The brutal killing of George Floyd, coupled with the recent invasion of the Capital building by Trump supporters, has forced many white Americans to be conscious of stark disparities in racial justice for the first time. How could we white Americans be so clueless for so long? What social structures have kept many of us cocooned in ignorance while our fellow Black, Brown, Asian, Moslem and Indian neighbors suffered? What is it about white privilege that prevents us from seeing what is right before our eyes?
Beginning with my own story of moving from ignorance to dawning awareness as a middle-class white woman, I will invite my fellow white Americans to consider the ways that white Americans have historically participated in “blaming the victim”, beginning with the genocide of Indigenous peoples and the subjugation of Black Americans through chattel slavery.
Workshop participants will be invited to consider these questions: How do we move beyond guilt and superficial solidarity to meaningful action for social justice? How do we reach out to our white brothers and sisters who may still be Trump supporters or at least not “woke”? How do we continue to educate ourselves to prepare for the day when America’s color line while be erased once and for all? What do #BlackLivesMatter, #MeToo and other movements for social justice have in common? How can we best promote empathy for “the other” – those unlike us?
