What skills, tools and approaches are useful in encouraging white people to sustain balanced engagement with anti-racism/racial justice education and work? How can we cultivate resilience (as opposed to white fragility) in ourselves, our communities, and our movements? 

 

White Fragility is defined by Robin DiAngelo as “A state in which even a minimum amount of racial stress becomes intolerable, triggering a range of defensive moves. These moves include the outward display of emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and behaviors such as argumentation, silence, and leaving the stress-inducing situation (2011).” 

 

Resilience is, in part, defined as:

 

1.   Staying with the conversation

 2.   Giving and receiving information and feedback from facilitators and peers without becoming highly defensive, reactive, or shut down/dissociated for long period of time

 3.   Managing the guilt and shame that can arise in learning about the history and current reality of race and racism in the US.

 

This workshop explores the role of the body, community, spirituality, intellectual knowledge and other themes that you bring from your experience. We cover basic information about how the nervous system responds to perceived threats, and explore how to work with this toward greater resilience in moments of challenge.

 

This curriculum was developed as part of the MSW thesis research of White Noise Collective member Kat Roubos. Check out their website to learn more about their work, and read their thesis “Cultivating resilience: antidotes to white fragility in racial justice education” if you are interested!