This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon: Welcome to the final installment of the Racial Baggage Challenge! Hopefully you shed some “weight” and learned something about yourself in the process.
This week focuses on how to continue the work of shedding racial baggage outside of structured exercises such as this one. A mentor of mine, Beverly Daniel Tatum, writes about the importance of working within your sphere of influence. This phrase means you need to understand where you have power and use it.
For example, you might be the organizer of this month’s book club. Perhaps you choose a book that exposes the readers to experiences of a different racial or ethnic group. You might find yourself responsible for helping to recruit for new board members. As a result of the reflection you have done, you might see more clearly the need to recruit broadly perhaps even explicitly encouraging the group to make the pool, from with you will choose, racially diverse.
Whether you are an official or unofficial leader in a group, you can use that position to influence actions that will support you and others continuing to shed racial baggage. It might feel uncomfortable to suggest a book outside the group’s norm. Or perhaps you are worried about how to expand your network to recruit a wide pool. Those concerns are not without merit, but they are also not reasons to give up.
Here are some warning signs that sociologist Allan Johnson (http://www.amazon.com/Privilege-Power-Difference-Allan-Johnson/dp/0072874899/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1369762256&sr=1-1&keywords=johnson+privilege+power+difference) suggests we look out for as we work for racial justice.
- Deny and minimize
- Blame the victim
- Call it something else
- Claim, “It’s better this way.”
- Assert, “It doesn’t count if you don’t mean it.”
- Declare, “I’m one of the good ones.”
- Defend, “I’m just sick and tired.”
If you find yourself using one of these tactics, step back and consider that you might looking for a way to avoid the tough work.
Johnson urges us to embrace the hook that we are on rather than use these strategies to get off it. He acknowledges that it can be uncomfortable to name our privilege but encourages us to see it as a challenge, or opportunity, rather than a terrible affliction.
A piece of advice I offer to those I work with is to assume we are going to offend and agree to work through the subsequent conflict rather than walking on eggshells, being PC, to avoid confrontation or disagreement. Reflecting on our own “stuff” without getting defensive, naming what we see in our workplaces and society, and working proactively and intentionally to unload the baggage we’ve accumulated is no small feat.
I am honored you were intrigued enough to join me on this Racial Baggage Challenge and thank you for your interest. Stay on the hook and work that sphere of influence!
Goal: Reflect on how you will continue the work of the challenge.
Challenge:
- Retake the same IAT from week 1.
- Name at least 3 spheres of influence where you could share information or influence change to be more inclusive (e.g. your home, work, place of worship, community group, book club, etc.)
- Keep in touch. I would love to hear how your exploration and information gathering from last week went, and I welcome hearing about barriers and successes in general. You can stay in touch on my site, via email, or join the conversation on Facebook.