Challenging Racism: Building Understanding
Challenging Racism: Building Understanding is a bundled series of two-to-four of our Getting Started sessions structured to provide a deeper understanding of key racial equity issues and implications in society today.
HOW TO SELECT TOPICS
An effective anti-racist journey explores three fundamental components:
1. Systemic Racism, 2. Interpersonal Relations, and 3. Skills & Tools to Disrupt Racism:
1. Systemic Racism, 2. Interpersonal Relations, and 3. Skills & Tools to Disrupt Racism:
The first, Systemic Racism, reveals ways in which racism impacts our lives across institutions and society, such as Housing, Education, Law Enforcement, Healthcare, and Wealth Building & Banking. It is embedded in the policies, programs, and systems of our institutions, creating and sustaining racial inequities.
Once participants appreciate the systemic nature of racism, it is time to explore concepts impacting our Interpersonal Relations, including racial identity, privilege, bias, and discrimination. We identify racial influences in our society and examine our own behaviors, both consciously and unintentionally, and how to interrupt and challenge them.
Finally, with deeper understanding and self-reflection, we empower participants with basic Skills & Tools to Disrupt Racism. We provide practical advice and insights for these difficult conversations at home, at work, and in our communities, and ways to work for equity.
Once participants appreciate the systemic nature of racism, it is time to explore concepts impacting our Interpersonal Relations, including racial identity, privilege, bias, and discrimination. We identify racial influences in our society and examine our own behaviors, both consciously and unintentionally, and how to interrupt and challenge them.
Finally, with deeper understanding and self-reflection, we empower participants with basic Skills & Tools to Disrupt Racism. We provide practical advice and insights for these difficult conversations at home, at work, and in our communities, and ways to work for equity.
Topic Descriptions 2022
Level-Setting a Group - Create an inclusive cohort for both White and BIPOC participants with different lived experience and exposure to racial equity.
Understanding Systemic Racism - Ways in which racism is embedded in the policies, systems, and programs of our institutions, that create and sustain racial inequities.
Skills & Tools to Build DEI and Disrupt Racism - Empower participants with basic skills & tools to identify and disrupt racism and bias and build diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Level-Setting a Group - Create an inclusive cohort for both White and BIPOC participants with different lived experience and exposure to racial equity.
- Privilege: A Conversation Starter - This session often kicks off a program as an entry point for groups with varying degrees of exposure and experience with issues of racial equity. Privilege can be defined as a set of unearned benefits given to people who fit into a specific social group. Participants examine the advantages accrued from privilege – even if they are unaware that they have it – and we look at how racism is built into society in some surprising ways. It provides a foundation for the cohort, including establishing a common language, defining key racial equity terms, and setting safe conversational guidelines.
- Bias: A Conversation Starter - This session often kicks off a program as an entry point for groups with varying degrees of exposure and experience with issues of racial equity. Bias is a preference in favor of, or against, a person, group of people, or thing. Participants examine patterns of bias, and ways to challenge negative or harmful biases within us and around us. It provides a foundation for the cohort, including establishing a common language, defining key racial equity terms, and setting safe conversational guidelines.
- Equity: A Conversation Starter - This session often kicks off a program as an entry point for groups with varying degrees of exposure and experience with issues of racial equity. While “equality” means everyone has the same rights, opportunities, and resources; “equity” recognizes that equality doesn’t truly address everyone’s needs. In this session, participants examine the difference between the terms and facilitates discussions around racial equity. It provides a foundation for the cohort, including establishing a common language, defining key racial equity terms, and setting safe conversational guidelines.
Understanding Systemic Racism - Ways in which racism is embedded in the policies, systems, and programs of our institutions, that create and sustain racial inequities.
- Neighborhood Segregation and Racial Inequity - We begin by introducing the guidelines for safe conversation and racial literacy. We explore the living evidence of systemic and institutional racism through an interactive study of the Federal Housing Administration’s mid-20th century use of redlining to prevent loans to Black people. Using county maps of a local example, we demonstrate the community effect: locking in segregated housing and growing all White neighborhoods and the implications on racial inequities in housing food, income security as well as disparities in healthcare & education.
- School Segregation and Racial Inequity - In this session we explore the living evidence of systemic and institutional racism through an interactive study of the policies and practices that residentially segregated our community. Using local county maps, we demonstrate the community effect: growing all White neighborhoods and the implications on racial inequities, including disparities in education. Highly interactive design, the session provides important insights to the current challenges faced by parents in our community on issues such remote-learning during COVID and struggles with diversity and school boundaries.
- What Divides Us - Arlington Segregation Walls: The story of housing is the story of systemic racism and the struggle for Civil Rights. Although crumbling and partially swept away by flood waters, one of the most tangible and visible signs of housing segregation in Northern Virginia is the 7-ft high concrete cinder block wall erected to separate the African American community of Halls Hill in Arlington from the adjoining white housing developments in the neighborhoods known as Waycroft & Woodlawn. In this session you will learn the history of segregation walls, not all of them cinder block, and what continues to divide us in terms of fair and equitable housing.
- Racial Microaggressions: Why They Matter & How to Interrupt Them - This workshop explores what microaggressions are and invites us to examine ourselves: when and how we do microaggressions, consciously and unintentionally. Microaggressions occur in daily lives of most people of color; they are a significant source of harm and a barrier to relationship building in interracial and intercultural communities and workplaces. To foster diverse and inclusive environments, we need to identify & stop microaggressions. Participants develop strategies to recognize and interrupt their own behaviors and appropriately challenge others when needed.
- Unpacking the White Privilege Knapsack - This session offers a basic understanding of white culture and its normalization. We explore the existence (and discomfort) of white privilege and white supremacy, and white ally ship in practice. We also outline ways to recognize, disrupt, and dismantle these invisible forces in different interactions.
Skills & Tools to Build DEI and Disrupt Racism - Empower participants with basic skills & tools to identify and disrupt racism and bias and build diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- Challenging Racism Every Day - In this session, we explore stories of lived experiences of people from different races and discuss ways to support communities of color most effectively. The session provides tools and skills for difficult conversations such as neutrality, deep listening, overcoming objections, call-in vs. call-out, centering, amplifying, and how to effectively disrupt all “-isms”, including ‘racism’. Participants consider everyday scenarios and best practices for allyship. This session imparts practical insights and opportunities for deeper engagement, and additional resources for anti-“ism” communication in the workplace.
- How to Talk to Children & Adolescents about Race: Parents and educators gain a better understanding of how to effectively talk with children about issues related to race, second language, immigration, and forms of bias and oppression of one group by another. This workshop presents concrete strategies including how to watch for teachable moments and how to engage your children and others in these difficult conversations. Participants leave with resources to help expand their knowledge and skills to talk about race.
- Bias Interrupters: Bias is a preference in favor of, or against, a person, group of people, or thing. In this session, participants learn to identify patterns of bias, and ways to challenge negative or harmful biases within us and around us. Participants examine how organizations and communities can correct and prevent bias (in the workplace) by making changes to existing systems such as inclusive hiring, onboarding, communications, and operations that foster authentic connections.
- Privilege & Power - Privilege can be defined as a set of unearned benefits given to people who fit into a specific social group. In this session, participants examine the advantages accrued from privilege – even if they are unaware that they have it – and looks at how marginalization is built into society in some surprising ways. It also tackles the question of who has privilege and who has power, how to use your power and privilege to address inequities and dismantle harmful systems around you. And finally, how to effectively leverage partners to support disruption and unlock ally ship and accountability.
- White Dominance Culture - This session explores the characteristics of white dominance culture that show up in our organizations, including individualism, perfectionism, sense of urgency, defensiveness, right to comfort, quantity over quality, power hoarding, etc. Organizations which unconsciously use these characteristics as their norms and standards make it difficult to open the door to other cultural norms and standards, and only allows other people and cultures to come in if they adapt or conform. This session challenges participants to proactively identify and name desired cultural norms and standards to set the stage for building an authentic multicultural organization.