Day 18 Theme: Culture is a scaffold and a safety net

Since the arrival of Europeans in North America, public policy has reflected the paternalistic notion that people of color belong to primitive cultures, deficient communities and flawed families, and can hope to achieve civilization and well-being only by abandoning their roots in favor of White cultural standards. Several centuries of forced assimilation, however, have shown that being torn away from their cultures has had a catastrophic impact on individuals and communities of color, leading to the poor outcomes that White supremacist culture interprets as confirmation of White superiority.

In this episode of NPR’s Code Switch, "What We Inherit" (27 minute audio and transcript linked below), reporter Rebecca Hersher explains, “So one thing that anthropologists say is, culture is like a scaffold and like a safety net. So it’s a scaffolding that you can attach your dreams, your desires, your vision for the future to it. But then it’s also there to fall back on when things get hard.”

We invite you to explore the ways in which different communities of color may find healing and empowerment in their culture, heritage and family ties.

Cultural Strengths of Latino Families: Firm Scaffolds for Children and Youth (report linked below)

A video about tribal healing-to-wellness courts (6 minutes)

16-minute Tedtalk by Morgan Dixon and Vanessa Garrison, founders of GirlTrek

Reflect & Respond:

How do these examples challenge the prevailing narrative that adherence to White cultural norms is a cure-all for (and not the cause of) the social ills affecting communities of color? How do they contrast with the notion that traits promoting health and well-being are inherent in and exclusive to Whites? Can you think of other examples? How can we lift up these stories so that their lessons may better influence our own work and larger public policy conversations?