White fragility, and white privilegeThis week we take a look at white fragility and white privilege. White people in North America, especially in the United States live in an environment that protects them from race-based stress. It creates comfort for them and simultaneously lowers their ability to deal with race-based stress, which leads to what Robin DiAngelo describes as White Fragility. "White Fragility is a state in which even a minimum amount of racial stress becomes intolerable, triggering a range of defensive moves. These moves include the outward display of emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and behaviors such as argumentation, silence, and leaving the stress-inducing situation. These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium" - Robin DiAngelo DiAngelo describes that white people living in these types of societies only deal with multicultural education because it is required by a job, or by a higher education institution. Often these courses use coded language that don't even address racism, changing "white", "over advantaged" and "privileged" to "urban", "inner city" and "disadvantaged". This type of "education" only works to reproduce conformable illusions that race and its problems are a "they/them" game, and not something white people have to deal with. What's worse, upon taking these courses many, (this goes to say, not all), white people stop interacting with discussion that address racism because they "already had a class on this" or "already know this". "Whiteness is a location of structural advantage, of race privilege. Second, it is a ‘standpoint,’ a place from which White people look at ourselves, at others, and at society. Third, ‘Whiteness’ refers to a set of cultural practices that are usually unmarked and unnamed." -Frankenberg (1993) White Fragility is a state in which even a minimum amount of racial stress becomes intolerable, triggering a range of defensive moves. Triggers to this state include:
In this state, white people are at a loss for how to respond in constructive ways, and therefore respond defensively. A Few Factors That Instill White Fragility Segregation
DiAngelo discusses more factors in her article White Fragility, linked below for your consumption. White RageCarol Anderson wrote for The Washington Post that what we saw during the Ferguson Missouri protests of 2014 was not and outbreak of Black rage, but instead that of white rage. Protests and looting are sure to capture the attention of news outlets nationwide, but the attention is not being directed at the real rage creating the problems: white rage. This happens in meetings when officials slash government payrolls, make it harder for BIPOC to vote, and more. This white rage is not on nationwide news because white rage "doesn't have to take to the streets and face rubber bullets to be heard". White rage has access to the police, the courts, legislatures, governors, and people of power that move for them. White rage is not new to the United States. It was present during the Civil War, and again during Brown v. Board of Education, most recently we saw it during Obamas election into the white house, and after the protests this summer for Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. "For every action of African American advancement, there's a reaction, a backlash" - Carol Anderson Many people (yes, white people), seem to think that progress brings peace and a perfect world with rainbows and everyone holding hands (ew, in the middle of a pandemic?). Well newsflash people, progress has always been faced with white rage. When slavery was made illegal, the South worked to reinscribe white supremacy and restore the hierarchy, with much resentment hanging in the air.
When Brown v. Board of Education happened, Black students trying to go to school were literally faced with bricks, signs, white people screaming and spitting at them, grabbing them and blocking their entry into schools. This country needs a retelling of their history in order to understand why the protests and the looting happening today are how progress has been made historically. I would like to end today's blog post by saying that I as a white Latina woman am glad that I have been in an environment where I am aware of racial tensions and the reality of people not only in this country, where things certainly seem to be horrible, but in the world. I appreciate those taking the time to read and learn with me, as we educate ourselves to create progress. This brings us to the end of this weeks CRT lesson. Please let us know below or on Instagram what you thought about week 5! DiAngelo, R. (2011). White fragility. The International Journal of Critical Pedagogy, 3(3). http://libjournal.uncg.edu/ijcp/article/download/249/116 Anderson, C. (August 29, 2014)“Ferguson isn’t about black rage against cops. It’s white rage against progress.” Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ferguson-wasnt-black-rage-against-copsit-was-white-rage-against-progress/2014/08/29/3055e3f4-2d75-11e4-bb9b-997ae96fad33_story.html?utm_term=.b8ce65b3ef53 - Paula Alejandra Norato
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This week we start to engage ideas around settler colonialism, and the ways the racialization of Indigenous peoples and enslaved Africans emerged with and through the process of colonization in (what is now known as) the United States. Often conversations about race and racism ignore indigenous peoples, or fail to address the role of ongoing settler colonialism in creating racial stratification. The readings offer theoretical foundations into understanding just what settler colonialism is (and what it shares and how it differs from other forms of colonialism), as well as two Indigenous scholars approaches to CRT and indigeneity. Native identity is both racialized and also political/legal (Native peoples in the US are considered a racial group as well as citizens of sovereign nations), which we will work to unpack and put in conversations about racial formations and the tenets of CRT. Questions to ask yourself this week: Whose land are you on? Which tribal nation(s) specifically? How are the Native people in your community represented (or not)? For non-Native people: in what ways have you benefitted and continue to benefit from settler colonialism? What is Settler Colonialism?It is a form of colonialism that seeks to replace the original population of the colonized territory with a new society of settlers. As with all forms of colonialism, it is based on exogenous domination, typically organized or supported by an imperial authority. This is something that we see frequently throughout history, especially when looking at European colonizers and their "founding" of the United States. But unfortunately, it is not something we are ever taught in history classes while learning about these eras. "Settler Colonialism is inherently eliminatory but not invariably genocidal" - Patrick Wolfe Wolfe believes that settler colonialism is not the same as genocide, even though they are often used as synonyms. They do however go hand in hand, as Wolfe believes settler colonialism is an indicator of genocide. It happens over an extended period of time, sometimes decades. Wolfe points out that while it is unfortunate that often settler colonialism is allowed to happen for such long periods of time, they are also a perfect time to prevent the aftermath, genocide. Wolfe gives Israel's dependence on Palestinian labor and congruent denial of their rights as an example of settler colonialism. While Israel depends on the manual labor from Palestinians, they deny their human rights by removing them from their own homes, displacing populations, firing upon unarmed Palestinians, and attacking hospitals with tear gas and firearms in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. What is Decolonialism?"First and foremost, decolonization must occur in our own minds" -Waziyatawin and Michael Yellow Bird In Decolonization: Indigeneity, education & society by Tuck and Yang, we learn that decolonialism is not a metaphor, and is instead a practice. This practice in turn must foster critical thinking of oppression. It must encourage the rejection of colonial ways, which often were introduced after forcibly removing previous existing ways. The practice must embrace the Indigenous ways, according to Tuck and Yang. There are 5 conditions that have framed the struggle for decolonization.
-Tuck and Yang HomeworkNow that we have learned this, we have some homework for you. Start decolonization in yourself. How can you do this?
Find out whose land you are on. Which tribal nations specifically have claim to the land you now live on? You can find out by texting your town and state, "town, state" to 9073125085. After this, take time to research the tribal nations that the land pertains to. Were these things something you had ever heard of before? Why do you think it is not taught, even though it's part of the history of this country? For non-Native people specifically: in what ways have you benefitted and continue to benefit from settler colonialism? Thank you for taking the time to learn with us. Below are links to the sources we used. Let us know in the comments what you learn from your homework! Patrick Wolfe (2006) Settler colonialism and the elimination of the native, Journal of Genocide Research, 8:4, 387-409, DOI: 10.1080/14623520601056240 Tuck, E., & Yang, K. W. (2012). Decolonization is not a metaphor. Decolonization: Indigeneity, education & society, 1(1). http://decolonization.org/index.php/des/article/download/18630/15554 - Paula Alejandra Norato |
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September 2020
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