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Disrupting White Supremacy Through BIPOC Solidarity

CALA NCA Chapter Webinar

May 13, 2020

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Ahmaud Arbery

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Photos by Wander Cooper Lee Merritt via Colorlines

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Support Ahmaud’s family

https://www.gofundme.com/f/i-run-with-maud

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Land Acknowledgement

Whose land are you on?

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How should you, as a guest, behave on those lands?

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What action can you take in solidarity?

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Hello!

I’m Sofia Leung

She/hers

Chinese American Facilitator + Librarian

You can find me at @sofiayleung on Twitter

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What we’ll talk about today

  • White supremacy
  • Anti-black racism
  • Our complicity in systems of oppression
  • Solidarity

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Who are you?

Why are you here?

Please use the chatbox to enter your name and what brought you to this webinar.

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What is solidarity?

Please use the chatbox to enter your responses.

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When we identify where our privilege intersects with somebody else’s oppression, we’ll find our opportunities to make real change.

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(Oleo 2019, 65)

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Asian American have not been racialized in a vacuum, isolated from other groups; to the contrary, Asian Americans have been racialized relative to and through interaction with Whites and Blacks. As such, the respective racialization trajectories of these groups are profoundly interrelated”

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(Kim 1999, 106)

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whitening

“refers to the way the white race has expanded over time to swallow up those previously considered non-whites, such as people of Irish, Italian, and Jewish heritage.”

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(Kuo 2018)

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What is white supremacy?

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“By ‘white supremacy’ I do not mean to allude only to the self-conscious racism of white supremacist hate groups. I refer instead to a political, economic and cultural system in which whites overwhelmingly control power and material resources, conscious and unconscious ideas of white superiority and entitlement are widespread, and relations of white dominance and non-white subordination are daily reenacted across a broad array of institutions and social settings.”

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(Ansley 1989, 1024)

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Whiteness as property is based on

  1. Black people are a form of property that white people are entitled to.

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  • All land belongs to white people, Indigenous peoples are not entitled to property or even allowed to be on property.

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(Dumas & Ross, 2016)

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It is...premised on the subjugation of people who are not White. That subjugation takes on an infinite number of forms and is enforced with varying degrees of physical violence, mental abuse, and robbery...White supremacy establishes, upholds, and normalizes hierarchy on the premise that the less Black you are the closer you are to God.

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(Solomon and Rankin 2019, vii)

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There’s no hierarchy of oppressions where race is concerned, but anti-black racism is the fulcrum of white supremacy.

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(Nakagawa 2012)

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White Supremacy Culture Characteristics

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  • Perfectionism
  • Defensiveness
  • Either/Or Thinking
  • Fear of Open Conflict
  • Objectivity
  • Right to Comfort

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(Okun & Jones, n.d.)

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How do you see these characteristics playing out in your daily work or life?

Please use the chatbox to enter your responses.

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Perfectionism

  • Pointing out how either the person or work is inadequate;
  • Talk to others about the inadequacies of a person or their work w/o directly talking to them;
  • Mistakes seen as personal;
  • Making a mistake is equated with being a mistake;
  • Little or no learning from mistakes;
  • Tendency to identify what’s wrong.

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Antidotes to Perfectionism

  • Develop a culture of appreciation;
  • Develop a learning organization;
  • Create an environment where mistakes are opportunities for growth;
  • Separate the mistake from person;
  • Speak positively before offering criticism;
  • Ask others for specific suggestions on how to offer criticism differently.

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Defensiveness

  • Org is set up & spends lots of energy trying to protect power as it exists;
  • Criticism of those w/power is viewed as threatening or inappropriate or rude;
  • Ppl respond to new or challenging ideas w/defensiveness;
  • A lot of energy spent trying to make sure ppl’s feelings are getting hurt or working around defensive ppl;
  • Defensiveness of ppl in power creates oppressive culture.

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Antidotes to Defensiveness

  • Understand that structure cannot in and of itself facilitate or prevent abuse;
  • Understand the link between defensiveness and fear (of losing power, losing face, losing comfort, losing privilege);
  • Work on your own defensiveness;
  • Name defensiveness as a problem when it is one;
  • Give ppl credit for being able to handle more than you think;
  • discuss the ways in which defensiveness or resistance to new ideas gets in the way of the mission.

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Either/Or Thinking

  • Things are either/or, good/bad, right/wrong, with us/against us;
  • Closely linked to perfectionism in making it difficult to learn from mistakes or accommodate conflict;
  • No sense that things can be both/and;
  • Results in trying to simplify complex things;
  • Creates conflict and increases sense of urgency, as people are felt they have to make decisions to do either this or that.

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Antidotes to Either/Or Thinking

  • Notice when people use either/or language &push to come up with more than two alternatives;
  • Notice when people are simplifying complex issues, particularly when the stakes seem high or an urgent decision needs to be made;
  • Slow it down & encourage ppl to do a deeper analysis;
  • When ppl are faced w/an urgent decision, take a break & give ppl some breathing room to think creatively;
  • Avoid making decisions under extreme pressure.

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How do you see these characteristics playing out in your daily work or life?

Please use the chatbox to enter your responses.

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Fear of Open Conflict

  • Ppl in power scared of conflict & try to ignore or run from it;
  • When someone raises an issue that causes discomfort, the response is to blame the person for raising the issue rather than to look at the issue which is actually causing the problem;
  • Emphasis on being polite;
  • Equating the raising of difficult issues with being impolite, rude, or out of line.

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Antidotes to the Fear of Open Conflict

  • Role play ways to handle conflict before conflict happens;
  • Distinguish between being polite & raising hard issues;
  • Don't require those who raise hard issues to raise them in acceptable ways, especially if you are using the ways in which issues are raised as an excuse not to address the issues being raised;
  • Once a conflict is resolved, take the opportunity to revisit it and see how it might have been handled differently.

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Objectivity

  • Belief that there is such a thing as being objective;
  • Belief that emotions are inherently destructive, irrational, & should not play a role in decision-making or group process;
  • Invalidating ppl who show emotion;
  • Requiring ppl to think in a linear fashion & ignoring or invalidating those who think in other ways;
  • Impatience with any thinking that does not appear logical to those with power.

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Antidotes to Objectivity

  • Realize that everybody has a world view and that everybody's world view affects the way they understand things;
  • Realize this means you too;
  • Push yourself to sit with discomfort when people are expressing themselves in ways which are not familiar to you;
  • Assume that everybody has a valid point and your job is to understand what that point is.

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Right to Comfort

  • Belief that those with power have a right to emotional & psychological comfort (another aspect of valuing logic over emotion);
  • Scapegoating those who cause discomfort;
  • Equating individual acts of unfairness against white people with systemic racism which daily targets people of color.

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Antidotes to the Right to Comfort

  • Understand that discomfort is at the root of all growth and learning;
  • Welcome it as much as you can;
  • Deepen your political analysis of racism & oppression so you have a strong understanding of how your personal experience and feelings fit into a larger picture;
  • Don't take everything personally.

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Refuse white supremacy

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How we can stop contributing to anti-blackness

  • Stop perpetuating white = the ideal
  • Recognize and reject negative portrayals of Black people
  • Educate ourselves & our families
  • Understand that the fight for social justice for Black people is directly tied to our own struggles for justice

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(Chung 2016)

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Oppression is interlocked. You can only account for the experiences of violence if you understand all of the ways that different kinds of violence reinforce each other.

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(Richie 2015, 266)

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What is solidarity?

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solidarity:

unity (as of a group or class) that produces or is based on community of interests, objectives, and standards

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David Stovall clip

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The BIPOC Project’s Solidarity Principles

  1. Decolonize Stories - Seek, learn, share and affirm the distinct histories of BIPOC communities; and unlearn dominant narratives
  2. Develop a Power Analysis - Consider how each BIPOC community is differently situated in the racial hierarchy and differently affected by issues
  3. Uplift Native and Black Humanity - Honor the legacies of Native and Black resistance to colonization and white supremacy; and actively examine how disparities and injustices uniquely affect Native and Black communities
  4. Organize Your People – ‘Call in’ your communities to deeper understanding and empathy for all BIPOC communities with love and compassion
  5. Build Intergroup Connections and Relationships – Build just relationships; and invest in one another’s liberation
  6. Commit to Personal and Collective Healing – Practice both individual and community care; acknowledge ruptures and invite connection; and center healing and transformative justice

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What are some challenges or opportunities you’ve encountered?

Please use the chatbox to enter your responses.

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Every member of the community holds pieces of the solution, even if we are all engaged in different layers of the work.

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(brown 2017, 63)

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Tiffany Loftin clip

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What You Can Do To Act in Solidarity

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“nothing that we do that is worthwhile is done alone.”

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(Mariame Kaba)

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Thanks!

Any questions ?

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You can find me at

  • @sofiayleung on Twitter
  • dobetterworkshops@gmail.com
  • sofiayleung.com

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References

A Letter From Young Asian Americans, To Their Parents, About Black Lives Matter from Code Switch. (n.d.). Retrieved February 22, 2020, from https://www.stitcher.com/s?eid=45547888

About Us. (n.d.). The BIPOC Project. Retrieved February 23, 2020, from https://www.thebipocproject.org/about-us

Ansley, F. L. (1989). Stirring the Ashes: Race Class and the Future of Civil Rights Scholarship. Cornell Law Review, 74(6), 994–1077.

brown, adrienne maree. (2017). Emergent strategy—Shaping change, changing worlds. AK Press.

Chotiner, I. (2020, May 7). How Racism Is Shaping the Coronavirus Pandemic. The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/how-racism-is-shaping-the-coronavirus-pandemic

Chung, J. (400 C.E., 46:41). How Asian Immigrants Learn Anti-Blackness From White Culture, And How To Stop It. HuffPost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/how-asian-americans-can-stop-contributing-to-anti-blackness_b_599f0757e4b0cb7715bfd3d4

Dumas, M. J., & ross, kihana miraya. (2016). “Be Real Black for Me”: Imagining BlackCrit in Education. Urban Education, 51(4), 415–442.

Ewing, E. (n.d.). Mariame Kaba: Everything Worthwhile Is Done With Other People. Adi Magazine. Retrieved February 22, 2020, from https://adimagazine.com/articles/mariame-kaba-everything-worthwhile-is-done-with-other-people/

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References

Iyer, D. (n.d.). Network Weavers (No. 8) [Podcast]. Retrieved February 22, 2020, from https://www.solidarityis.org/podcasts

Joffe, J. (n.d.). Kids tell the Herstory of Grace Lee Boggs, Detroit Activist- Radical Cram School S2 E3. Retrieved February 22, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5TFcvB-kZg&list=PLPW9Ncg5SLWTKCleNRUVqI-sv9zxu57Fe&index=4&t=0s

Kelly, K. (n.d.). Me & White Supremacy: Layla Saad (No. 23). Retrieved February 25, 2020, from https://www.ctznwell.org/ctznpodcast/layla-saad

KIM, C. J. (1999). The Racial Triangulation of Asian Americans. Politics & Society, 27(1), 105–138. https://doi.org/10.1177/0032329299027001005

Kuo, I. (2018, August 31). The ‘Whitening’ of Asian Americans. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/08/the-whitening-of-asian-americans/563336/

Letters for Black Lives. (n.d.). Letters for Black Lives. Retrieved February 22, 2020, from https://lettersforblacklives.com/

Mckesson, D., Packnett Cunningham, B., Sinyangwe, S., & Smith, C. (n.d.). Justice for Ahmaud Arbery (with State Senator Bill Ferguson) (No. 162). Retrieved May 12, 2020, from https://crooked.com/podcast/justice-for-ahmaud-arbery-with-state-senator-bill-ferguson/

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References

Nakagawa, S. (2012, May 4). Blackness Is The Fulcrum. Race Files. https://www.racefiles.com/2012/05/04/blackness-is-the-fulcrum/

Okun, T., & Jones, K. (n.d.). White Supremacy Culture. Dismantling Racism Works. Retrieved June 1, 2019, from http://dismantlingracism.org/uploads/4/3/5/7/43579015/whitesupcul13.pdf

Oluo, I. (2019). So You Want to Talk About Race (Reprint edition). Seal Press.

Remembering Grace Lee Boggs (1915-2015): “We Have to Change Ourselves in Order to Change the World.” (n.d.). Democracy Now. Retrieved February 22, 2020, from http://www.democracynow.org/2015/10/6/remembering_grace_lee_boggs_1915_2015

Revolutionary Change: The Role of the Disruptor | Talks at Google. (n.d.). Retrieved February 24, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lA904QloSs&feature=youtu.be&t=4022

Richie, B. E. (2015). Reimagining the Movement to End Gender Violence: Anti-racism, Prison Abolition, Women of Color Feminisms, and Other Radical Visions of Justice (Transcript). University of Miami Race & Social Justice Law Review, 5(2). http://repository.law.miami.edu/umrsjlr/vol5/iss2/6

Solomon, A., & Rankin, K. (2019). How We Fight White Supremacy: A Field Guide to Black Resistance. Bold Type Books.

Taylor, K.-Y. (Ed.). (2017). How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective. Haymarket Books.

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Credits

Special thanks to all the people who made and released these awesome resources for free:

  • Presentation template by SlidesCarnival
  • Photographs by Unsplash

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