Ever been told you did something racist? We have, too.
Learn to identify and change six ways we all cause harm to people of color.
We’re growing an antiracist
we want to belong to.
Body-centered
“This stuff lives in our bodies… that was such a light bulb to me.”
-Tori
Language + practices
Language + practices
Grown in community
“Every single thing I’ve done to reduce my own racism… has led me closer to being able to connect on a deeper level with myself and others.”
-Delaney
Why do white people need antiracist resources?
When we are made aware (typically when a person of color points it out to us), we struggle to accept we caused harm, repair the harm, and not do it again. This communicates that stopping racist harm is not important, and we expect people of color to do it for us.
Because this is not what many white people want to communicate, we offer resources to help us develop a more coherent culture where our beliefs, behaviors and body responses align with our commitment to reverse patterns of harm toward people of color.
Why do we need resources offered by white people?
1. It is hurtful to ask people of color to educate us about race and racism.
To this point, Kelsey Blackwell describes the ways that even in progressive communities, white people continue to actively cause harm to people of color as we acknowledge and address racism:
"I believe that in most circumstances, doing race work in an integrated setting is harmful. [...] I keep showing up for these conversations in mixed-race settings and breaking down from the pain of it all. [...]
If you want support on this journey, there are white people who have worked hard and are further down this path who you can talk to. You don’t need people of color in the room for every conversation about race in order to come to realizations about racism. You can do this work yoursel[ves] and be liberated by it."
We aim to be a resource for each other in this work. Check out our resources.
2. We perpetuate a culture that normalizes racist harm even when people of color aren't present.
We often freeze, flee, or collapse in situations around race - even when there are no people of color present to be actively harmed. For example, we may go silent or not know how to respond when a family member, friend or colleague says or does something that normalizes racism. Or, we may lash out and shame fellow white people in ways that shut down possibilities for growth.
Our resources help us move out of these defensive responses so we can offer and receive feedback and support with fellow white people. As we learn to address the harm we and fellow white people cause people of color, we grow a more coherent culture.
3. We need to be in relationships with fellow white people in order to address racist harm effectively.
- don't know what to do or say when another white person is causing harm
- take up more space than we need physically and verbally, so people of color have to move around us
- expect a person of color wants to connect with us when they haven't communicated a mutual interest
We may not have relationships with fellow white people where we can talk about the harm we cause and witness without shutting down and cutting off from each other. This allows racist harm to go unchecked.
We need relationships with fellow white people where we acknowledge and talk about our patterns, and genuinely care about each other as we learn.
This is why we create resources to:
- encourage caring relationships among white people
- acknowledge our shared patterns of causing harm to people of color
- grow a more coherent culture that we want to belong to
Why do we focus on our bodies and culture?
1. Our bodies need to feel safe and connected with others to learn and grow.
This is particularly true as we unlearn beliefs, behaviors and body responses that cause harm to people of color.
Our bodies communicate - often without words and even when our minds don't want to - that our needs and comfort are more important than the needs, comfort and safety of people of color.
The more curious we are about what our and others people's bodies need to feel safe and connected, the more resilient we can be as we learn from our mistakes.
2. Culture shapes and gives meaning to our lives, brings people together, and creates a sense of safety and belonging.
As we move, speak, love, play, work, rest and relate with those around us, we grow culture. And we pass culture down from generation to generation.
Our white-bodied European ancestors set in motion a culture among white people that normalizes violence toward people of color when they engaged in the collective and intergenerational traumas of land theft, colonization, attempted genocide of indigenous peoples, and enslavement of African peoples.
Although people of color and indigenous people have fought for and gained more rights and protections in white settler colonies like the US, Australia and South Africa (and in Europe), our ancestors still passed down beliefs, behaviors, and body responses that normalize harm and violence toward people of color today.
3. We cannot reckon with the discomfort we feel about our shared history and culture alone.
When we turn toward our discomfort together, instead of reflexively avoiding it, we open up possibilities to create a culture in which we and fellow white people consistently prevent, disrupt and repair the harm we cause people of color.
By creating antiracist resources that bring our attention to our bodies and culture, we can begin to notice and repair the ways we continue to cause harm.
Past partners
“Cultural Coherence uses the neuroscience of how our bodies respond to stress to help white people identify, prevent and repair the harm we cause.”
Terri Karis
Psychologist, educator, author
We’re just getting started, and we need your support.