The goal of my work is to make visible the inevitable racist assumptions held, and patterns displayed, by white people conditioned from living in a white supremacist culture.
Robin DiangeloRead
As a social concept, 'white' is profound in its meaning. It means people who either come from or appear to come from Europe, but it's necessarily a construct of oppression.
Interpretation
'White' is a socially constructed term that signifies more than just race; it carries implications of power and oppression.
In this quote, Robin DiAngelo emphasizes that the concept of 'white' is not merely about ethnicity, but instead reflects a complex social construct tied to historical and systemic oppression. This suggests that understanding race requires recognizing the societal implications and power dynamics associated with being categorized as 'white'.
In practice
In discussions about race relations and systemic inequality.
The goal of my work is to make visible the inevitable racist assumptions held, and patterns displayed, by white people conditioned from living in a white supremacist culture.
Whites often respond defensively when linked to other whites as a group or 'accused' of collectively benefiting from racism, because as individuals, each white person is 'different' from any other white person and expects to be seen as such.
One of the most important misunderstandings for white people to get over to move forward is this idea that racism is a good-bad proposition - that if we're good we can't be part of it, that being uncomfortable means you're a terrible person. We have to let go of that and understand it as a system we all live in.
You have to be in accountable relationships across race. Accountable means that they're authentic, they're sustained, and that you do talk about racism, and you are able to be given feedback.
This is what I have learned: Any white person living in the United States will develop opinions about race simply by swimming in the water of our culture. But mainstream sources - schools, textbooks, media - don't provide us with the multiple perspectives we need.
White consciousness is deeply anti-black, and that's for progressives and conservatives.
Take it moment by moment, and you will find that we are all, as Iβve said before, bugs in amber.
Know that you are a miracle and that you have a unique place in the cosmic plan. You are here to be the presence of love. You are here to be the presence of joy. You are here to be the presence of peace.
Nearly all our originality comes from the stamp that time impresses upon our sensibility.
There is an increasing awareness of the interrelatedness of things. We are becoming less prone to accept an immediate solution without questioning its larger implications.
We all live in suspense, from day to day, from hour to hour; in other words, we are the hero of our own story.
Envy will merit, as its shade, pursue
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