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Whiteness Paper 4. - White Antiracist Activism
White Antiracist Activism: A personal roadmap
by Jennifer R. Holladay, M.S.
Whiteness Paper No. 4
November 2000
ABSTRACT
The author examines the impact of white privilege on white antiracist activism. Racism operates on beliefs, behaviors, language and policies at the individual and institutional levels. White privilege saturates our society, providing whites with "perks," real advantages, and a worldview. Activists must ask with whom to work, what information is needed, what must be done, and how to convey that message. White activists must "do their homework" in order to understand how white privilege can shape answers to these questions. One role for white people in the antiracist struggle is educating other white people and unmasking tactics that 1) blame people of color, 2) falsely claim all have equal opportunity, 3) compare "isms," and 4) play different groups of color against each other. A second role for whites is supporting leadership of color by working with white people, by supporting initiatives begun by people of color, by recognizing when and how to use our privilege, and by providing feedback not based in that privilege. Finally, whites must adopt appropriate approaches when leadership of color is not available. Furthermore, whites need to attend to "danger signs" that tell when one is not working effectively. The paper includes several examples of tools and techniques, illustrated with anecdotes from the author's personal experience.
Permission to make copies:
With this purchase of an article from The WHITENESS PAPERS series you are entitled to make 30 photocopies for distribution to classes, training groups, or people in an organization. You may not resell the article or include it in any published work without express permission of the copyright holder.
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