Lesson Plans: Overview

Moving the Conversation Forward: Goals of the Workbook and Instructional Resources

Throughout my career, I have seen some positive changes. When I was working on a book-length Master’s thesis on racism and emotional segregation, I had to repeatedly explain the differences between individual bigotry and systemic racism. When I was working on my doctorate, few people understood the complexities of color-blind racism. Now, people are using the language of “systemic racism,” debating terminology, developing land acknowledgements, and holding workshops. My students more easily understand my lessons on color-blind racism and are open to criticisms of color-blind policies. Some academic departments are discussing the need to decolonize the curriculum and support scholars who study racism and critical race theory. At the same time, that support is still met with resistance. Racism scholars, such as myself, question whether the seeming increase in discussions on antiracism are another iteration of system-sustaining liberals attempting to stay relevant; maintain control of the discourse, manage diversity, and contain radical change. One issue I find problematic in this regard is the constant maneuvering around terminology that is reactive rather than reflective. As I note in my book, these kinds of practices are not limited to European American liberals but can also be used by people of color who embody whiteness to varying degrees. For example, I find it strange to be corrected on the word “empowerment” (a word I have thought a lot about and will continue to use) when women of color are talking about our own empowerment or how we empower each other. I have written about empowerment in an article about teaching and times when I have felt disempowered as well as the role educators played in my life to empower me. While people in dominant racial, gender, and class positions are right to critique their own paternalism, they must also recognize the complexities and contexts of when and how various terms like this one are used. The critique of the word does not always apply to people who navigate the intersections of white supremacy, class elitism, and other systems of oppression who understand these issues and make connections with similarly positioned people to empower each other. To feel empowered means “Having the knowledge, confidence, means, or ability to do things or make decisions for oneself” (Merriam - Webster). I did not always have the knowledge or confidence to enable myself, to do things, or make decisions for myself. To make those decisions meant battling the self-doubt that came with white supremacy. Many of us still struggle with these issues, because this is not a linear process. My mentors of color have absolutely empowered me through their teaching, their research, and advice and by sharing their own stories with racial, gender, and class oppression. Being able to see someone who experienced what I experienced was more than inspiring or uplifting to me. I felt power from that. I felt EMPOWERED. This term can be condescending when an employer talks about empowering their employees or when someone coming from outside a community suggests that their research is going to empower them. It is also condescending for a privileged liberal progressive attempting to stay current with the latest critiques to tell women of color who have been researching social justice for decades, when we can and cannot use this term, when we have and have not felt empowered, and how our experiences have or have not empowered other people like us. If we are to critique terminology, it is important that we know what our critique is and to whom we are directing those critiques.

Another issue I’ve noted in the dozens of workshops and talks I’ve led or joined over the last few years is that participants remain puzzled about what we can do. This is a question many racism and anti-racism scholars and trainers repeatedly encounter when we present our work. Even when offered concrete examples or ideas on what people can do, the question remains and suggestions are either ignored or unheard. The liberal tendency to maintain and work within the status quo can be so powerful as to perpetuate inaction even as liberals ask for guidance on how to act. The question “what can we do” may simply be an attempt to virtue-signal. Or it may be that suggestions are not registering with those asking the question because they are too simple, too radical, or too daunting. I hope my book, and this accompanying workbook, will give readers the tools to begin to openly and unapologetically discuss these issues with their colleagues and accomplices to develop strategies and effectively apply them. I encourage readers to move away from asking the question “what can we do,” and toward offering examples of how they are actually applying the skills and ideas they learned from the book and widely available resources, reading lists, and workshops to center social justice. I have designed the lesson plans in this workbook with both graduate and undergraduate students in mind as well as leaders in professional, non-profit, community, and other organizations. The discussion prompts are of varying levels of difficulty and can be edited to suit the needs of people with different kinds of expertise. The plans include both theoretical and practical components. Activities can be used in classroom discussions, for student research projects, or applied by organizations to develop equity and antiracism training sessions and workshops. Let’s move to the next step of creating strategic and racism-centered, intersectional actions!