has taught us that civil rights are but one component of a larger movement for this type of social transformation. Civil rights may be at the core of equal justice movements, and they may elevate an equity agenda that protects our children from racial and gender discrimination, but they do not have the capacity to fully redistribute power and eradicate racial inequity. There is only one practice that can do that. Love.” ― Monique Morris, Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools
- Check-In Questions:
- How are you feeling emotionally? And what do you need to share with the group that will help in your participation here today?
- Discussion Questions:
- Refer to white culture characteristics handouts that we have shared with you. How might this be internalized by BIPOC?
- “Appropriated Racial Oppression” as opposed to “Internalized Racial Oppression” highlights the source of the oppression. Why is this critical?
- What is “John Henryism” and why does it lead to such heavy impacts on BIPOC physically and psychologically?
- If America is one large dysfunctional family and white people are the golden children who can never do wrong, even when we do harm, and BIPOC are the recipients of that harm and are seen as the eternal “blacksheep,” how does one liberate themselves from this dysfunction? Review together the steps toward racial liberation suggested in the article in relation to this question.
- What do you think of this model’s shift from political or social action in regard to liberation to individual psychological liberation?
- How might appropriated racial oppression play out in your workplace? In what ways could your workplace better support racial liberation?
- The article mentions that agencies should support community partners in developing interventions that support racial liberation. What might these interventions be?
- Additional Resources:
- Closing Grounding Share:
- Post-Work for Next Session:
- Don’t forget to do a little journaling- can be on your phone, on your laptop, in a notebook, whatever works for you.
Week 3 – History of Race as a Social Construct (Tuesday September 29, 2020, 6-9pm EST)
- Opening Grounding Share:
- “We see race as what people of color have (or are.) If people of color are not present, race is not present. Further, if people of color are not present, not only is race absent, so is that terrible thing: racism. Ironically, this positions racism as something people of color have and bring to whites, rather than a system which whites control and impose on people of color.” ― Robin DiAngelo, What Does It Mean to Be White?: Developing White Racial Literacy
- “A lot of people want to skip ahead to the finish line of racial harmony. Past all this unpleasantness to a place where all wounds are healed and the past is laid to rest.” ― Ijeoma Oluo, So You Want to Talk About Race
- Discussion Questions:
- People in power don’t want to give away their power. Importance of being pro-Black and that we would all benefit from that. What is the loss by being complicit in the system of white oppression. “Not a zero sum game”.
- Advocating for diversity in the current construct feels like this is the right construct for everybody, what is the right construct and how do we go create that, and in that environment how can more people collectively benefit, winners and losers. Capitalist-how much you can acquire. White imagination is so limited. Reimagine a new system. What is power as construct in that system?
- Additional Resources:
- Closing Grounding Share:
- Post-Work for Next Session:
Week 2 – White Culture Characteristics, White Supremacy, Whiteness (Tuesday September 22, 2020, 6-9pm EST)
- Opening Grounding Share:
- “Tyranny is the deliberate absence of nuance.” Albert Maysles when we think about the modern discourse on race, religion, politics, these conversations seem to deliberately exclude nuance and empathy. Empathy manifests behaviorally as curiosity. When was the last time someone in the media showed genuine curiosity about the other person’s point of view? A time when they didn’t stay tunnel visioned on their point of view and their message.
- Group Agreements:
- BIPOC in the room and think of what you say when you are talking about family, etc. and take responsibility for what you say.
- Keep cameras on unless you need to move away for a few minutes
- Mute unless speaking
- Discussion Questions:
- How does white dominant culture leave others out? How do we exist in segregation? Everyday racism that is embedded in our lives. Why do we not seem to feel or at least discuss the loss of BIPOC in our white lives? In our families? Why is it hard for us to sit with the devastation that we will never have authentic relationships with BIPOC in our lives? Do we see the unmeasurable loss of this reality?
- How do comments like “I don’t see color, I was taught treat everyone the same, I don’t care if you are pink, purple or polka-dotted,” reflect our lack of understanding of socialization and how does it reflect our inability to engage authentically on the subject of racism?
- What do we mean by individualism (why can’t we all be different)? Universalism (why can’t we all be the same)?
- Is it hard to move our definition of racism away from the racist joke or derogatory term?
- How does being white grant certain privileges?
- How can we begin to normalize cultural practices that are not related to white-dominant culture?
- What are some misconceptions about whiteness that DiAngelo has helped you unveil?
- Why does understanding white privilege matter?
- How does the good/bad binary set us up to not be able to take feedback regarding our racism?
- Additional Resources:
- Closing Grounding Share:
- “You have to get over the fear of facing the worst in yourself. You should instead fear unexamined racism. Fear the thought that right now, you could be contributing to the oppression of others and you don’t know it. But do not fear those who bring that oppression to light. Do not fear the opportunity to do better.” ― Ijeoma Oluo, So You Want to Talk About Race
- Closing Song:
Week 1 – Introduction (Tuesday, September 15, 2020, 6-9pm EST)
- Discussion Questions:
- “I was taught to treat everyone the same.” How could this response help us avoid or shut down discussions of race? In what ways (verbally and nonverbally) were you taught that you were superior as a child? How were you born into a culture that you belong to? How was that evidenced in the probable experience of your parents in the hospital? You in the school system? What other areas did you see evidence that this culture, this country, was for you in particular as a white person?
- Why is it particularly difficult for progressives/liberals to address their racism? If not being a racist is part of our identity, how difficult is it to embrace the notion that despite our best efforts we are actually super racist?
- What is the good/bad binary in terms of racism?
- How does depicting Black people as dangerous blur the truth about behind violence between Blacks and whites since the beginning of this country? How is this lie perpetuated in our minds? In our culture? What does it mean to be anti-Black or pro-Black?
- Grounding Share
- “But in the end is reconciliation; the end is redemption; the end is creation of the beloved community. It is this type of spirit and this type of love that transform oppressors into friends. It is this type of understanding goodwill that will transform the deep gloom of the old age into the exuberant gladness of the new age. It is this love which will bring miracles in the hearts of men.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
- “The only normalcy that we will settle for is the normalcy of brotherhood, the normalcy of true peace, the normalcy of justice.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
