Topic: White America and taking Responsibility

[Ken (OP)]

Found this article posted on my FB and had to post it here because it hits home so clearly.


11 Ways White America Avoids Taking Responsibility for its Racism
The pernicious impact of "white fragility."

... read the full article HERE.

I am white. I write and teach about what it means to be white in a society that proclaims race meaningless, yet remains deeply divided by race. A fundamental but very challenging part of my work is moving white people from an individual understanding of racism—i.e. only some people are racist and those people are bad—to a structural understanding. A structural understanding recognizes racism as a default system that institutionalizes an unequal distribution of resources and power between white people and people of color. This system is historic, taken for granted, deeply embedded, and it works to the benefit of whites.
The two most effective beliefs that prevent us (whites) from seeing racism as a system are:

    that racists are bad people and
    that racism is conscious dislike;

if we are well-intended and do not consciously dislike people of color, we cannot be racist. This is why it is so common for white people to cite their friends and family members as evidence of their lack of racism. However, when you understand racism as a system of structured relations into which we are all socialized, you understand that intentions are irrelevant. And when you understand how socialization works, you understand that much of racial bias is unconscious. Negative messages about people of color circulate all around us. While having friends of color is better than not having them, it doesn’t change the overall system or prevent racism from surfacing in our relationships. The societal default is white superiority and we are fed a steady diet of it 24/7. To not actively seek to interrupt racism is to internalize and accept it.

As part of my work I teach, lead and participate in affinity groups, facilitate workshops, and mentor other whites on recognizing and interrupting racism in our lives. As a facilitator, I am in a position to give white people feedback on how their unintentional racism is manifesting. This has allowed me to repeatedly observe several common patterns of response. The most common by far is outrage:

    How dare you suggest that I could have said or done something racist!

[Skhilled]

The article is very well thought out.

It takes 2 to make a relationship of any kind work. Understanding, patience and compassion are key to making that happen. There are some who may not fully understand what they say may hurt others and not mean to do so. You can "usually" spot that in most people. Then there are others who may not understand and but just don't care if they do. Then there are those who just hate. This happens on both sides of the fence.

You should have the right to feel the way you do, good or bad, but harming others to make the point is just wrong.