Working through Discomfort of White Fragility through the Comfort of the Gospel
Location
Cremona 202
Keywords
Day of Common Learning
Description
White Fragility is the discomfort that some white individuals feel when discussing matters of race, power, and privilege. Fragility can result in white people expressing anger, self-justification, apathy, withdrawal, and invalidation of the perspectives of people of color, thereby reinstating white dominance in conversations on race. Naturally, this stymies progress toward goals such as love, justice, and reconciliation. In this presentation, my students and I will apply a Gospel lens in describing (a) the basics of power asymmetries in the culture, (b) symptoms and historical root causes of white fragility, and (c) reasons why white fragility is so prevalent/challenging to address. Finally, we will propose several specific, easily-implemented strategies for white individuals to effectively deal with their personal discomfort that arises during race-related dialogue, so they can focus on loving their brothers and sisters of color more fully and completely. In conclusion, we will solicit questions and comments from the audience.
Copyright Status
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
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Working through Discomfort of White Fragility through the Comfort of the Gospel
Cremona 202
White Fragility is the discomfort that some white individuals feel when discussing matters of race, power, and privilege. Fragility can result in white people expressing anger, self-justification, apathy, withdrawal, and invalidation of the perspectives of people of color, thereby reinstating white dominance in conversations on race. Naturally, this stymies progress toward goals such as love, justice, and reconciliation. In this presentation, my students and I will apply a Gospel lens in describing (a) the basics of power asymmetries in the culture, (b) symptoms and historical root causes of white fragility, and (c) reasons why white fragility is so prevalent/challenging to address. Finally, we will propose several specific, easily-implemented strategies for white individuals to effectively deal with their personal discomfort that arises during race-related dialogue, so they can focus on loving their brothers and sisters of color more fully and completely. In conclusion, we will solicit questions and comments from the audience.
Rights Statement
