Day 12 Theme: Recognizing and Dismantling White Supremacist/Dominant Culture

Work for racial justice in our various systems must include naming and de-centering whiteness, White privilege and White superiority/supremacy. One way to do this is to understand that there is a continuum of White superiority that is not simply about what may come to our minds as the most extreme forms. We suggest watching the 7-minute video by Robin DiAngelo below, to get a better idea of the range of forms White supremacy may take.

What comes up for you as you review this framework – thoughts, feelings, ideas, images?

For more about whiteness, see these two short articles below: About Whiteness and Explaining White Privilege to a Broke White Person.

Another important step is to understand how white cultural norms dominate many of our workplaces, communities and public institutions. Linked below is one take on what that can look like from Showing Up for Racial Justice. To prepare for next week, when we’ll dive more deeply into the idea of organizational culture, think about both the formal policies and the informal/unwritten rules of your organization that could be reflecting/reinforcing White supremacy and what steps can be taken to change them (see article on 'Professionalism' Standards linked below).

If you are a person of color working to de-center whiteness in yourself, check out Donna Bivens’ definition of internalized racism to explore the impact of internalized racial inferiority and oppression on people of color at different levels. (If you have more time, these ideas are discussed in further detail in Chapter 5 of Potapchuk's Flipping the Script: White Privilege and Community Building, full resource linked below.)

There are many ways that white people can show up as “accomplices” (as opposed to allies) in the struggle for racial justice and work to de-center and dismantle whiteness. See some ideas on the 'WhiteAccomplices' site linked below. Which have you used or seen used? What else would you add?

Reflect & Respond:

Prompting Questions ?-?-? As you read through the standards and norms of White supremacy, what are your reactions? What currently shows up problematically in your workplace or community? Which antidotes (listed below the norms) resonate with you or have you seen implemented?