• Issue Explainer

    • Standing Indivisible Against White Supremacy

    Oct 12, 2018

    This resource includes initial things to do in your groups and your community to identify and fight white supremacy, but is just a start. At the end of this resource you will find a suggested reading list and materials to continue building your knowledge and skills.

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    This can be a hard topic to explore and you may find yourself wanting to reject the information, explain away how your actions or the actions of your group are influenced by white supremacy but we encourage you to recognize that being uncomfortable is a sign that you are learning and growing. It’s important to not let this information paralyze you and cause inaction. 

    This resource includes initial things to do in your groups and your community to identify and fight white supremacy, but is just a start. At the end of this resource you will find a suggested reading list and materials to continue building your knowledge and skills.

    Fighting White Supremacy (and other systems of oppression) within Yourself/Your Group

    The first place to start is within ourselves and within our groups. 

    Educate yourself. It’s your own responsibility to educate yourself about oppression and our country’s history of white supremacy. This is an ongoing assignment, you will not learn everything after one study session, one month of studying or even after a year. This is a lifelong commitment. Do not rely on marginalized communities to teach you, as that puts the burden of explaining on them, as well as experiencing oppression. These communities are often the same ones that have been doing the hard work of organizing for many years… adding the labor of your political education to their workload is unfair.

    Recognize privilege.

    This is a particularly important principle for those of us within the Indivisible family who have more social or economic advantages due to our race, class, or gender, for instance, because—whatever our personal beliefs and convictions—we are the ones who have benefited from historic systems of oppression. It’s important to acknowledge that if you are white, male, able-bodied, straight, Christian, middle class or wealthy, went to college, and/or are a U.S. citizen, you have advantages that many others do not. We need to recognize that systems were designed to provide access to resources and be more favorable to people who held certain identities or belonged to specific communities. These systems continue today to benefit the privileged or those with societal power. Owning your privilege is a necessary first step in working towards the liberation of others and creating an equitable society. 

    De-center yourself.

    Take time to consider those who are most impacted by white supremacy and center those voices. This will vary based on the situation, but generally it is historically marginalized groups like Black, Indigenous people or People of Color, immigrants, religious minorities, those living in poverty, gender nonconforming people, the elderly and the very young, etc. Once you’ve recognized those who are more impacted by oppression, educate yourself, if you have not already taken this step . To understand the historical oppression and the current iteration of oppression move yourself out of the center of things as a way to make space for the input and voice of the marginalized community in your shared work. Sometimes this requires gently encouraging others in your group and outside your group to make space as well.

    Think about historical legacies of oppression.

    Our country has a long history of oppression and white supremacy, which plays out in a bunch of ways today. Work to increase your awareness of these legacies, in our housing, education, criminal justice systems and many others. For example, one way that some organizers do this is by acknowledging that they live and work on land that was stolen from Indigenous people, naming those people at the beginning of events. Click here to learn more about land acknowledgement 

    Learn to listen actively.

    Give space to people of color and members of other marginalized communities and spend time listening. The job of an advocate is not to speak for a marginalized group, but rather to make sure when they’re speaking, others are listening.

    Think about your media consumption.

    How are your television, movie and other entertainment choices influencing your view? Not all symbols of white supremacy are as obvious as a confederate monument or flag—consider how things in your day to day like the media feed into cycles of oppression.

    Fighting White Supremacy in Your Community

    Be a Good Partner

    Across the country, there are organizations and leaders that advocate for the rights of, and provide support for, historically marginalized communities on the local, state, and national level. If you’re seeking to engage a community regarding issues that directly affect them, you should start by reaching out to organizations and leaders that have organized themselves to create positive change for their community, or that have an established track record serving them, and who therefore may have the trust of that community. If you find these organizations and engage with them thoughtfully and respectfully, new partnership and membership opportunities can emerge.

    Building these relationships takes time and respect. You can see additional guidance on how to develop these relationships in our How to Build Inclusive Partnerships Guide.

    It’s critical that we center the voices that are most impacted and respect the groups that have been leading and on the forefront of this work for years. Don’t lean on these groups or look to them to do the work, but follow their lead. Developing these relationships is a long term process, but in the short term, here are a few things to consider in your outreach:

    • Make showing up a conscious effort. Don’t wait for groups to come to you—make an intentional effort to reach out and open up communication. Oftentimes we think of good allyship through the lens of “inclusion.” While it’s important to be inclusive, it’s also important that privileged groups show up for the groups that are doing the work, rather than expecting them to join new organizations.
    • Carefully consider who you should reach out to. Give priority to local groups committed to progressive politics who have an analysis of systems of oppression, and who are working to shift power. Focus on local groups or local chapters rather than national organizations.
    • Be humble. Approach your first conversation as an opportunity to learn about the work that is already happening. Ask questions, listen and be respectful of their time. 
    • Do your research in advance. Come with a solid background in the group’s history and work
    • Offer support. Ask about upcoming events and how your group can be supportive. Recognize that in many cases these groups have been doing work in these spaces for years or decades.
    • Follow through. Be clear about what is possible and follow through on your commitments. If you said you can hold two events or turn out 20 people to one of their events, do it.
    • Follow Up. After you work on an event with a group, follow up. Ask how they thought it went, share your experience and if appropriate discuss opportunities to collaborate in the future.

    Additional Resources and Suggested Reading

    Anti-racist resources

    Understanding White privilege