The “White” Conversation About Racism

I have charted ‘The “White” Conversation About Racism’ as I have experienced it. First, let me get you acquainted to my journey toward that end.

The Ferguson movement created many spaces for conversations about race, and those spaces have moved my understanding about racism — from something that other people are (racist) to something endemic in our culture that I am a part of, and have a particular onus to act on.

The first epiphany I had was that I should stop talking to “non-white” people about racism, and start talking to the “white” community. This sounds obvious, right? How often do white people go into black communities to do work addressing issues of racism? How often do we ask ‘what is the problem?’ to “non-white” people.

I am mortified looking back, and even going forward, at the amount of time spent looking and listening to the experiences of “non-white” people being abused and discriminated against. These experiences are not new to them, or to “white” America. Yet we review them over and over — for centuries, wondering, “what is the problem?” When will the white community turn the cameras on itself, to examine our roles in racism, and what we can do to stop playing those roles?

We (“white” folks) have heard, seen, and acted racist in our own families and communities. It should not be a surprise to anyone that black people get paid less, are denied jobs, are called ‘nigger,’ and physically assaulted. We have seen it in our own families and communities. “White” people have experienced the white side of this relationship, as surely as those on the receiving side have felt it, yet we deny we have this knowledge.

What I came to realize about myself, and I take the liberty to apply to our culture, is that my denial was a function of my white supremacy — a function of staying comfortable at the expense of ‘others,’ and also in an unconscious way, a space for me to feel power.

Let me explain.

In college, I was on the diversity committee. I thought it might be a good idea to have a panel discussion on racism. The first group I went to see was the Black Student Union. They were not interested. I stopped there. I figured, well, if the Black Student Union doesn’t want to talk about racism, we can’t have a panel discussion.

What I realize now, is that black people can’t solve white racism. I don’t know what the Black Student Union thought of me, but now, in my mind, I imagine them thinking, “Why are you talking to me about racism? Go and talk to all the white racists on campus if you want to solve the problem.”

The second thing I have learned from reflecting on this experience, is the reason I approached racism through “non-whites” — because it made me feel powerful. Why didn’t I talk to the Democrat and Republican clubs? Why didn’t I approach the FFA, or Student Government? The reason is: it is easier to talk to the victim than the oppressor. It is scary to talk to those in power, and empowering to talk to the ‘weak.’

Are you seeing the path of my embarrassing revelations now? The ‘weak’ ?

Hi. My name is Kathryn, and I am a racist.

My approach victimized “non-whites,” and assumed that I was in a power position to do something for the ‘other’ communities. Of course, they would embrace me and applaud me, right? Alleviating my guilt and granting me acceptance. That was my motivation, to be the rescuer, and to gain acceptance.

This brings us to guilt- white guilt. Guilt can either paralyze one in inaction, leading to anxiety, denial, and anger — which may further evolve into projection of that denial and anger on that which reminds one of the guilt; or, reflecting on guilt can guide one into action to repair deeds which cause us guilt. The key to relieve guilt is to stop the action that causes the guilt.

My revelations were brought to the fore partly by far right wing political messaging that made racism impossible to ignore, and partly by the opportunity brought by Ferguson Action, and other activists demanding that I look — and act.

So, for the past year, I have been working to organize a 5 county area in central Pennsylvania to Undo Racism (TM), with training from the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond, out of New Orleans, LA. I interviewed one of the founders, Diana Dunn in December of 2014, and found the framework for addressing problems of racism non-partisan, honest, and potentially effective.

The Institute will come into a town, and work with 40 community leaders to address the history, and construction of racism, as well as the vital role of institutions and institutional leaders to ensure equitable systems, and empowered citizens. Their belief is that if racism was created, it can be dismantled.

She warned me, though, that many people are not ready for the training, and if I wanted to work to get this program to central PA, I would have to do some ground work, and make sure that people want to face racism honestly.

With this goal in mind, I have embarked on a journey to engage central PA around the definitions and issues of racism, and have developed a chart of how ‘the “white” conversation about racism’ moves from negative to positive. I want to share and get feedback on this idea. You can view it on google drive here.

Here is a brief explanation of some of the key points on the graph:

A key element of racism that white people don’t talk about is ‘The Ghost in the Nursery.’ This is the internalization of racist messaging from grandparents/parents etc. Denial of the presence of this messaging — that is, using terms and characterizations our grandparents used, leads to hazing. That is a secret pact to protect loved ones from being labeled bad because of their racism, emulation as a bonding tactic, and perpetuation of the racist messaging to protect the parent from criticism from the child. It is this process that has brought narratives from the 1500’s into the present. Stopping this cycle is easy, with a lot of humility. Simply talking about this phenomenon can help stop it.

Another key is getting past the auto-defense response, “I am not racist.” Providing new definitions around racism is key to getting “white” people to understand race as a power structure, and white people as inherently part of the power structure in the U.S.

Some definitions:

Racism- a power element or structure that favors one race over another.
Structural Racism- community or societal structures that favor one race
White Privilege- benefits for ‘white’ people in societies that favor white complexions
Discrimination- consideration of others based on group identity rather than individual merit
Bigotry- intolerance toward those who have different opinions than oneself

Explaining that “non-white” people can hate “white” people, but most likely do not have the power to oppress white people, helps to re-frame racism, not as hate, or mere discrimination, but as oppressive power elements and structures. Clearly defining terms helps to untangle a very complex discussion.

Then, the pressing question is what do we do to make it right? I read an article recently, about Gloria Ladson-Billings’ work “From the Achievement Gap to the Education Debt: Understanding Achievement in U.S. Schools,” where she re-frames the term ‘at-risk’ to ‘indebted.’ I find this re-framing helpful for racism. As a society, diversity can be an asset, if managed properly, or a liability, if mismanaged (I realize some may not like the term ‘managed,’ but as a society, we must organize ourselves, and for community leaders, that means managing people. Further, at our moment in history, managing diverse people toward healthy communities is a challenge). Clearly, our leaders have mismanaged diversity, leading to the debts we have to “non-white” Americans in education, leadership, and the economy. Paying this debt down is one way to address racism.

Making space and respecting space are other steps white people can take to stop being racist. This means ensuring paths for “non-whites” to have equal access to leadership, resources, and opportunities; and respecting others prerogatives to define their own spaces, without white approval. In the latter case, for instance, some “white” people may see homogeneous groups of “non-white” people as threatening. Now, this threat assessment changes depending on the ethnicity of the “non-white” — Asian/Hispancic/Black etc. It is interesting to experience the different reactions. Why do we not insist that China Towns integrate with the “white” people, but we are threatened when Black Americans create their own communities, or socialize in homogeneous groups? Integration was not meant to create white and black friend groups, it was meant to ensure equal access and opportunity for black Americans.

White communities in the U.S. have work to do to understand our role in perpetuating and stopping racism. Defining racism, and talking to “white” people and communities about the ways racism is perpetuated, is not so much hard work, as it is a work of humility.

The process is not just a journey of humility, however. One other key element in progressing from explicit racism to authentic healthy relationships, and civility, is developing a positive identity — in ourselves, our communities, toward ‘others,’ and toward our country as a nation. If we can’t see value in ourselves, how can we share who we are with others without feeling defensive and insecure? If we can’t share who we are, how can we be a nation?

“White” people are facing harsh, discriminatory criticism as a result of our neglect of the issue of racism. To be constructive, and not fall into the trap of ‘victim/rescuer/abuser’ we must be able to stand up for ourselves, and against injustice toward others.

The current favorite definition in the Urban Dictionary for ‘white people’ is:

“Single handedly, the most violent race of human beings throughout the history of mankind. No other race of human beings has killed more people, raped more women, destroyed more cultures, or has stolen as much land as white people. White people are the most hated race of human beings. Read any university level history book to learn the truth about “White people” by The Happy Time Friends August 12, 2011"

“White” people are not the bad race, but now is the time to reflect on why this is a narrative in the U.S., and take action to find our role in repairing strained race relations in our country. We cannot build authentic relationships in our communities, and larger nation, if “whites” are provided rights, resources, and justice, and ‘others’ are not.

We can, and must, do the work of addressing racism in the white community, if we truly believe in the idyllic principles of the U.S.A.

*About the use of the terms “white” and “non-white”: I use the term “non-white” for many reasons. Most importantly, I am trying to highlight what is causing the problem — the perception that white things are standard; secondly, it is difficult to rationalize the use of the term ‘people of color,’ while also trying to get people to stop saying ‘colored people.’ Also, the term ‘people of color’ creates another monolithic category. One piece of feedback I got from @DemocracyYes for this article was to put the term non-white in quotes (which I did not in the original version). That made sense to me, and when I changed the article, although it is cluttered with all of the scare quotes, it illustrates the ridiculousness of the constructs of race. Let me know what you think, if you feel inclined.

In some places I did not put scare quotes around the term white, and in some places I did. I put scare quotes around the term white when I reference individual people — despite the recent MTV episode about whiteness, I don’t know anyone when you ask, “what are you” who say ‘white.’ They usually list their ancestral background, which is varied, and often includes lineages that are not “white.” I did not put scare quotes around the term white when I reference the monolithic structure of “whiteness” that people identify with to maintain power.