Locating Ourselves and Racial Identity Formation: What does it mean to understand ourselves in stages of racial identity development? Reflect on the different stages of racial identity development. We invite you to visit or revisit these models which were available in last year’s Challenge – or to consult the appropriate worksheets from Sandra Chapman.
If you have participated in the Challenge before and/or considered your own racial identity development, do you have a different perspective this time around?
How do you think about your own racial identity and its relevance to your life, work, studies and/or volunteerism in the food system (or as an eater)?
Consider doing an art response (drawing, poetry, music, collage, etc.) regarding where you are in your development. Have a conversation with a friend or family member about racial identity development. Also consider talking with someone you know, who would be willing, who identifies as being of a different race.
You may want to supplement with watching some of the videos from The New York Times on racial identity in America. |
Good morning everyone! Your moderators will be checking in throughout the day to see if you have any questions, reflections, suggestions, etc. Don’t be afraid to be the first! Have a good day.
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Welcome all-As we embark on this 21- Day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge, we acknowledge that our lived experience provide context and perspective for how we approach and understand the people, places and practices in which we live. The Challenge invites us to look both inward and outward. Grounded in an authentic commitment to embracing our collective diversity, we are called to recognize past and current inequities, while seizing and discovering structural changes that lead to making a more just, equitable society. Thanks for joining us on this learning journey, for we are indeed poised to design a better present and make equity the new norm for our collective futures.
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This is my first time taking part in this challenge. I have been trying to be more aware of this work as an individual, as a parent, and as a leader in the field of early childhood, where many values and beliefs are solidified for children. I am eager, and a bit nervous/anxious, but see the work as truly important. Thank you for the opportunity.
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Lisa,
You are so right to acknowledge the important your work is as you interact with young children, be it in the classroom or as a parent. It can indeed be challenging as we interrogate our thoughts and behaviors, but indeed invigorating as well to think that we are shaping the future minds and hearts, as well as our own. Thanks for sharing, and contributing to the conversation, and leaning into this space-Onward
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I am now on Day 4, and honestly, it is not what I had hoped for. The videos, readings, etc. are not really anything new to me– it’s always good to be reminded, however, I have been ‘doing the work’–unpacking the histories, stories, learning of a new program, hearing another hearbreaking anecdote. I am currently in several other study groups doing the inner work, journaling, discussing, digging deeper of my white supremacy, so I was hoping that his would be something a little different: ” 21 days of habit-building” it says: so far the only habit it is getting me into is 15 minutes of journaling or educating and reflecting.(which I already do) Let’s start building habits from the beginning: encourage people that before they do food purchase they research the most sustainable-practice stores in the area. Before purchasing products they are mindful of [information] about the realities of organic vs. other things. when they go to eat to research local eateries to see if they purport living wage, vegan options, etc. I assume eventually you will talk about vegetarian and vegan lifestyles and what that means for environment, social justice, animal justice[by the way one of the cruelest practices of industrial food production is subjecting the workers to the horrific violence of the treatment of animals] –but all of these education pieces that are necessary(I guess for newbies to the movement) would be better served if you start real practices (cut back on meat eating, and why) on day one, not on day 13 or 14. Reflecting on education is good. Actions to start physical habits is better. Now, without being defensive, please educate me as to how I am wrong about what you seem to be doing.
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As a white professor at the largest urban university system in the country, I have tried to do more to address my own experiences with and attitudes toward racial equity in recent years but I haven’t had the opportunity to engage (read, write, converse) in a facilitated or guided way. I am very much looking forward to these next 21 days. Like Lisa, I’m also a bit nervous but prepared and ready for uncomfortable conversations.
I had not come across Dr. Chap’s Racial Ethnic Identity worksheets before but I really identified with several of the phases she describes. I look forward to talking about the prompts she provides with my family.
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I also hadn’t come across Dr Chaps’s racial ethnic identity worksheets before and was very excited to do so, I like that they are made for so many different racial identities and experiences. Look forward to reviewing more and using as well.
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The responses to this challenge are great. People are opening up. What are the results though..are your daily exchanges with different ethnicities changing?
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My first time, too, and the amount of information is amazing. From today’s work, I can already picture where I am and where I need to go, and that alone is has provided some needed clarity as I try to untangle the multi-colored skeins of oppression and injustice that run through the history of our country and my life. Thank you for providing this opportunity.
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Good Morning,
This is my first time taking the challenge, so bear with me as I understand both the point and process. This morning, I tried to watch more than one video on the conversations about race from the NYT but after viewing just one, the Times blocks you. I watched the conversations with parents who talk with their Black sons who MAY be targets of racial profiling…when it’s actually that they WILL be targets of racial profiling; and have been able to relate, as I’ve had similar conversations with my sons. I then read the summary of racial identity development, and wonder if the William Cross was referencing (possibly?) what non people of color, thought about Black people? As I know of no one whose pre-encounters associate Black as wrong and white as right (in real life) but have come to understand (in reality of treatment) there are many cases where this thought process has been (unfairly) implemented. I look forward to reading and sharing more.
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Hi I am not sure if this will work but if you open the link in an “Incognito Window” you may be able to get around the watch limit?
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Good point Brian. We are sad they’ve limited views since the last time we used this resource. Another option is to open a different browser altogether like safari, Firefox, chrome, etc.
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Hi there: This is my second-ish time engaging with this 21-day learning opportunity. I say -ish because my participation last year was sporadic. One strange thing that came up for me during the reading today is how my developing awareness (as a white person in my mid-50’s) can at times feel so slow or partitioned. For instance, before having recently taken a graduate course in Native American Law, I had a certain level of awareness around issues of racial inequity with respect to African Americans, but was not as readily seeing the comparable inequities in regard to Maine’s tribal members. The speed at which my daughters see injustice takes me by surprise, and when they point something out to me it then seems so obvious that I’m shocked I didn’t notice it myself. On the Museum of Native American History website, there’s this quotation, “How is it that Indians can be so present and so absent in American life?” that speaks to this ability of a dominant culture to render someone or something invisible. I appreciate today’s reading reminding me of the dangers of this.
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Hi! I’m excited to begin the challenge — I really resonated when I read about the stage called disintegration. As a white person, I woke up to my prejudice a few years ago when I worked in customer service. It was really painful and I still feel a lot of self-loathing and shame about my racial bias, and how hard it is to shake.
Something that really surprised me today was the concept of autonomy. Specifically, at the bottom of Sandra Chapman’s worksheet on White Racial Identity Development was the example “I am both proud of being white and I am a supportive agent for change and equality.” Perhaps because of the stereotypical image of “white pride” as something that white supremacists tattoo on themselves (it also makes me think of “men’s rights groups” as a parallel), I did kind of a double-take when I read that. So I guess I’m surprised and also kind of relieved that a healthy non-racist white identity gets to a place of self-acceptance and positive racial identity. Before I had only seen room for shame and anger about the unfairness of my white privilege, and now I see a more hopeful destination.
Thanks for the revelation!
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The “proud of being white” statement threw me off–I’ve been thinking about it much of the day. Have never considered this piece.
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This is my first time doing the 21 days racial equity habit-building challenge. I moved into Pseudo-Independence during the summer of 2016 during a weekend in Philadelphia. I toured on foot the areas where my daughter was working and living that summer. Now solidly in the Immersion/Emersion stage with glimpses of Autonomy stage.
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Hello everyone. This is my first time undertaking structured work of this nature, and I’m looking forward to learning and discussing with everyone.
In the Helms model, I identified with both the disintegration stage and pseudo-independence stage. I definitely feel that my identity as a white person automatically gains me advantages and privileges that are not granted to people of color, and I understand that oftentimes I don’t even have an awareness of those privileges, as they’ve never been denied me. I find this fact uncomfortable; it brings strong feelings of guilt and shame, as well as the idea that because I am often blind to the privileges I am afforded as a white person, I am subtly helping racism persist in society.
Those feelings transition into my resonance with the pseudo-independence stage. “The person does not have a sense of how they can be both white and non-racist together.” Exactly. My very whiteness perpetuates societal racism. I recognize that as a white person, I am not qualified to talk about the racial experience a person of color has in this country, and in the past, attempts to do so have not been well received by people of color. I am currently in a place where I feel it’s best to stay in my lane; ie, let people of color tell their own story and share their experience with racism. I do however, make efforts to discuss racial injustice with my white friends, particularly those who do not have many/any people of color in their lives.
I found the Hoffman model most appealing, as it has a very hopeful final stage. However, I found the inclusion of “American” to cause me to feel separate from this model as an illustration of my own experience, because while I do identify as an American, I have never felt any pride in that cultural identity. Rather, I have always felt some level of shame at many of the things which characterize American culture – fast food, extreme environmental waste, a horrific criminal justice system, the death penalty, imperialism, war, etc… The inclusion of phrases like “move forward as Americans” was extraordinarily foreign to me. I have never thought anything like that.
I did recognize some of my own feelings in the Retreat phase of the Hoffman model. “They may feel guilty and ashamed by how hard life has been and still is for people of color. ” Yup. I feel that.
I think my racial identity as a white person is relevant in my work in the same ways it is in all aspects of my life. I am free to move through spaces without facing conscious/unconscious biases which create barriers in achieving my goals.
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Your post resonates with me deeply–thank you. Celebrating my whiteness and American citizenship/birth is not something I currently feel able to do.
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Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Emily. Your words resonated with me. As I read through the stages and also reflected on what other white folks had said in the NYT’s video I had that thought/realization once again that sometimes I don’t, and can’t even see the amount of privilege I have as white woman as I have a huge bubble of protection around me in many ways. And yes, when I do see and feel it, I feel badly, not hate being white but that weird feeling of my having something that is not really mine, nothing I did to get it.and the unfairness of it all..This is my second time taking the challenge and I am looking forward to moving through some stages. I too work with young children, have a grand daughter, and bi racial family family members, though my life /work is pretty segregated. Looking forward to stepping forward.
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“That weird feeling of my having something that is not really mine…” Yes. This exactly.
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I am very appreciative of this opportunity to start my day — at least for the next 20 days — thinking about big and important issues. I want to learn. I want to grow. But, more importantly, I want to be better prepared to address and intervene in relationships and systems that continue to support racial inequities. I also want to talk about these issues more regularly with my students, colleagues, and family.
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I am very interested in deepening my understanding of my role in systemic racism. As a white woman in her mid 40s with two biracial children living in a white suburban community conversations about racism are challenging. I related with so many of your posts from yesterday and I hope to continue to learn from each of you as we go through the challenge together.
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I have been pondering that Joy DeGruy video we watched at the kickoff, especially since last night I also went to a forum where faculty of color talked about their (devastating) experiences at this PWI. As a now-tenured, now-promoted, cis white straight faculty member with plenty of institutional power and privilege, I think every day about how I can do better. . .and also about how and when I can “call out” or “call in” these kinds of micro and macroaggressions. The thing about the interaction DeGruy describes is that her sister in law was calling out a person who was also in a relatively low position of power. What if she had had to call out the store manager instead of a minimum-wage checkout clerk? What if I need to call out someone senior to me, or even a close friend? I don’t, for the record, actually mind doing that; and I don’t generally pull my punches. But I have also been taken aback, in some recent interactions, by how defensive my fellow woke white women can be, in particular–either openly defensive (“back off”) or incredibly canny at redirecting the conversation to THEIR feelings and THEIR experiences. At the end of the day, I have to assume I am capable of that same kind of defensiveness and redirection. This stuff isn’t easy.
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Thank you, Siobhan, for this reflection. It is indeed complicated and fraught with power dynamics playing out across different domains of difference. Very much appreciating your question about how comfortable anyone might be in “speaking truth to power” and also considering our own relative social standing and what the risks might be in doing so. And for sure, white fragility is a thing! Also appreciating you identifying your own possibilities for defensiveness and redirection. The work is clearly a life’s work.
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This resonates a lot; I feel comfortable speaking out if I quickly assess the person I’m speaking to as not having as much power as me, but if it is a person in authority I retract or find excuses not to. This is an active process to undo, unlearn, and get better at, but I appreciate you naming it- I continue to think about how the decision to preserve authority and power is also rooted in Whiteness, and perpetuates supremacy… I appreciate that you do call out and call in, from what I’ve seen across contexts and across levels of power- and it is a model and reminder to continue to work toward doing this! Agreed, this stuff isn’t easy.
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My racial identity of white is often treated as the default, so confronting my racial identity has had to be intentional every time. The more I build my understanding of race, its history, and why my own identity matters, the more my place in the world seems to shift. My personal ancestral history changes connotation. My race affects everything I do. However, I have to be careful to notice it. Living in a primarily white community means that I don’t always hear about different experiences unless I seek them out. It would be extraordinarily easy to just go through life never thinking about race or my own racial identity. This is one of the easiest examples I can give of my own white privilege, as I was never taught to question my world based on my skin color. My racial identity is in part one of responsibility. As someone who benefits from an unjust system, I should work to educate myself and deconstruct that system to my greatest capability. As an eater, my racial identity doesn’t always feel relevant. My identities around food are more specific. I am of a variety of Northern European ancestry. However, my understanding of food and food heritage is broken down. I am not eating white food, I am eating Polish food or Irish food or reflecting a traditional New England diet. Where this has begun to change is my growing interest in plant-based diets, which are often not evident in any of ancestry. I have to find other histories and other food cultures.
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Hi all. I am new here too. I am hoping to remain consistently engaged but worried that keeping what feels like 1000 balls in the air may get in my way. I appreciate the materials and this forum so much. I have been doing social justice teaching and organizing for a very long time, so am embedded in this work. That said, he connections among racism, identities, and food have only recently been coming to my attention (not surprising I guess given the relative invisibility of this focus in so much work about both issues and how much they remain “segregated”). Anyway, my goals are two-fold: 1) to incorporate what I learn into my teaching, and 2) to change my own and my family’s relationship to food (already very invested in local, organic, sustainable . . .) in this specific context. Thanks averyone!
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Hi,
This is my first time doing this challenge. I work in a local food pantry in Virginia where we served different communities. I am looking to learn more here about the food system and racial inequities, and how to fight against the hunger in my area. As a Latina woman, my role is to help the people know better my food and learn about the nutritious that could be. I never had connected the words food and racism but after I have been reading all the material, I think that I need to take action about this problem.
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Day 1, powerful. First time doing the challenge so I explored Sandra Chapman’s worksheets. Eye opening. Healing. Makes a lot of sense. Glad that I am part of this journey.
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First time for me as well doing this challenge, its great to express yourself and understanding that its good to be open-minded.
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First time for me as well and catching up as I received the link yesterday. This is a very thorough and well documented challenge. Watching and reading is going to move me through the various Stages of Racial Identity Development as a white male I was pretty certain that I am in the immersion/emersion but I was quickly finding myself identifying with the pseudo-independence at times, and I won’t be surprised if I find some uncovered emotions or inherited beliefs that take me even further back. Thanks for giving us all the opportunity to be open, challenged and honest with ourselves.
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My response to this got long, so you can see it on my blog if you like! (where I will be posting my reflections on the challenge each day-ish): https://climateanxietycounseling.wordpress.com/2019/04/03/day-1-locating-ourselves-racial-identity-formation/
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I am also excited to start this conversation. I am a environmental science teacher at a community college that sees first hand student’s food equality issues. Last year I won a grant to host 15 immigrant families, teach them how to start seeds, plant and keep a garden, harvest, store/preserve, share special pollinator pots at our county fair, and cook/prepare local produce. This opportunity taught me much and I was anxious to repeat the effort. I have the resources and time but cannot find a population that has the time to participate. How can I develop a program that meets their needs?
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Hello all! This is my first time participating in this challenge but I am very excited to be doing so. I have seen the racial identity development before and I am glad to be looking at it again. As a white woman educator in Des Moines I am constantly checking to make sure that I am allowing my middle school students to work through finding out who they are. Not only is middle school a time of changing EVERYTHING in the body it is also a time where students are just trying to understand where they fit in. In order for me to understand what part of the identity development they are in I also need to go through the process. Granted it is something that is not linear and you flow through it and change every day it is something that I have really connected with my students.
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Loving the Voices of the Food Chain resources and videos-really impactful!
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First time participating, and while I am late to comment, I have been following along and I have already begun to learn a lot from simply reading the comments on each post. Excited to see how the remainder of the 21 days go!
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This is my third year of participation, and I am so thankful to the opportunity to access new thinking, resources, and challenges to my whiteness and its place in my work and community. The worksheets from Dr. Chap are a wonderful tool to promote conversations. I’m feeling excited for this year’s Challenge, but am also feeling fatigued in digging in because the reality of how race (especially in America) and all of the overlapping variables impacting feels completely overwhelming. I know, as a white lady, I have the privilege of dialing out, and that I am not as personally impacted on a daily basis by those realities, so I’m pushing myself to dig in regardless.
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