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You do not have to be me in order for us to fight alongside each other.  I do not have to be you to recognize that our wars are the same.  What we must do is commit ourselves to some future that can include each other and to work toward that future with the particular strengths of our individual identities.  And in order for us to do this, we must allow each other our differences at the same time as we recognize our sameness.

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This quote stuck out to me as particularly well-worded and thought-provoking:

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This quote stuck out to me as particularly well-worded and thought-provoking:

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We would not allow any of the ways in which our society prioritizes profit over people if we did not have dominant cultural beliefs that make normal what is deeply and alarmingly inhumane.

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I know he's not the most popular person in the world, but the article reminded me of the end of LBJ's "We shall overcome speech":

What happened in Selma is part of a far larger movement which reaches into every section and State of America. It is the effort of American Negroes to secure for themselves the full blessings of American life. Their cause must be our cause too. Because it is not just Negroes, but really it is all of us, who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice. And we shall overcome.

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"We are not all affected in the same ways – some of us are encouraged to join and collude without awareness that an invitation has been extended"
This quote struck me as showing why it is important for us to reflect on our own experiences in trying to dismantle white supremacy culture.

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Near the bottom of page 5, "Given how others have shown us the way, the good news is that we can and must be equally brave, bold, and fierce ancestors for those who come with and after us."
I absolutely agree with this and want to add that this work needs to happen all of the time, it needs to be constant, and it is hard work.

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When White Supremacy is ultimately dismantled, where does society go from there? Capitalism and White Supremacy is so closely woven that it makes sense that in order to dismantle it, both need to break down. What comes next?

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I appreciate the initial notes around intersectionality within DEIJ conversations. The concrete examples of "otherness" help to clearly explain how intersectionality is applied to white supremacy. Especially the class based conversations, knowing that we are in a predominantly upper SES community. 

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I appreciate the initial notes around intersectionality within DEIJ conversations. The concrete examples of "otherness" help to clearly explain how intersectionality is applied to white supremacy. Especially the class based conversations, knowing that we are in a predominantly upper SES community. 

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In the section on perfectionism (this is past pg. 6, sorry), there is a passage on perfectionism vs. excellence that resonated with me. We hear a lot about gifted students struggling with perfectionism, and this description of perfectionism connects it to power in a way that I hadn't heard before.

"Perfectionism is the conditioned belief and attitude that we can be perfect based on a standard or set of rules that we did not create and that we are led to believe will prove our value. Perfectionism is the conditioned belief and attitude that we can determine whether others are showing up as perfect and demand or expect that they do so...When we look more closely at our own perfectionism, we see that the perfectionist tendency is always in service of our own power or the current power structure....

"Excellence has more potential to be defined by and for us. We can talk about what we think excellence is and hold ourselves and each other accountable to a shared and collectively defined standard of excellence. We can rock the boat with excellence. We can care for each other with excellence. We can write and lead and work and teach and cook with excellence. We can forgive with excellence. Excellence requires making and learning from mistakes."

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What are steps we can take as a community to decolonize ourselves both individually and collectively from white supremacy? I am curious to hear what steps members have taken in the past or are currently taking? 

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What are steps we can take as a community to decolonize ourselves both individually and collectively from white supremacy? I am curious to hear what steps members have taken in the past or are currently taking? 

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"It teaches us that Blackness is not only valueless but also dangerous and
threatening. It teaches us that Indigenous people and communities no longer exist, or if they do,
they are to be exoticized and romanticized or culturally appropriated as we continue to violate
treaties, land rights, and humanity. It teaches us that people south of the border are "illegal." It
teaches us that Arabs are Muslim and that Muslim is "terrorist." It teaches us that people of
Chinese and Japanese descent are both indistinguishable and threatening as the reason for Covid." - This highlights the need for us to create curriculum that combats this harmful culture for our students and for ourselves.

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This quote stuck out "White supremacy culture also promises to reward BIPOC communities and people who collude
in an effort to survive; the encouragement to assimilate and adapt to these characteristics often
promises the illusion of safety while in reality rarely doing so. Whatever safety is offered can be
and is bought at the expense of authentic relationship with community and self. Whatever safety
is offered is ripped away whenever a community or person begins to speak and act with integrity
about the racist realities of white supremacy culture."

Sometimes our ideas that we think is our own are actually embedded cultures and what society has asked us to do. We do not recognize that we are harming others unless we take the time to reflect. It is often this illusion of safety that keeps us silent, when in fact it is a cycle that pushes us towards unsafe environments.

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How can we as a community learn to be more culturally competent to serve all of our students fairly?

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"We would not allow any of the ways in
which our society prioritizes profit over people if we did not have dominant cultural beliefs that
make normal what is deeply and alarmingly inhumane." The more we unlearn and relearn, the more we see the need for greater unlearning and relearning and repair.

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"If you read these characteristics and qualities as blaming or
shaming, perhaps they are particularly alive for you. If you find yourself becoming defensive as
you read them, lean into the gift of defensiveness and ask yourself what you are defending."

It is important that we all lean into our own discomforts to participate in understanding that discomfort is the norm for a lot of BIPOC communities. The privilege of being able to step away or not think about these tough topics should be an indicator that there is a large gap of injustice.

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"One of the ways that white supremacy culture comes after us is in how we fail to distinguish
between tools and weapons."
What are some things we may have considered as tools that has actually been weapons? Are there teaching tools that we may be using that is not equitable?

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Highlighting Resiliency is so important 

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Highlighting Resiliency is so important 

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In the second to last paragraph, the author highlights the importance of seeking out examples of resiliency and success when fighting against white supremacy. These conversations can be exhausting, especially for BIPOC. It can feel hopeless when all we are hearing is stories, both past and present, of oppression. Sharing moments of joy and success and pride help drive resiliency and inspire further change.

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I was struck by this quote: "Sales tells us that 'whiteness is a death sentence.' We see this death sentence reflected in the extremely high addiction, suicide, and depression rates in the white community. The generational legacy and price of gain based on the psychic, mental, physical, and spiritual violation of others is a heavy one." I have known so many privileged white people who seem to "have it all" suffering from severe depressive episodes and/or addiction, a number of them ending their own lives. People are in disbelief that a white, cisgender, "successful" person would suffer from such severe internal distress as to opt to commit suicide.According to the Yale Global Heath Review, although white men historically maintain a place of privilege in the United States, they represent one subpopulation at the highest risk for death by suicide. 1  I see this cycle of perfectionism and stress in my community that I imagine is part of the price of gain based the culture of white supremacy.

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pg. 1 "fear is an essential characteristic, as is the assumption of 'qualified' attached to whiteness. Defensiveness needs to be broadened to include denial...." (i) Just wondering, in what contexts has the term  "qualified whiteness" been used? (ii) And, more importantly, how may we as a community create a safe space for sensitive and objective discourse on the topic of white supremacy? So that there will be no judgement, or concern that our responses may be perceived by others in the group as stemming from "fear", "defensiveness" or "denial"?

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I wonder how characteristics of white supremacy culture relate to characteristics of giftedness? 

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I wonder how characteristics of white supremacy culture relate to characteristics of giftedness? 

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While reading this article, I couldn't help but think of the press conference following the Uvalde tragedy where Gov. Abbott spoke about an "evil" that has come into our land (or something like that). Painting the tragedy as caused by a force of evil seemed to be a way to evade taking responsibility. I further noted that Beto O'Rourke approached the governor (and was the only one with courage enough to do so at his press conference) -- demanding to know whether the governor planned to enact gun reform at this juncture -- and Gov. Abbott did not respond, but instead, several of  the men at his side beat back Beto with words -- "You're out of line!" and "Leave now!" This culture of NOT LISTENING to others, and using henchmen to defend a central power figure, is what stood out to me at Gov. Abbott's press conference. I can see elements of white supremacy culture in the way that press conference unfolded.

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While reading this article, I couldn't help but think of the press conference following the Uvalde tragedy where Gov. Abbott spoke about an "evil" that has come into our land (or something like that). Painting the tragedy as caused by a force of evil seemed to be a way to evade taking responsibility. I further noted that Beto O'Rourke approached the governor (and was the only one with courage enough to do so at his press conference) -- demanding to know whether the governor planned to enact gun reform at this juncture -- and Gov. Abbott did not respond, but instead, several of  the men at his side beat back Beto with words -- "You're out of line!" and "Leave now!" This culture of NOT LISTENING to others, and using henchmen to defend a central power figure, is what stood out to me at Gov. Abbott's press conference. I can see elements of white supremacy culture in the way that press conference unfolded.

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Shouldn’t the attention be on rendering ways and educating norms and tactics to to be acceptable and knowledgeable about different cultures and races rather than pouring so much energy on white supremacy?

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Is the author implying that we ought to do away with Capitalism entirely because it enabled/enables white supremacy? If so, that seems to be increasing the size of the "ask" significantly.

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While I enjoy reading in depth clarifications about what white power, its origins, its pervasiveness, etc., I have a greater desire to accept the obvious, agree as a community that we already agree that historical forces led by white humans ravaged the earth and then... focus on solutions. I look forward to the nuances of DEIJ in a school setting. I look forward to the roadblocks we face in trying to solve school setting issues. I hesitate greatly to prove over and over again another angle over something obvious.

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Something to consider -- this is a culture that's rooted in us beyond just outright racism. We are working towards being actively anti-racist.

"These characteristics are not meant to describe all white people. They are meant to describe the
norms of white middle-class and owning class culture, a culture we are all required to navigate
regardless of our multiple identities."

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Loved the caution about not weaponizing this article

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Loved the caution about not weaponizing this article

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There are many layers to the white supremacy onion:

International (we talked about France)

American

West Coast vs East Coast

State

Bay Area

County

Tessie

Individual

Our goal was today was to try and focus on

recognizing facets in ourselves as an individual, and

taking different steps we could take to help dismantle it in the Tessie community

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"Degree" of whiteness, as it relates to race...?

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"Degree" of whiteness, as it relates to race...?

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I wonder about how identification with a particular race, including whiteness, is used in service of individual gain. For example, Whoopi Goldberg arrived at her stage name (Goldberg) after considering advice that would help her get a leg up in the industry by using a name of Jewish heritage/lineage. And more recently, an actor I know reclaimed her Latina heritage in the hopes of attaining more prominence in her field, or at least landing more roles. I wonder about peoples' motivations to claim one heritage versus another, and whether or not this fluid identification practice serves to bring us together as a society or keep systemic racism in place. Overall, I find it confusing sometimes, beyond the simple need to identify with a heritage in order to feel a sense of place and belonging -- a  fundamental human need.