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WHITE
WOMEN IN POWER ALYSSA VOYLES
OFFICE OF DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION
CLARK COLLEGE The Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at Clark College provides support, outreach, and advocacy for Systemically Non-Dominant populations, which at Clark means: People of Color OFFICE OF Folx with Disabilities DIVERSITY, Queer Community EQUITY AND We offer: INCLUSION Campus Programming Training Consultation Advocacy Outreach and Recruitment Community Building WHY THIS TOPIC?
Part of Power, Privilege and Inequity training
series offered by our office Inspired by ongoing conversations (or lack of) about whiteness on our campus Seeking to fill a gap in knowledge
Goal is for attendees to takeaway an
understanding of privilege, intersectionality, and strategies to disrupt A NOTE BEFORE WE GET STARTED Some truths about me as a presenter My identities How I present
My goal for this presentation
Not calling out individuals or an identity A note that we are still centering whiteness Creating a binary Speaking in generalizations AGREEMENTS Practice self-care Make sure everyone is able to contribute Assume good intention AND acknowledge impact Experience discomfort Keep confidentiality Accept non-closure What Common definitions Whiteness White women through history
So What
AGENDA What this inequity looks like in our society
"White women's tears" Group discussion
Now What Collecting our Aunts What allyship could look like Moving forward GETTING ON THE SAME PAGE White, whiteness Broad racial categorization for folx of European descent Woman Someone who's gender identity is female In an American historical context, this has been limited to cisgender women with a feminine gender expression Feminism The advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes INTERSECTIONALIT Y Intersectionality is a theoretical framework for understanding how aspects of one's social and political identities might combine to create unique modes of discrimination. Term coined by Kimberle Williams Crenshaw in 1989 SALIENCY WHITENESS HAVING THE CONVERSATION
It's important to name whiteness
Difficult to talk about without being
defensive Ongoing lifelong work
Impact of western ideal of individualism
Whiteness as a norm Often the point where the conversation shuts down a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group. Examples of white privilege: PRIVILEG I can go shopping alone most of the time, E pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed I can easily buy posters, post-cards, picture books, greeting cards, dolls, toys and children's magazines featuring people of my race. I can chose blemish cover or bandages in "flesh" color and have them more or less match my skin. RACISM
Breaking down racism and racist
Scientific racism "Racism is a structure,
not an event" "Are" vs "why"
Implicit bias -J. Kehaulani Kauanui
Discrimination is action based on
bias/prejudice WHITE SUPREMACY
As an identity
For this presentation: an
overarching political/economic/social system of domination Power is drawn from invisibility WHITE SUPREMACY CULTURE -COINED BY TEMA OKUN
Sense of Urgency • Forces quick, inequitable decision making
Defensiveness • Criticism of those with power is viewed as threatening or rude
Worship of the written • Only one right way
word Paternalism • People in power make the decisions
Power Hoarding • Those with the power assume they know best • Those with the power have the right to Right to comfort emotional/psychological comfort
Fear of Open Conflict • Issue with person raising concern over looking at the problem WHY FOCUS ON WOMEN?
"we cannot afford to
ignore the entire picture of racism in America — and this includes men and women." -Laura Smith A LOOK AT HISTORY CAPTIVITY NARRATIVE
Creating the "other" Prominent in colonial societies SLAVERY Census data shows in 1850 and 1860 shows that white women made up about 40% of all slave owners Women were likely to inherit over land Women actively engaged in the slave market Courts often supported rights of women to preserve legal ownership over enslaved people once married White female abolitionists UNITED DAUGHTERS OF THE CONFEDERACY SUFFRAGETTES 1848 Seneca Falls Convention Only non-white attendee was Frederick Douglass Debate over priorities – freed black men, or women? First-wave feminism 14-year-old black child who was lynched
EMMETT TILL in Mississippi in 1955
Attack was a result of false accusation of flirting with and whistling at Carolyn Bryant, a 21-year-old white woman An all-white jury found murderers not guilty Covered by double jeopardy, both men confessed the following year Historians say that Till's murder was a catalyst for the next phase of the civil rights movement SECOND-WAVE FEMINISM Feminism in the 60's and 70's Priorities included reproductive care, challenging "homemaker" expectations, equal pay Dominant narrative focuses on white, east coast, middle class women Critiques include ignoring black women, who had been working outside of the home in service jobs for generations intersectionality BBQ Becky WHITE WOMEN POLICING Police called on two black men using a charcoal grill in a public park Permit Patty Police called on an 8 year old black child selling water without a permit D'Arreion Toles White woman blocked his entry into his apartment building, demanding proof he lived there. Woman followed Toles to his apartment, and called BOTHAM JEAN September 2018
Black Man who was
murdered in his own apartment by an off- duty white female police officer Defense was "mistaken identity" Controversy over sentencing portion of trial AMERICAN DIRT Oprah's book club pick Author: 2015: "I am white. The grandmother I shared with Julie and Robin was Puerto Rican, and their father is half Lebanese. But in every practical way, my family is mostly white. I’ll never know the impotent rage of being profiled, or encounter institutionalized hurdles to success because of my skin or hair or name." 2019: "I was resistant, initially, to writing from the point of view of a Mexican migrant because, no matter how much research I did, regardless of the fact that I'm Latinx, I didn't feel qualified to write in that voice." Book afterword: "I was worried that, as a nonimmigrant and non-Mexican, I had no business writing a book set almost entirely in Mexico, set entirely among immigrants, I wished someone slightly browner than me would write "OUR ENEMIES HAVE BECOME SO ARROGANT THAT THEY COUNT ON OUR SILENCE. WHEN WOMEN GET INVOLVED, A MOVEMENT BECOMES A SERIOUS THREAT." "OUR ENEMIES HAVE BECOME SO ARROGANT THAT THEY COUNT ON OUR SILENCE. WHEN WOMEN GET INVOLVED, A MOVEMENT BECOMES A SERIOUS THREAT." LANA LOKTEFF IMPACT WHITE SAVIOR COMPLEX IMPACT OF TEARS
Switches victim/perpetrator White supremacy culture Centers whiteness
Halts conversation EQUALITY VS. JUSTICE White Feminism: focuses on the policies that will help women integrate fully into the existing American system Intersectional Feminism: recognizes the fundamental flaws in the system and seeks its transformation IN YOUR GROUPS.... BEING PROGRESSIVE VS ANTIRACIST
Deeming yourself "progressive" can be detrimental Antiracist implies action, accountability, and education Know your goal
COLLECTING LOUISE Not our job to protect
Goal is to speak up and disrupt
Be patient Empathy can take time Invest in bystanders
We are allowed to be angry
Anger is an appropriate response ….but probably not too angry Fight or flight Educate yourself! People often respond to data and facts Assume everyone can learn Don't make excuses!
Avoid "Ally theatre"
We're not Ron Burgundy!
Choose your words
WWMD? SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION HOW TO HOLD YOURSELF ACCOUNTABLE
Educate yourself Confront acts of discrimination and racism Consider your spending Speak up, but also know when to be quiet RESOURCES Teen Vogue
