| Description |
White people in the United States benefit from the structures built by white supremacy consciously or unconsciously at the expense of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). Because of this, schools and places of work have developed numerous trainings to start the education process on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the hopes to move individuals and organizations towards racial justice. However, the conversations around racial justice are not brought back to white homes and families. This research used a dialogue series to document the experiences of white people with long standing relationships, akin to familial relationships, that are dominated by white supremacy as they converse about topics that are usually not discussed, such as racial justice. By executing this dialogue series, participants self-reported a sense of built community, deepened connection with other group members, and personal growth. The data also showed that within this designated space, the fear of open conflict, perfectionism, discomfort, and guilt, and a solutions-focused and white saviorism mindset emerged as the group conversed about topics that were usually avoided as a group, especially dialogues around race. This demonstrated the major theme observed in this research, which is that participants embodied white supremacy without realizing it. They were socialized in white supremacy system, which made it difficult to recognize how white supremacy showed up in their lives. This research begins to provide an understanding of how to dialogue with white family-like relationships around racial justice and confirmed how deeply rooted white supremacy was ingrained in white families. |
