me and white supremacy - Layla F Saad

 I read this book for a reading club seeking to understand our biases and beliefs around race.  It's written as a series of thoughtful, progressive essays followed by questions to be answered in writing where you reflect on the reading and your experiences with the topic.  The author's state that "the primary force that drives my work is a passionate desire to become a good ancestor" - by which she means to "seed new possibilities for those who will come after I am gone."

The author shares the definition of white supremacy as "a racist ideology that is based upon the belief that white people are superior in many ways to people of other races and that therefore, white people should be dominant over other races".  It explores not only the belief but its impact on organizations, societies and institutions in a culture.  The book looks at how this is manifested and experienced at a personal and individual level.

I admit this was a difficult book to work through and I'm glad I had the support of a study group.

Quotes:

"...when we don't agree with the answers we have demanded, we all too often feel qualified to dismiss them."

p. 212 - the Circle Way by Christina Baldwin and Ann Linnea

p. 178 - White feminism is an extension of white supremacy.  It is only concerned with white women gaining parity with white men.

Published: 2020  Read: April 2022  Genre: Sociology, Non-Fiction

White Fragility - Robin Diangelo

Sub-title: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism

In the current political and social environment, this book was recommended to me by a relative who had read it for a diversity program.  This was a difficult read as it provided a viewpoint I don't think I'd been exposed to in the past and challenged my thinking on the topic of race.  

The author explains the evolution of white privilege in our society and its consequences and why it is so difficult to see ourselves as racist as a result of being born and raised in it.  I have a long way to go.

Quotes:

"The idea of racial inferiority was created to justify unequal treatment; belief in racial inferiority is not what triggered unequal treatment...first, we exploited people for their resources, not according to how they looked."

"Narratives of racial exceptionality [example of Jackie Robinson first African American in major league baseball] obscure the reality on ongoing institutional white control while reinforcing the ideologies of individualism and meritocracy." 

[Color blind - insists they don't see race, Color celebrate - sees and embraces diversity] "All the statements [made by these groups of people] ultimately function in a similar way; they all exempt the person from any responsibility for or participation in the problem." 

[Difference between race prejudice /discrimination and racism] While everyone of every race holds prejudice and can discriminate against someone of another race, in the US and other white/settler nations, only white people are in the position to oppress people of color collectively and throughout the whole of society."

"Conceptualizing myself on an active continuum changes the question from whether I am or am not racist to a much more constructive question: Am I actively seeking to interrupt racism in this context?  And perhaps even more importantly, how do I know?" 

"White fragility is also evidenced in the need for so many white progressives to 'build trust' before they can explore racism..[they are saying].I need to trust that you won't think I am racist before I can work on my racism." 

"To let go of the messenger and focus on the message is an advanced skill...Part of processing of that feedback [on our racist behavior and thoughts] will be to separate it from its delivery and ascertain the central point and its contribution to my growth." 

Published:  2018  Read: April 2021  Genre: Sociology, Politics