White People Challenging Racism
MOVING FROM TALK TO ACTION
Syllabus
Each workshop is adapted by its co-facilitators to suit the participants, but all draw from a core syllabus. Between sessions, we assign activities and readings (mostly from scholars, writers, and trainers who are Black, Indigenous, or people of color) that we have selected to reflect current events and participants' interests.
AWARENESS
HISTORY Participants understand the social and historical construction of race, how White supremacy was built into the structures of American society, and how narratives have hidden these realities from White people.
REFLECTION Participants examine in depth the messages, interactions, responses, and potential leverage points related to racism and White supremacy in their lives, from childhood to the present day.
THEORY Participants develop a critical racial lens to analyze racism as it operates on multiple levels.
PRACTICE
Participants use role plays to experience and build skills in sidestepping White fragility, developing empathy, reducing and mitigating microaggressions, breaking White solidarity, and leveraging privilege.
PLANNING
The workshop culminates in an individual action plan identifying an aspect of institutional racism that each participant commits to impacting within their sphere of influence. Further work can be done with an accountability partner from within the group.
KEY SOURCES
The White Privilege Knapsack (Peggy McIntosh)
Microaggressions in Everyday Life (Derald Wing Sue)
The Four I's of Oppression (John Bell)
White Supremacy Culture (Tema Okun & Kenneth Jones)
RACE: The Power of an Illusion (California Newsreel)
Birth of a White Nation (Jacqueline Battalora)
The Case for Reparations (Ta-Nehisi Coates)
Cracking the Codes: A Trip to the Grocery Store (Dr. Joy DeGruy)
The White Ally Toolkit (David Campt)
We inherit movements. We recommit to them over and over again, even when they break our hearts, because they are essential to our survival.