chasovschik

When I went to the workshop, as a white progressive liberal woman born and raised in Seattle, I thought I had it covered. “I’m so not racist. I’m not even actually white!” I thought triumphantly. “My mom is Dutch-Indonesian! That’s like, part-oppressed!” Nevermind that I benefit from being perceived as white every day, in every institution in the country.

I thought I could impress everyone with how evolved I was, how excellent of a grasp I had on racism. “I’m writing a book on education inequality! And race is a huge part of it! Yay, me!” Well, I didn’t have an excellent grasp on it. As the facilitators told me I would, I walked away feeling really uncomfortable and aware of my privilege as a white woman. Because now I could see the ways that I was participating in a system designed to be invisible, with the purpose of keeping people of color down.

Mirrored from Gears and Springs.