Fighting racism isn’t a discrete event, it’s an ongoing process—watch the 12-minute talk by Jay Smooth, who compares it to the daily practice of dental hygiene. Conventional wisdom says it takes about three weeks to form a new habit, so Dr. Eddie Moore, Dr. Marguerite Penick-Parks and Debby Irving Whether you’re a new ally in the racial equity movement or a seasoned veteran, we invite you to join us for this exercise in self-reflection, learning and connection. Don’t feel pressured to complete every listed activity each day. We’ve presented a variety of options so you can engage based on your learning style and the time you have available. This isn’t a formal homework assignment; the point is simply to make a habit of doing something every day to broaden your perspective, identify topics for deeper learning on your own, and better equip yourself to combat White supremacy.

Question for Reflection

Where are you today in terms of your understanding of racial equity issues and what do you hope to get out of the challenge? 

European and White American colonizers have long relied on the Western model of science to validate their designation of other peoples as biologically inferior—even less human, in some cases—in order to justify the taking of those people’s labor, land and other resources. However, as the three-minute Vox video linked below explains, far from being fixed biological traits, racial classifications change over time to advance the economic and political aims of those in power.

Given the subjective nature of the concept of race, we invite you to reflect on the different stages of racial identity development. You may find it helpful to consult the appropriate Racial-Ethnic Identity Development worksheets from Sandra Chapman and watch some of the videos from The New York Times on racial identity in America. 

Reflect & Respond

How do you think about your own racial identity and its relevance to your life, work, studies and/or volunteerism?

 

The Myth of Race Debunked in 3 minutes

You may know exactly what race you are, but how would you prove it if somebody disagreed with you? Jenée Desmond Harris explains.

Racial Ethnic Identity Development Worksheets

Sandra (Chap) Chapman, Ed. D. is the Founder of Chap Equity, an organization rooted in the belief that, through teamwork, we can learn more about ourselves and others; discuss and discover the foundational research needed to address the needs in a community; create conversations that support individuals where they are and confront barrier issues; and create actionable steps towards building stronger educational communities.

A Conversation on Race

As part of a series of videos about race, we are featuring personal stories that reflect the breadth of experiences in the United States.

As the piece below, by Cherokee and Blackfeet writer Mariah Gladstone highlights, the U.S. government has long exploited the construct of race to wrongly define Native Americans as a racial category. Such framing dehumanizes them and obscures the fact that they are members of distinct sovereign nations with their own systems of definition and governance. This has allowed Whites to adopt policies promoting the genocide of Indigenous people, the destruction of their families and the repression of their traditions.

Since White colonizers arrived, they have taken 96% of Indigenous peoples’ land (two-minute video below). 
Fay Givens, Executive Director of American Indian Services, explains, “Because our status is not based on race, our relationship with the federal government is different from other groups’. We are separate, sovereign nations within the boundaries of the United States. There are over 3,000 laws that apply only to us. We enforce the Treaties (six-minute NPR video below) that were in place prior to the formation of the United States, which have more legal weight than the U.S. Constitution. Every day we enforce our rights in quiet ways the mainstream never hears about.” One way for non-Indigenous people to begin interrupting colonial ways of thinking and the oppression that results from it is to learn about the history of where you currently live, work, study and/or volunteer. You might consult the online interactive map linked below, which should not be seen as a perfect representation of official or legal boundaries of Indigenous nations. To learn about boundaries and historic territories, contact the nations/peoples in question. Visit institutions dedicated to the honor and preservation of Indigenous cultures in your area, such as the Squaxin Island, Nisqually, and Chehalis tribes.

Reflect & Respond

Who inhabited the land prior to the arrival of Europeans? What happened to the Indigenous peoples and their practices? Where are they now and what is happening to them? What Indigenous people live in your area today? How do they define themselves? What fights for resistance and survival are they currently engaged in?

Squaxin Island Tribe: People of the Water

No DNA Test Can Prove That a Person is Native American

Welcome to Native Land

This is a resource for North Americans (and others) to find out more about local Indigenous territories and languages.

 

The Invasion of America

 

Why Treaties Matter

American capitalism is billed as a system that affords anyone who is willing to work hard the opportunity to build wealth and enjoy a high quality of life. The reality, however, is that millions of Americans work long hours for low pay and under difficult conditions. These jobs lacking benefits, safety, employment security and family-supporting wages are disproportionately done by people of color, particularly women. It is their labor, concentrated in the service sector that has made it possible for White families to pursue more lucrative opportunities and accumulate intergenerational wealth. We invite you to read the following articles below and reflect on how racism, sexism and xenophobia intersect to exploit women of color and keep them from enjoying their fair share of the wealth generated by their labor. Linked below are several resources. 

• Capitalism is Built on the Backs of Black Women
• The Wage Gap is Even Worse for Native Women
• Study documents Latina domestic workers’ economic hardship
• Article highlights Half of Pierce County Homeless Population are People of Color 

We also urge you to examine how racism is manifested in acts of gender violence and society’s response to those acts. The Catalyst article below explains how sexual predators and the dominant society exploit sexualized stereotypes of women and girls of color to excuse or justify continued crimes against them.

Today, the rate of sexual assault of Native women is more than twice the national average. While perpetrators of sexual assault are generally the same race as their victims, non-Native men are responsible for the majority of assaults of Native women. Furthermore, as the article from Indian Law Resource Center linked below explains, U.S. law restricts the authority of Indian nations to prosecute non-Native people for crimes they commit on reservations. 

Reflect & Respond

What steps can you take within your organization, and in your personal life, to further the goals of equity in the workforce, specifically for women of color?  What connections do you see between racism evident in both gender violence & wage gaps?

Capitalism is Built on Backs of Black Women

By consigning Black women to low-paid care work, a new report shows, racialized capitalism is continuing the legacy of slavery.

 OPINION ARCHIVE - The Wage Gap Is Even Worse For Native Women

We must work, on average, an additional nine months to make what white men earn in a year.

Study documents Latina domestic workers’ economic hardship

Almost four-in-ten Latina domestic workers in the Texas border region reported hunger in their households, even while being employed by any agency.

Sexual Harassment and Women of Color | Catalyst

Women of color experience both racialized and sexualized harassment and assault, stemming from the historical context of their experiences.

Ending Violence Against Native Women

As a policy-focused organization, the League recognizes that racism’s harm comes not only from the attitudes and actions of individuals, but in how those attitudes are built into the larger social and political institutions and structures that affect every aspect of our lives.

We invite you to consider the different levels of racism by watching the six-minute video, The Gardener, with Dr. Camara Jones and reading the Oppression Monitor, a description of the four types of racism. If you have more time, Dr. Jones goes into greater depth in this longer talk entitled Allegories on Race and Racism.

Take time during your day to observe the different levels of racism that are alive in the spaces you move through. Some of those levels might be visible and some quite hidden and “embedded” in other systems around you.

Reflect & Respond

Think about how you typically think about and see racism operating in your life, work and community. Are certain levels more obvious than others? If you are addressing racism in your work and life, do you tend to be focused on one level more than another? Might you consider focusing on other levels or partnering with those who do (social workers doing trauma work, for example, or community organizers working to change policy, or culture workers making new narratives)? What might this look like?

 

The Gardener

Oppression Monitor: Four Types of Racism

 

Allegories on Racism

While reflecting on this week’s (or last 7 days) prompts, we invite you to take some time to get quiet and reflect back on week one of the Challenge.

Reflect & Respond

Is there anything that you see differently based on your participation so far? How does this impact how you think about your life/work/volunteerism/studies? Is there anything you are inspired to do differently?

As the levels of racism we learned about last week show, internalized racism is one way in which oppression plays out and is perpetuated and exacerbated. To learn more about internalized racism, consider the website linked below (Internalizations) and especially focus on the sections providing more detail about “internalized racial inferiority” and “internalized white superiority.”
We invite you to read the Salon piece (linked below) about how internalized racial superiority promotes entitlement and inhibits psychological and emotional development among White people.

Reflect & Respond

As you read about the features, manifestations and consequences of internalized inferiority and internalized white superiority, what comes up for you? How does this connect with what you experience and/or observe in your work, studies and community? In what ways and to what extent do you feel you have internalized racism?

OR

Do you currently focus on healing from internalized racism in your work, studies or activities? If so, what does that look like? If not, how might you begin? What steps can you take to help shift consciousness and support transformation around the traumatizing impacts of racism?

Internalizations

Racism not only impacts us personally, culturally, and institutionally.  Racism also operates on us mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. When racism targets us, we internalize that…

White America’s racial illiteracy: Why our national conversation is poisoned from the start:

The author of “What Does It Mean to Be White?” examines the ways white people implode when they talk about race.

Interpersonal racism is real. It may not always play itself out in outrageous and overtly intentional ways, but rather show up in subtle and ignorant ways. All people—especially White people—have a role in calling out racism and bigotry, and this can be a difficult and uncomfortable process. Even if it isn’t difficult or uncomfortable for some, it can be difficult to call out racism and bigotry in a way that is ultimately productive. Effectively inviting someone who has said or done something that perpetuates racism to change or to consider changing can be quite perplexing.

We invite you to read Detour Spotting for Anti-Racists and 9 phrases allies can say when called out instead of getting defensive, and reflect on how you have responded to criticism of something you’ve said or done. 

We also invite you to engage with some of the following resources and consider how you see your own role and responsibility around “calling in” (as opposed to “calling out” or shaming) others in your family, community, workplace, or school:

Interrupting Racism: Our Role and Responsibility as White Allies.

Southern Poverty Law Center’s guidance on addressing bigotry in a variety of everyday situations.

As a segue into the next two days of the Challenge, we invite you to watch Ted Talk by Baratunde Thurston regarding calls to the police to gain a better understanding of how racism at the individual level is translated into racism at the institutional and structural levels.

Reflect & Respond

Have you ever been "called-in" before for something you said which impacted someone negatively? How did you feel internally? How did those feelings affect your response to the person who pointed out that what you said or did was problematic? After reading these articles, is there anything you would do differently in the future?

OR

Are you comfortable with intervening around racist behavior? If so, what have you found effective? What has not worked? If you have not been able to intervene productively, why not? What is needed to be able to do this?

9 Phrases Allies Can Say When Called Out Instead of Getting Defensive

 

Interrupting Racism: Our Role and Responsibility as White Allies with Dr. Kathy Obear

Speak Up: Responding to Everyday Bigotry

 

 

A Trip to the Grocery Store, leveraging privilege to intervene by Joy DeGruy.

How to deconstruct racism, one headline at a time

Institutional racism can reside in both the formal and informal workings of organizations and institutions. It exists in formal policies, for example, and in unwritten and unspoken norms of behavior.

Here we invite you to shine a light on your workplace, school, place of worship, or organization. Consider where the organization falls on the continuum on becoming an anti-racist multicultural organization.

As you do your assessment, perhaps with others, pay attention to your thoughts and feelings. What comes up for you? Consider sharing your observations with others. What are their reactions and observations?

Looking at institutions on a broader level, we invite you to read the school district residency requirements in Grosse Pointe MI. The article provides an example of how policies that appear race-neutral on the surface can have the impact of racial exclusivity in practice. 

Reflect & Respond

What might be done to nudge your organization/community to be more fully anti-racist, equitable and liberatory? What other examples of policy, either in government or the private sector, have you seen that function in a seemingly race neutral way but have impact of racial exclusivity in practice? How are such instances of institutional racism connected to racism at the lower levels (interpersonal and internalized)?

The cumulative impacts of racism across time, institutions and policy areas form systemic or structural racism. The short video below, the Unequal Opportunity Race, provides an overview of how multiple vectors of racism converge to form a pipeline to well-being for Whites and a comprehensive barrier for people of color.

As Fay Givens, Executive Director of American Indian Services, explains, “The number one source of discrimination for American Indians is the State and Federal government. We know what our problems are, but we are never provided the resources we need to solve them. We have had over the years thousands of conversations, conferences, meetings, etc. related to disparities in health and education but there is no will to make things better in spite of their talk.” Read this statement by National Congress of American Indians President Jefferson Keel on a recent report detailing the federal government’s continuing failure to uphold its numerous obligations under treaties with Indian nations.

For other examples of structural racism at work, see the Jamila Michener Vox article below about Medicaid work requirements, and the the American justice system, narrated by Ta-Nehisi Coates. What distinct threads do you see knitted together to create an all-encompassing system of racism?

Through its Prison Gerrymandering Project, the Prison Policy Initiative shows us how the mass incarceration resulting from structural racism is used to distort political representation and sustain the racial power imbalance. WA state just recently acted to end this practice.

Reflect & Respond

Thinking about the particular ways in which your work, studies and volunteerism focus on combating racism, are there opportunities for partnerships with others whose work may be targeted at different policy areas or mechanisms of racial injustice? Is your work connected to the work of others in ways that might not be obvious? What might these partnerships look like and what steps can you take to engage unusual allies?

Unequal Opportunity Race - AAPF

 

The politics and policy of racism in American health care.

  

 The Enduring Myth of Black Criminality

Washington Governor Jay Inslee signs law ending prison gerrymandering.

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.

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 'White Accomplices' 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?

Explaining White Privilege To A Broke White Person

WHITE SUPREMACY CULTURE: Characteristics

The Bias of ‘Professionalism’ Standards (SSIR)

Internalized Racism: a definition

 

White Accomplices

Flipping the Script: White Privilege and Community Building

In a speech at the 1985 United Nations Decade for Women conference, Gangulu activist, artist and scholar Dr. Lilla Watson said, “If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”

Although White supremacist attitudes, actions and policies inflict the most harm on individuals and communities of color, ultimately racism harms everyone—even White people who consciously engage in it in order to gain or maintain some type of social advantage. In the words of Fay Givens, Executive Director of American Indian Services, “In Native societies, no one did without, no child was an orphan, all elders were loved and cared for. Material goods were viewed as a burden. Wealth was your grandchildren. There was no incarceration. The United States has created an underclass of people made up of people of color. Instead of taking responsibility for what they have created they disrespect and demean the poor—always fear someone will get something for nothing, never acknowledging their action that created the dysfunction in society.”

We invite you to explore the following 3 resources (linked below) to better understand how racism’s costs radiate beyond its direct targets, with profound implications for public health, community strength, economic prosperity, environmental sustainability, knowledge production and innovation.

Reflect & Respond

What thoughts come to your mind? How might our world be different if Indigenous science and economic systems had never been dismissed as inferior to Western models? How much further might we have advanced in terms of knowledge, technology and health if educational and employment opportunities had not been denied to so many people based solely on their race throughout U.S. history? What impact does acknowledgement of the catastrophic costs of racism have on your work/studies/volunteerism?

 

Asian Model Minority Myth

Conversation with Nishnaabeg activist, scholar and author Leanne Betasamosake Simpson on Indigenous knowledge and climate change. 

 

Chicago region Metropolitan Planning Council report, The Cost of Segregation.

Reflect on the different solutions we have explored so far for addressing the different levels of racism and White superiority/supremacy. Which ones jump out that you want to use or explore more? Are there others that come to mind or that you are already using? Please share! Consider having a conversation with someone else about your thoughts, feelings and discoveries around ways to undo racism and white supremacy. 

A resource list of racial reconciliation and healing tools, processes, and case studies from Racial Equity Tools. 

Reflect & Respond

Reflect on the different solutions we have explored so far for addressing the different levels of racism and White superiority/supremacy. Which ones jump out that you want to use or explore more? Are there others that come to mind or that you are already using?

OR

Looking even more inward, we invite you to find some quiet time to get centered and to consider the past two weeks of your participation in the Challenge. What do you sense/feel and where are you physically? Intellectually? Emotionally? Spiritually? What are these sensations telling you? Consider checking in with someone else about where you each are in your Challenge journey and work for racial justice.

Stories hold tremendous power in our world, work and lives. As writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has said: “Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign. But stories can also be used to empower, and to humanize. Stories can break the dignity of a people. But stories can also repair that broken dignity.”

We encourage you to watch Adichie’s 19 minute talk “The Danger of the Single Story,” and to note your reactions and reflections. What single stories have you held or heard in your work/volunteerism/studies? Who and what do these stories promote and privilege? Are they advancing justice? Are they uplifting those who are marginalized? Are they inspiring new possibilities for equity and liberation?

In pursuit of challenging the prevailing story about the people we serve, the League was very excited to host Trabian Shorters, the founder of BMe, as the keynote speaker at our 2019 annual policy forum. Often in the nonprofit world, we define people by the problems they face and their lack of resources and capacity to address them. Mr. Shorters offers us a more empowering alternative in asset framing—defining people by their strengths and aspirations. We ask you to hold asset framing as a central theme in your mind as we complete the final week of the Challenge.

Reflect & Respond

What single stories have you held or heard in your work/volunteerism/studies? Who and what do these stories promote and privilege? Are they advancing justice? Are they uplifting those who are marginalized? Are they inspiring new possibilities for equity and liberation?

OR

In respect to 'asset framing', do these ideas have you rethinking your approach to advocacy on behalf of families with low incomes and communities of color?

The danger of a single story

 

BME Community

 

Asset Framing

White supremacy is perpetuated through the definition of European-based knowledge systems and cultural markers as advanced, rational and objective. This allows White people to believe their perspectives are complete and accurate, and their decisions driven by logic and evidence. In contrast, the philosophies, cultures and science of people of color are portrayed as subjective, emotional and driven by mythology. Of course, this is merely a cover that Whites have used for centuries to justify the oppression of people of color in favor of their own self-interest. For a deeper look at how dominant groups exploit the concepts of knowledge and truth to maintain power, check out the work of sociologist and Black feminist thought leader Patricia Hill Collins.

Ocean Mercier: Indigenous Knowledge and Western Science.

In the modern-day U.S., this colonialist mindset shows up in myriad ways, one of the most harmful being in the educational system. We invite you to read the following two articles, about the need for school systems to examine how White supremacist ideas continue to corrupt their educational model and actively prevent students of color from achieving their full potential:

Breaking down our bilingual double standard

Native American Identity and Learning

As you read these articles, we ask you to think about ways to make change in our school systems. 

In the words of Fay Givens, “American Indians have a wide view of education; it involves things the mainstream would fail to call education.  We are considered poorly educated by western standards when in most cases an Indian child by the age of ten has gone hunting, fishing, can fillet a fish and is learning to tan a hide, can make a basket or a mask for ceremonies.  Many have already made a hand drum.” Indeed, many youth are drawing from a vast body of Indigenous knowledge and cultural assets to take leadership roles in addressing some of society’s most pressing problems.

Autumn Peltier named chief water commissioner by Anishinabek Nation

We invite you to watch Detroit Natives Reclaim Their City’s Story and learn about the Aadizookaan, a Detroit creative collective that draws on the strength of Indigenous knowledge systems to promote equity and healing from injustice in the city. In Kalamazoo, the Society for History and Racial Equity (SHARE) works to educate the community on the importance of the region’s African American history.  

Reflect & Respond

If you work in a school or have a child who attends school, what kinds of conversations can you start or join around this idea? If you’re a White person, what can you do to support people of color who are already fighting for culture change in our schools and bearing the cost for doing so? Thinking back to last week, what are some ways in which you can use your White privilege for good in this space?

OR

As you think about how White supremacist perspectives have shaped the story of your own community, we ask you to explore local movements that promote accurate history and more liberatory concepts of education and knowledge.

Last week in our exploration of institutional racism, we touched briefly on organizational culture. We’d like to dive into this topic more deeply today, specifically the idea of “cultural fit.” This encompasses all of the things beyond the clearly defined experience, credentials and qualifications employers might list in a job posting—criteria that are often unwritten, highly subjective and nebulous.

This type of screening for camaraderie among staff can promote unity of purpose and process, enabling the organization to function like a well-oiled machine. But it can also foster insular thinking and stifle innovation by writing off employees who would bring new perspectives and fresh ideas to the organization. An organization too focused on cultural fit is probably missing out on some workers who would make it more successful, which is why some are replacing “cultural fit” with “cultural add”: rather than assessing how well a prospective employee would fit in, asking what’s new that the applicant could bring to the table.  As you engage with these resources, consider how your organization views diversity—where would you say it is on the cultural fit/cultural add spectrum?

Reflect & Respond

Prompting Questions ?-?-?  How might our approach to recruitment and hiring be changed to better reflect the “cultural add” perspective? For people who already work for your organization, how inclusive is the general environment? Are there current employees whose strengths aren’t recognized and valued as such because of the prevailing culture? What can be done to change this dynamic?

Forbes article: Why hiring for “culture fit” might be holding you back

Tech entrepreneur Chandra Arthur: The Cost of Code Switching

 

Why we need to end culture fit

Having conversations about race and racism can be uncomfortable but is essential, especially for kids. Children are not hard wired to be color blind. Even babies notice differences like skin color, eye shape and hair texture. 

"As protests over the killing of George Floyd (and Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor) happened throughout the country, (many families and teachers) are wondering how to talk about the deaths and unrest with their children. But just as important in the long run, especially for nonblack parents, is how to keep the conversation about race and racism going when we’re not in a moment of national outrage, and to make sure all children see black people as heroes in a wide range of their own stories, and not just as victims of oppression." (from New York Times article linked below)

For practical tips: 

• Read the article, "The How to I talk to my kids about race and racism?"  
• Listen to the NPR piece about how to handle conversations about race, racism, diversity and inclusion, even with very young children, and 
• Try on some of the strategies from the list of 100 race conscious thing you can say to children to advance racial justice.

 

Talking Race with Young Children

  

Talking to Kids About Racism, Early and Often

Reflect and Respond

What strategies do you think might be helpful in your home, work place, community or classroom? How might use these strategies to advance racial justice?

Today’s prompt builds on yesterday’s reflection about how the Challenge has guided you to think and act differently, perhaps more boldly, on this journey of racial equity and justice.

Reflect & Respond

How will you put any of your new commitments into action, starting as soon as today? What kinds of supports do you need to do so? Do you have those supports or can you organize them into being, perhaps with help from others? 

OR

There is work to do on your own, but much of the change we need will happen in collaboration with others as well. We are in this together. Who are your potential accomplices at school, work, home or in your community?

OR

Also, consider committing to an ongoing practice, a way to chronicle the year ahead through writing, drawing, music or some other expression. Choose something that will work for you so that you can continue to reflect and integrate your learning from this Challenge, find opportunities for healing if needed and also see how your dreams for the future can begin to unfold. Let your own “garden” for justice blossom and extend across boundaries!

Thank you for joining us in taking this Challenge and for your commitment to advancing racial equity!!!