What Can White People Do
Then King asks this same audience to identify the ways in which Black racism against white people adversely impacts the lives of white people as a group. He gets silence.
What can white people do to solve seemingly intractable issues of racial injustice? This question has been posed to me, a Black woman, more times than I can count.
Over the years, I've come to see that unresolved racial issues are framed as if they belong to the realm of people of color, especially Black people. This explains why white people ask people of color to provide them with solutions.
I've also come to see that until white people begin to see the role they play in creating and maintaining unresolved racial issues, it is unlikely the United States will heal. Racism is a national problem that affects the entire nation. It therefore warrants the attention of the entire nation -- not just people of color.
Author and anti-racist lecturer Robin DiAngelo travels the country speaking and teaching on this issue. In this nine minute interview, DiAngelo sheds light on racism and white fragility.
The list of resources included at the bottom of this post was emailed to the publisher of the LA Progressive by Kevin Brown, Director of Development and Alumni Relations for Los Angeles City College Foundation during the civil unrest that erupted after the May 25, 2020 police lynching of George Floyd in Minneapolis, MN.
- Articles to read:
- “America’s Racial Contract Is Killing Us” by Adam Serwer | Atlantic (May 8, 2020)
- Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement (Mentoring a New Generation of Activists
- ”My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant” by Jose Antonio Vargas | NYT Mag (June 22, 2011)
- The 1619 Project (all the articles) | The New York Times Magazine
- The Combahee River Collective Statement
- We Can't Train Our Way to Racial Equity| Fakequity.com (November 2017)
- “The Intersectionality Wars” by Jane Coaston | Vox (May 28, 2019)
- Tips for Creating Effective White Caucus Groups developed by Craig Elliott PhD
- “Where do I donate? Why is the uprising violent? Should I go protest?” by Courtney Martin (June 1, 2020)
- ”White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Knapsack Peggy McIntosh
- “Who Gets to Be Afraid in America?” by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi | Atlantic (May 12, 2020)
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Recommended Articles
- Videos to watch:
- Cracking the Codes: The System of Racial Inequity
- Black Feminism & the Movement for Black Lives: Barbara Smith, Reina Gossett, Charlene Carruthers (50:48)
- "How Studying Privilege Systems Can Strengthen Compassion" | Peggy McIntosh at TEDxTimberlaneSchools (18:26)
- Cracking the Codes: Joy DeGruy "A trip to the Grocery Store" (3:48 Minutes)
- Dr. Joy DeGruy on empathy for Black People in America (11:53 Minutes)
- Podcasts to subscribe to:
- 1619 (New York Times)
- About Race
- Code Switch (NPR)
- Intersectionality Matters! hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw
- Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast
- Pod For The Cause (from The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights)
- Pod Save the People (Crooked Media)
- Seeing White
- Books to read:
- Black Feminist Thought by Patricia Hill Collins
- Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Dr. Brittney Cooper
- Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon
- How To Be An Antiracist by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi
- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
- Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
- Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad
- Raising Our Hands by Jenna Arnold
- Redefining Realness by Janet Mock
- Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
- So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
- The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
- The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
- The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
by Michelle Alexander - The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First Century
by Grace Lee Boggs - The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
- Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
- This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color by Cherríe Moraga
- When Affirmative Action Was White: An Untold History of Racial Inequality in Twentieth-Century America by Ira Katznelson
- White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo, PhD
- White Like Me by Tim Wise
- Films and TV series to watch:
- 13th (Ava DuVernay) — Netflix
- American Son (Kenny Leon) — Netflix
- Black Power Mixtape: 1967-1975 — Available to rent
- Blindspotting (Carlos López Estrada) — Hulu with Cinemax or available to rent
- Clemency (Chinonye Chukwu) — Available to rent
- Dear White People (Justin Simien) — Netflix
- Fruitvale Station (Ryan Coogler) — Available to rent
- I Am Not Your Negro (James Baldwin doc) — Available to rent or on Kanopy
- If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins) — Hulu
- Just Mercy (Destin Daniel Cretton) — Available to rent
- King In The Wilderness — HBO
- See You Yesterday (Stefon Bristol) — Netflix
- Selma (Ava DuVernay) — Available to rent
- The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution — Available to rent
- The Hate U Give (George Tillman Jr.) — Hulu with Cinemax
- When They See Us (Ava DuVernay) — Netflix
- 1971 (Johanna Hamilton) - YouTube - Available to rent
- Organizations to follow:
- Antiracism Center: Twitter
- Audre Lorde Project: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- Black Women’s Blueprint: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- Color Of Change: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- Colorlines: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- Coming to the Table: FacebookWebsite
- The Conscious Kid: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- Embracing Race: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Website
- Equal Justice Initiative (EJI): Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- Families Belong Together: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- MPowerChange: Twitter | Instagram | FacebookWebsite
- Muslim Girl: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- NAACP: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- National Domestic Workers Alliance: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- Othering & Belonging: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Website
- Racial Equity Tools: LinkedIn | FacebookWebsite
- RAICES: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ): Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- SisterSong: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- United We Dream: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- White People for Black Lives: Website
- More anti-racism resources to check out:
- Stuff You Should Know - The Tulsa Massacre
- 75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice
- Anti-Racism Project
- Jenna Arnold’s resources (books and people to follow)
- Rachel Ricketts’ anti-racism resources
- Resources for White People to Learn and Talk About Race and Racism
- Save the Tears: White Woman’s Guide by Tatiana Mac
- Showing Up For Racial Justice’s educational toolkits
- The [White] Shift on Instagram
- “Why is this happening?” — an introduction to police brutality from 100 Year Hoodie
- Zinn Education Project’s teaching materials
- NPR Up First BONUS: American PoliceDocument compiled by Sarah Sophie Flicker, Alyssa Klein, Sharon Kyle in 2020.
- Resources for white parents to raise anti-racist children:
- Books: Coretta Scott King Book Award Winners: books for children and young adults 31 Children's books to support conversations on race, racism and resistance
- Podcasts: Parenting Forward podcast episode ‘Five Pandemic Parenting Lessons with Cindy Wang Brandt’ Fare of the Free Child podcast Integrated Schools podcast episode “Raising White Kids with Jennifer Harvey”
- Articles: PBS’s Teaching Your Child About Black History Month Your Kids Aren't Too Young to Talk About Race: Resource Roundup from Pretty Good Talking to Children About Racial Bias
