Some Thoughts on this Work from Practitioner Krista McAtee

Photo by Harry Grout, Unplash.com

As a white woman, I am noticing how my language is shifting on an almost-daily basis! Our evolution is happening quickly. That said, I won’t be quiet for fear of being clumsy with my words. I make mistakes. But if I say something awkward or inept, I own it, apologize, and move on, learning from my misstep. My intention is to support inclusion for everyone.

I often remind myself of these truths that have so long lain dormant:

• There is no such thing as "not racist." We can be or act in racist OR anti-racist ways. If we are claiming "not racist," it is because we likely have not named and deconstructed the ways we have been conditioned in white supremacy.
• White folks are the ones who need to do the work of dismantling white supremacy. It is ours to do. We need to lean on other white people in our learning, grieving, discomfort, guilt, shame, advocacy—not on BIPOC (Black, indigenous, and people of color). It is not their job to forgive and educate us—it’s ours.
• We benefit. We do this work for our own hearts, for our own growth, for our own peace, to recognize our own wholeness. We have to come from a place of our personal need to transform, not from "helping" or "making it better" for BIPOC.
• We have benefited. As a white person, although I did not create this racist system/society, I have benefited from it in countless ways, visible and invisible. Saying that "I did not create it" doesn’t remove my responsibility for having participated in it and benefited from it all my life. Saying I didn't create it can serve to dismiss the experience of BIPOC and may protect my ego but does nothing to create a new and just reality.
• It is my responsibility to see, name, and deconstruct white supremacy in every space I find myself. Any time I am not doing that, I am colluding with white supremacy. This goes back to the point above: white folks need to do the heavy lifting here!