Where do We Start? ( For My White Nonprofit Colleagues, Thoughts on Dismantling White Supremacy)

 

This blog post probably won't add anything new to the dialogue about justice in light of the extreme proliferation of hate acts in our country - but if this blog's purpose is to muse about growth, this isn't a topic I will avoid. I will state, up front, that I have centered white colleagues in this post. These are conversations that white folx need to have and lead amongst themselves.  I also don't anticipate that this writing even exposes the 'tip of the iceberg' on the important topics I broach in this post. I, in no way, mean for this post to be any where near definitive; but rather a beginning. 

We have to start, and start again.

Like many others, I am horrified by the violence perpetrated in Atlanta against the Asian community this past week. I am equally horrified by the Cherokee County Sheriff Department Captain's statement that the shooter was "having a really bad day." That statement, along with the heinous act itself, was anchored in white male supremacy.

So while the current call is to End Asian Hate, the true call needs to be to Dismantle White Supremacy.

Our country is under assault by a rising tide of racism, xenophobia, and hate crimes, and we must speak to the root cause of this assault and wage war on it. The tragedy in Atlanta is only the latest of a long line of white supremacist terrorism acts. Indeed, as Joel Rubin wrote on January 18, 2021,

The explosion of white supremacist violence displayed at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 was not an isolated event. Before Donald Trump and the QAnon-inspired crowd of seditious conspiracy theorists that backs him arrived, there was the so-called Michigan Militia, which in the mid-1990s inspired Timothy McVeigh to murder 168 people by blowing up the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. And before that, for nearly a century, Southern white supremacists, organized into terrorist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, murdered and terrorized Black Americans. This happened because, in an eerie echo of today’s events, the legitimate results of the 1876 presidential election were overturned, prematurely ending Reconstruction and advancing white power while betraying the promise of equality for Black Americans. White supremacist terrorism has been a feature, not an outlier, of American life. 1

A culture of white supremacy perpetuates itself by marginalizing people of color. The attacks in Atlanta and elsewhere in the US on peoples of Asian descent were mobilized deliberately by misinformation campaigns on social media; campaigns by extremist organizations, and, unfortunately, by elected leaders who regularly seek to divide rather than unite. Indeed, they will not be the leaders in the important work needed in this country.

So where do we start? Vietnam’s celebrated Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh says, “In order to heal others, we first need to heal ourselves. And to heal ourselves, we need to know how to deal with ourselves.” Our experiences of where we each live in relation to race, class, privilege, and power shape our attitudes and perspectives. We must be mindful of our own biases, and work to transcend them, to successfully enter into another culture with norms that might be different from our own.

James Baldwin once said, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” So in the name of a first step, I invite my white colleagues to take time to contemplate these questions:

• When did you first realize you were white?
• When did you first become aware of your privilege as a white person? How did you feel?
• What do you find most challenging when discussing white privilege with other white folks?
• What triggers your awareness of your white privilege? When do you notice it? What happens when you notice it?
• Why do you think it’s challenging for white people to think about/do something about white privilege?
• What is the cost of white privilege for white people? What is the cost of white privilege for people of color?
• How might your white privilege play out in your upcoming journey?
• What is the relationship between your nonprofit's vision/mission and your white privilege? How does the work of your organization work to dismantle white supremacy or sustain your anti-racism work?

This is work that white folx need to do. It is not up to BIPOC people to explain any of this to us.

For those of us who wish to be more effective allies with communities at home, it is imperative that we continue to strengthen our self-awareness, and that we surface previously unconscious assumptions about the “right” way to go about making change, and the appropriate role we can play as allies to the people who are fighting for their liberation. Indeed, it is often that the people with good hearts need to do this work too. My spiritual community shared this resource, and I share it here with you:

How to Be a Strong Ally to People with Marginalized Identities 2

• Assume that oppression in some form is everywhere, everyday.
• Notice how oppressions are denied, minimized, and justified.
• Read books and articles to increase your understanding of, and sensitivity to, the needs, aspirations, and concerns of others.
• Understand and learn from the history of racism, heterosexism, ableism, ageism, etc.
• Understand the connections between oppressions, economic issues, and other forms of injustice.
• Take a stand against injustice.
• Be strategic. Decide what is important to challenge and what is not.
• Intervene when someone disrespects or demeans another because of their race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, age, economic status, etc.
• Support the leadership of people who have historically been oppressed.
• Don’t do it alone. Build coalitions and networks, work with already established groups.
• Talk with your children and other young people about oppression.
• Work to bridge differences rather than insist on similarity of views.
• Learn as much as you can about the shifting tactics of hate groups.
• Don’t assume you know what’s best for an individual or group.
• Listen to the stories, experiences, and voices of others.
• Reflect on the impact of your own background and challenge your own cultural assumptions.
• Notice who is the center of attention and who is the center of power.
• Eliminate outdated and unhelpful terms such as “minority, oriental, handicapped, homo, etc.”
• Write letters to the editors and management of newspapers, television and radio stations expressing support for efforts to reduce prejudice, discrimination, and oppression.
• Notice and name dynamics of privilege and oppression that occur in coalitions.
• Form partnerships with communities and congregations of color.
• Connect service efforts with advocacy for economic justice.
• Create accessible spaces and communities.

I add:

• Discard the deficit labeling model (e.g., disadvantaged youth.)

My dear white nonprofit colleagues, yes we all need to do this work. Even when the majority of us nonprofit professionals have big hearts, white supremacy is a well-oiled machine with a pernicious nature, fueled by ignorance and undisturbed by good intentions.

But, white supremacy is not inevitable. It can be dismantled and ultimately eradicated through our individual and collective efforts towards social justice. Start.

I do not pretend to understand the moral universe: the arc is a long one, [and] my eye reaches but a little ways. I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight; … But from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice.  ~ Rev. Theodore Parker (1810-1860), Unitarian Minister 

In peace and justice,

Barbara
Organizations by Design

--------------------------------------

1  https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/01/18/washington-must-treat-white-supremacist-terrorism-as-a-transnational-threat/

2 https://www.uua.org/lgbtq/witness/allies