Transcript Racial activism

Racial Activism 101
Things you can do
Things you can do:
 Work on yourself
 Work on yourself in relation to others
 Work on others
 Work on the community
Work on yourself
 Become aware of personal racial ideology
 Become aware of personal (and societal) stereotypes
 Be aware of self-fulfilling prophecies
 Avoid just-world beliefs (blaming the victim)
Work on yourself (part 2)
 Educate yourself
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About other racial/ethnic/cultural groups
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Learn a foreign language
 Recognize skin privilege and give it up when possible
 Diversify circle of friends
 Push your comfort zone
Work on yourself in relation to others
 Consider all people as individuals first, but recognize that
racial/ethnic group membership is often part of one’s identity.
 Never assume that a person's race/ethnicity tells you anything about
his or her cultural values or patterns of behavior (e.g., Cross article).
 Treat all "facts" you have ever heard or read about cultural values
and traits as hypotheses, to be tested anew with each person.
 Remember that all members of racial/ethnic minority groups in this
society are bicultural. The percentage may be 90-10 (in either
direction), but they still have had the task of integrating two value
systems that may be in conflict.
 Do not assume that you can relate to (or even understand) another
person’s experience just because you have also experienced some
form of oppression or discrimination.
Work on other individuals
 Do not tolerate prejudicial remarks, including jokes
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Ask for clarification (“What do you mean?”)
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Express the impact on you (“That really offends me!”)
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Label the behavior (“That joke was very racist”)
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Silence is tolerance/approval
 Change the metaphor: Promote “real” multiculturalism
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Seek to understand
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Encourage others to do the same
 Share what you think and believe, without attacking
Work toward community/institutional change
 Work within your sphere of influence (classes, job, clubs)
 Before you try to come up with a solution, make sure you
have identified the right problem (who decides?)
 Become an ally to members of an oppressed group
 Take initiative, but maintain accountability
 Find allies within your own group
Cultural competence in psychotherapy
 Do not prejudge which aspects of a client's cultural history, values,
and lifestyle are relevant to your work with the client.
 Assist the client in identifying areas that create social or
psychological conflict related to bi-culturalism and seek to reduce
dissonance in those areas.
 Know your own attitudes about cultural pluralism, and whether you
tend to promote assimilation into the dominant society or stress
the maintenance of traditional cultural beliefs and practices.
 Identify cultural explanations for the individual’s illness and the
associated beliefs (e.g., temporary vs. permanent)
 Be aware of cultural elements in the clinician-client relationship