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DeadPrez DeadPrez is offline
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Old Feb 19th, 2003, 11:14 PM        White Supremacy Culture
This is a list of characteristics of white supremacy culture which show up in
our
organizations. 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.
They are damaging because they promote white supremacy thinking. They are
damaging to
both people of color and to white people. Organizations that are people of
color led or a
majority people of color can also demonstrate many damaging characteristics of
white
supremacy culture.

Perfectionism

little appreciation expressed among people for the work that others are
doing;
appreciation that is expressed usually directed to those who get most of
the credit
anyway
more common is to point out either how the person or work is inadequate
or even more common, to talk to others about the inadequacies of a person
or their
work without ever talking directly to them
mistakes are seen as personal, i.e. they reflect badly on the person
making them as
opposed to being seen for what they are — mistakes
making a mistake is confused with being a mistake, doing wrong with being
wrong
little time, energy, or money put into reflection or identifying lessons
learned that
can improve practice, in other words little or no learning from mistakes
tendency to identify what’s wrong; little ability to identify, name,
and appreciate
what’s right

antidotes: develop a culture of appreciation, where the organization takes
time to make sure that people’s work and efforts are appreciated; develop a
learning organization, where it is expected that everyone will make mistakes
and those mistakes offer opportunities for learning; create an environment
where people can recognize that mistakes sometimes lead to positive results;
separate the person from the mistake; when offering feedback, always speak
to the things that went well before offering criticism; ask people to offer
specific suggestions for how to do things differently when offering
criticism


Sense of Urgency

continued sense of urgency that makes it difficult to take time to be
inclusive,
encourage democratic and/or thoughtful decision-making, to think long-
term, to
consider consequences
frequently results in sacrificing potential allies for quick or highly
visible results,
for example sacrificing interests of communities of color in order to win
victories
for white people (seen as default or norm community)
reinforced by funding proposals which promise too much work for too
little money
and by funders who expect too much for too little

antidotes: realistic workplans; leadership which understands that things take
longer than anyone expects; discuss and plan for what it means to set goals
of inclusivity and diversity, particularly in terms of time; learn from past
experience how long things take; write realistic funding proposals with
realistic time frames; be clear about how you will make good decisions in an
atmosphere of urgency


Defensiveness

the organizational structure is set up and much energy spent trying to
prevent abuse
and protect power as it exists rather than to facilitate the best out of
each person or
to clarify who has power and how they are expected to use it
because of either/or thinking (see below), criticism of those with power
is viewed
as threatening and inappropriate (or rude)
people respond to new or challenging ideas with defensiveness, making it
very
difficult to raise these ideas
a lot of energy in the organization is spent trying to make sure that
people’s feelings
aren’t getting hurt or working around defensive people
the defensiveness of people in power creates an oppressive culture

antidotes: understand that structure cannot in and of itself facilitate or
prevent abuse; understand the link between defensiveness and fear (of
losing power, losing face, losing comfort, losing privilege); work on your
own defensiveness; name defensiveness as a problem when it is one; give
people credit for being able to handle more than you think; discuss the ways
in which defensiveness or resistance to new ideas gets in the way of the
mission


Quantity Over Quality

all resources of organization are directed toward producing measurable
goals
things that can be measured are more highly valued than things that
cannot, for
example numbers of people attending a meeting, newsletter circulation,
money
spent are valued more than quality of relationships, democratic decision-
making,
ability to constructively deal with conflict
little or no value attached to process; if it can't be measured, it has
no value
discomfort with emotion and feelings
no understanding that when there is a conflict between content (the
agenda of the
meeting) and process (people’s need to be heard or engaged), process
will prevail
(for example, you may get through the agenda, but if you haven't paid
attention to
people’s need to be heard, the decisions made at the meeting are
undermined and/or
disregarded)

antidotes: include process or quality goals in your planning; make sure your
organization has a values statement which expresses the ways in which you
want to do your work; make sure this is a living document and that people
are using it in their day to day work; look for ways to measure process
goals (for example if you have a goal of inclusivity, think about ways you
can measure whether or not you have achieved that goal); learn to recognize
those times when you need to get off the agenda in order to address
people’s underlying concerns


Worship of the Written Word

if it’s not in a memo, it doesn't exist
the organization does not take into account or value other ways in which
information gets shared
those with strong documentation and writing skills are more highly
valued, even in
organizations where ability to relate to others is key to the mission
antidotes: take
the time to analyze how people inside and outside the organization get
and share
information; figure out which things need to be written down and come up
with
alternative ways to document what is happening; work to recognize the
contributions and skills that every person brings to the organization
(for example,
the ability to build relationships with those who are important to the
organization’s
mission)
only one right way
the belief there is one right way to do things and once people are
introduced to the
right way, they will see the light and adopt it
when they do not adapt or change, then something is wrong with them (the
other,
those not changing), not with us (those who ‘know’ the right way)
similar to the missionary who does not see value in the culture of other
communities, sees only value in their beliefs about what is good

antidotes: accept that there are many ways to get to the same goal; once the
group has made a decision about which way will be taken, honor that
decision and see what you and the organization will learn from taking that
way, even and especially if it is not the way you would have chosen; work
on developing the ability to notice when people do things differently and
how those different ways might improve your approach; look for the
tendency for a group or a person to keep pushing the same point over and
over out of a belief that there is only one right way and then name it; when
working with communities from a different culture than yours or your
organization’s, be clear that you have some learning to do about the
communities’ ways of doing; never assume that you or your organization
know what’s best for the community in isolation from meaningful
relationships with that community


Paternalism

decision-making is clear to those with power and unclear to those without
it
those with power think they are capable of making decisions for and in
the interests
of those without power
those with power often don't think it is important or necessary to
understand the
viewpoint or experience of those for whom they are making decisions
those without power understand they do not have it and understand who does
those without power do not really know how decisions get made and who
makes
what decisions, and yet they are completely familiar with the impact of
those
decisions on them

antidotes: make sure that everyone knows and understands who makes what
decisions in the organization; make sure everyone knows and understands
their level of responsibility and authority in the organization; include people
who are affected by decisions in the decision-making


Either/Or Thinking

things are either/or — good/bad, right/wrong, with us/against us
closely linked to perfectionism in making it difficult to learn from
mistakes or
accommodate conflict
no sense that things can be both/and
results in trying to simplify complex things, for example believing that
poverty is
simply a result of lack of education
creates conflict and increases sense of urgency, as people are felt they
have to make
decisions to do either this or that, with no time or encouragement to
consider
alternatives, particularly those which may require more time or resources

antidotes: notice when people use ‘either/or’ language and push to come up
with more than two alternatives; notice when people are simplifying
complex issues, particularly when the stakes seem high or an urgent
decision needs to be made; slow it down and encourage people to do a
deeper analysis; when people are faced with an urgent decision, take a break
and give people some breathing room to think creatively; avoid making
decisions under extreme pressure


Power Hoarding

little, if any, value around sharing power
power seen as limited, only so much to go around
those with power feel threatened when anyone suggests changes in how
things
should be done in the organization, feel suggestions for change are a
reflection on
their leadership
those with power don't see themselves as hoarding power or as feeling
threatened
those with power assume they have the best interests of the organization
at heart
and assume those wanting change are ill-informed (stupid), emotional,
inexperienced

antidotes: include power sharing in your organization’s values statement;
discuss what good leadership looks like and make sure people understand
that a good leader develops the power and skills of others; understand that
change is inevitable and challenges to your leadership can be healthy and
productive; make sure the organization is focused on the mission


Fear of Open Conflict

people in power are scared of conflict and try to ignore it or run from it
when someone raises an issue that causes discomfort, the response is to
blame the
person for raising the issue rather than to look at the issue which is
actually causing
the problem
emphasis on being polite
equating the raising of difficult issues with being impolite, rude, or
out of line

antidotes: role play ways to handle conflict before conflict happens;
distinguish between being polite and raising hard issues; don't require those
who raise hard issues to raise them in ‘acceptable’ ways, especially if you
are using the ways in which issues are raised as an excuse not to address
the issues being raised; once a conflict is resolved, take the opportunity to
revisit it and see how it might have been handled differently


Individualism

little experience or comfort working as part of a team
people in organization believe they are responsible for solving problems
alone
accountability, if any, goes up and down, not sideways to peers or to
those the
organization is set up to serve
desire for individual recognition and credit
leads to isolation
competition more highly valued than cooperation and where cooperation is
valued,
little time or resources devoted to developing skills in how to cooperate
creates a lack of accountability, as the organization values those who
can get things
done on their own without needing supervision or guidance antidotes:
include
teamwork as an important value in your values statement; make sure the
organization is working towards shared goals and people understand how
working
together will improve performance; evaluate people’s ability to work in
a team as
well as their ability to get the job done; make sure that credit is given
to all those
who participate in an effort, not just the leaders or most public person;
make people
accountable as a group rather than as individuals; create a culture where
people
bring problems to the group; use staff meetings as a place to solve
problems, not
just a place to report activities
i’m the only one
connected to individualism, the belief that if something is going to get
done right,
‘I’ have to do it
little or no ability to delegate work to others

antidotes: evaluate people based on their ability to delegate to others;
evaluate people based on their ability to work as part of a team to
accomplish shared goals


Progress is Bigger, More

observed in systems of accountability and ways we determine success
progress is an organization which expands (adds staff, adds projects) or
develops
the ability to serve more people (regardless of how well they are serving
them)
gives no value, not even negative value, to its cost, for example,
increased
accountability to funders as the budget grows, ways in which those we
serve may
be exploited, excluded, or underserved as we focus on how many we are
serving
instead of quality of service or values created by the ways in which we
serve

antidotes: create Seventh Generation thinking by asking how the actions of
the group now will affect people seven generations from now; make sure
that any cost/benefit analysis includes all the costs, not just the financial
ones, for example the cost in morale, the cost in credibility, the cost in the
use of resources; include process goals in your planning, for example make
sure that your goals speak to how you want to do your work, not just what
you want to do; ask those you work with and for to evaluate your
performance


Objectivity

the belief that there is such a thing as being objective
the belief that emotions are inherently destructive, irrational, and
should not play a
role in decision-making or group process
invalidating people who show emotion
requiring people to think in a linear fashion and ignoring or
invalidating those who
think in other ways
impatience with any thinking that does not appear ‘logical’ to those
with power

antidotes: realize that everybody has a world view and that everybody’s
world view affects the way they understand things; realize this means you
too; push yourself to sit with discomfort when people are expressing
themselves in ways which are not familiar to you; assume that everybody
has a valid point and your job is to understand what that point is


Right to Comfort

the belief that those with power have a right to emotional and
psychological comfort
(another aspect of valuing ‘logic’ over emotion)
scapegoating those who cause discomfort
equating individual acts of unfairness against white people with systemic
racism
which daily targets people of color

antidotes: understand that discomfort is at the root of all growth and
learning; welcome it as much as you can; deepen your political analysis of
racism and oppression so you have a strong understanding of how your
personal experience and feelings fit into a larger picture; don't take
everything personally

One of the purposes of listing characteristics of white supremacy culture is
to point out how organizations which unconsciously use these
characteristics as their norms and standards make it difficult, if not
impossible, to open the door to other cultural norms and standards. As a
result, many of our organizations, while saying we want to be
multicultural, really only allow other people and cultures to come in if they
adapt or conform to already existing cultural norms. Being able to identify
and name the cultural norms and standards you want is a first step to
making room for a truly multi-cultural organization.
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ItalianStereotype ItalianStereotype is offline
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Old Feb 19th, 2003, 11:32 PM       
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El Blanco El Blanco is offline
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Old Feb 20th, 2003, 01:44 PM       
Damn, the negroids are on to us. I knew letting them read and write was a bad idea. Time for The Final Solution.
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