Interrupt Racism to Build Greater Equity

Simply mentioning the word ‘racism’ can create an instant human reaction with three familiar responses:  freeze, fight, or flee.

Observing those responses among those who have not had the opportunity to learn about racism and how to effectively dissolve it would be understandable.

However, those who recognize racism and are trained to interrupt it can feel deeply impacted and defensive when they are called out for their racist by a person of color.

They feel the all-too-familiar wrench in the gut. They’re devastated.

I know. I’ve been there.

Early on in my career, I had to face the truth about the impact of my racist actions and live with the knowledge that I can never undo the harm I caused. After all my dedicated work as a change agent, I was called a racist. I felt shattered.

It’s been a long road and I am not done with this journey towards racial justice.  We all are learners in this game called life.

But, as the saying goes: Every expert was once a beginner. Over the years I’ve put together a toolkit to help others recognize, interrupt, and effectively dismantle racism.

And I want to share some of those tools with you in my free upcoming webinar happening February 1st, Interrupting Racism: Our Role and Responsibility as White Allies.

I want to be a force for positive change. Sign me up.

Transform Your Pain into Big Gains

Being called racist isn’t the end of the world. It can be a powerful opportunity to learn more about yourself and a gift to help you learn how to live your values each and every day.

Every experience we face in life is for us to learn from, so that we can truly become effective change agents for racial justice.

Once we are labeled racist, we tend to walk on eggshells, in fear of saying or doing anything else that might trigger the same result.

I’ll help you recognize how you were socialized to be white – and how you learned to believe racist stereotypes about people of color.

And I’ll show you how to transmute your fear into productive action. Transforming your fear and pain can lead to big gains, allowing you to bring your understanding into your critical work as a change agent for racial justice.

Live your truth as a change agent for racial justice. Sign up (FREE) today.

Racism Reveals Its Ugliness in Many Ways

As change agents, we’ve long since recognized that a racial insult is a common method of discrimination.  But it rears its repugnance in other ways.

Case Study:

A Latino workshop participant I’ll call Julian related his story.  In a team meeting, a white manager made a racist joke.  Several team members laughed along.  When Julian said he didn’t appreciate the comment, his manager looked furious, changed the subject, and started talking about the next item on the agenda.  After the meeting, Julian’s manager told him his comment was unprofessional and inappropriate – and he should never attack him in public like that.

Can you relate? Sometimes, when people of color call our behavior offensive, whites may critique how the feedback was given, shifting the focus off their behavior by blaming the person of color, or saying they’re too sensitive.

It’s simply a defense mechanism to take the focus away from our racist comment.

Want to get honest with yourself? Click here to take my “…But I’m Not Racist, Right?” quiz.

Interrupting Racism – A Free Webinar

White allies committed to social justice can feel afraid and ineffective at times. When they are labeled as racist, it disturbs them and the old record starts playing in their head:  “Maybe I’m not as good as I think. Maybe I am racist.”

My free webinar, Interrupting Racism: Our Role and Responsibility as White Allies, will help you strengthen your skills so you can deepen your understanding and your positive impact, on campus or in your organization.

Take the first step to Interrupt Racism – one easy click and you’re in!

Highlights include deepening your capacity to:

• Identify racist dynamics in daily activities (intended & unintended)
• Recognize the impact of racist dynamics on individuals and organizational goals
• Choose courage to speak up and interrupt racist dynamics
• Use proven tools to create greater racial justice in your organization

 

And as a BONUS for attending this webinar, you’ll get free copies of all of my books, supporting materials for each book, and some additional announcements that I’m saving for the webinar!

 

“As we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence actually liberates others.”

-Marianne Williamson