racism: we white people are the dangerous ones
TRANSCRIPT
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Racism: We White People are the Dangerous OnesJane F. Gilgun, Ph.D., LICSW
Professor
School of Social Work
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, USA
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Topics
•Projections
•Racism
• Effects of Racism
• Intersectionality
• Identity
•Resistance
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Projections
• “If a person constructs a situation [or person] as real, they are real in their consequences” (Thomas theorem)•Projection: seeing others through
our own fears, stereotypes, and beliefs; • projections are below levels of
awareness•We don’t realize we’re doing it
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Racism
• Racism: constructions of persons with similar physical features based on beliefs & practices held by persons who are members of groups with more power, privilege, & prestige
• Physical features:
• Color of skin
• Shape of eyes
• Shape of body
• Types of hair
• Food
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Racism as Projection
• We project our beliefs and images on others
• We therefore construct others based on what is inside of us and outside of our awareness
• In racism,
• We project negative inner beliefs & images
• We are unaware that we construct others on the basis of our beliefs & images
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Racism Leads to Harm
• Racist beliefs and images construct others
• As not as good as we are
• As dangerous
• As people to be feared
• As people who want to hurt us
• As people who are not as smart as we are
• As people who are not as worthy as we are
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Racism Leads to Harm
•With these beliefs
•We are the dangerous ones
•We are people to fear
•Our beliefs and images bring great harm to others
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Change
• We can change our racist beliefs & practices
• By becoming aware of them
• Group and individual work where we reflect on our beliefs and experiences with persons of other races
• If we are white, individual and group work on
• Our own privileges
• The sources of our privileges• Whose work makes our privileges possible?
• Is anyone underpaid or exploited in any way to maintain
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Change
• Immerse ourselves in non-white cultures• Visits ethnic neighborhoods
• Go to ethnic spoken word
• View ethnic art exhibits, movies
• Join advocacy efforts
• Learn histories of non-white people
• Start discussion groups related to racism
• Get training on cultural sensitivity
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Effects of Racism: Structurally/Institutionally
• US: long history of institutionalized racism
• Limits power, privilege, prestige, opportunities
• Disproportionality that results from racist constructions of other people:
• Poverty
• Quality of education
• Expulsion from schools
• Child protection cases
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Effects of Racism: Structurally/Institutionally
• Disproportionality
• Police killings
• Increased scrutiny at airports
• Arrests; Crack vs. powder cocaine
• Juvenile/adult prison populations
• Physical health
• Access to medical care
• Alternative economies
• longevity
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Effects of Racism: Interpersonal
• Daily microaggressions
• Pejorative language regarding identity
• Dehumanizing
• Becomes embedded in brain circuits from an early age
• Inner working models
• Adult reactions to normal child behavior
• Appears to vary by adult perceptions of the meaningsof appearance/race/gender
• White children may be treated more benevolently that children who do not look European American
• If persons define situations as real, they are real in their consequences
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Advantages of Dehumanizing Others• Historically
• Genocide of American Indians freed up the land
• US Economy boomed during slavery
• Today: Cheap Labor
• Farm workers
• Undocumented workers
• For Some, Feeling Superior is a Boost
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Practice Principles
• Children of color who act out in schools & elsewhere require special care
• Often have experienced complex trauma• Experiences of racism included
• Have a systems of beliefs that guide their behaviors
• Work with parents and the children
• Work with school personnel
• Develop relationships
• Offer services such as group work, recreational opportunities, opportunities to develop talents
• Recreational opportunities that build on children’s interests
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Effects of Racism: Interpersonal
• How young people think is laid down in the brains’ neural pathways from birth and even before birth.
• Experiences shapes us long before we have choices about how to behave
• We have choices about how we behave but our choices are limited according to our interpretations of our experiences
• Practice principle:
• Our jobs are to understand other persons’ interpretations of their experiences
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Effects of Racism: Interpersonal• Parents socialize children
• By who they are
• Some model resilience in racist contexts
• Some do not
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Effects of Racism: Interpersonal• Parents socialize children (cont’d)
• By how they respond to their children
• Some socialize their children to understand and cope with racisms
• Some cannot: too disorganized themselves
• Many others socialize children
• Some foster coping well with racism: resilience
• Some do not
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Practice Principles
• Empathy
• Listen
• Seek to understand meanings of behaviors
• Don’t assume
• You can’t do much
• Be a reflective practitioner
• Open up to internalized racism
• Think in terms of butterfly effect
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Practice Principles
• Dealing with our own privileges
• We have them
• We did not chose them
• We accept them
• We know we are no better than anyone else
• SW Ethics
• Dignity & worth of all persons
• Social and economic justice
• Care
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Practice Principles
• We are social workers because of these values
• Others may be defensive about their privilege
• Some unmovable
• Some open to change
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Practice Principles
• Words encapsulate beliefs about other people.
• These beliefs translate into policies,
• programs, every day practices, and inner working models of those
• who hold these beliefs and
• those who are the subject of these beliefs.
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Intersectionality/Identity
• Race & gender
• Differential effects of racism by gender
• Practice Question• What do behaviors mean in the contexts of
racism and gender• How about when poverty is an issue?
• How about when age is an issue?
• How about sexual identity?
• Unaddressed complex trauma at issue?
• Parents with unaddressed complex trauma?
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Identity Formation
• Who am in these intersectionalities of status variables?
• How do I internalize experiences connected to intersectionalities?
• What specific experiences have I had that connect to these intersectionalities?
• How are these intersectionalities connected to cultural-wide beliefs and practices?
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Coping & Resistance
• Coping=Resilience
• Resilience=adversities + use of resources
• Racism-Specific Coping
• Identify the adversities
• Respond to the adversities
• Structural/culture wide responses
• Interpersonal responses
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Coping & Resistance
• Responses to adversities associated with racisms
• Structural/culture wide responses
• Critical race theory
• Names racist practices
• Advocates against racist practices & beliefs
• Counterstories to push back against dominant stories
• Research & Teaching
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Coping & Resistance
• Responses to the adversities
• Research & Teaching
• Organized resistance: Example
• Civil rights movement
• Chavez: National Farm Workers’ Movement
• Ghandi in India
• Advocacy & Organizing
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Coping & Resistance
•Responses to the adversities
• Policies--examples
• Scholarships & Grants
• Head Start
• Indigenous Peoples Day
• Voting Rights
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Coping & Resistance
• Interpersonal responses
• Parents socialize children
• Other institutions socialize children
• Invite children and parents in
• Be safe havens
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Coping & Resistance
• Interpersonal responses (Continue)
• Teachers, social service providers
• UNDERSTAND PERSONS IN CONTEXTS
• Listen, show, teach, and refer when professional services are required
• Partner with parents, schools, legislators, policy makers
• Join advocacy groups
• organize
• VOTE
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Coping & Resistance
• Interpersonal responses (continued)• Create safety• Safety is first
• Children learn when they feel safe• They cooperate
• When they dysregulate• Safety is first
• Build coping once re-regulated• Listen
• Affirm
• Show other ways of responding to triggers
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Teaching about Projections
• Is racism related to projections of what is inside of us onto others?
• Do we project what is inside of us onto others?
• How about when we meet someone we like?• Are these positive projections?
• If we become friends or marry this person, do our first impressions change?• Are first impressions projections?
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Teach about Projections
• Are we aware of our projections?
• What are our beliefs and images about race?
• How do we become aware of our inner beliefs and images?
• How do we test our inner beliefs and images?
• What can we do to change our inner beliefs and images?
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Resources
• Du Bois, W.E.B. (1935). Black reconstruction. New York: Harcourt, Brace, & Co.
• Penumbra Theater, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
• Northside Achievement Zone, Minneapolis, MN, USA
• NAACP
• Critical race theory
• Social stratification theory
• Life course theory
• Early movies of Spike Lee
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Resources
• Immerse yourself in the cultures of others
• Festivals
• Novels
• Study groups
• Organizations
• Volunteer work in schools and mentoring programs
• Work in soup kitchens
• Work with the homeless
• Use your own talents in the many programs for youth in your own communities
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Resources
• Listen
• Know you don’t know
• Empathy: Walk a mile in the shoes of others
• Values: Dignity and worth of all persons of all ages, social class, gender, races, abilities, looks
• Equal opportunities, level playing grounds
• Be willing to change your mind when evidence warrants it
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Resources
•What else?