Defensiveness part 4
In the final reflection post on defensiveness, I want to focus on reactions to the term white supremacy characteristics. I understand the reactions that conflate white supremacy characteristics and white bodied people. However, these two are not the same. Team Okun and other at Dismantling Racism has this to say.
“Culture is powerful precisely because it is so present and at the same time so very difficult to name or identify. The characteristics listed below are damaging because they are used as norms and standards without being pro-actively named or chosen by the group and because they promote white supremacy thinking and behavior. We all live in a white supremacy culture, so these characteristics show up in the attitudes and behaviors of all of us — white people and People of Color. Therefore, the attitudes and behaviors described here can show up in any group or organization, whether it is white-led or predominantly white or People of Color-led or predominantly People of Color.”
So the extra efforts to run away from history and the cumulative facts and patterns from history to now that show the decades change, but the culture remains the same. We need to have a willingness to consider that we’ve been taught is a very “Disney” version of US History.
