Disentangling Whiteness from Wellness: Examining Dominant Power Structures in Social Services

1. Disentangling Whiteness from Wellness: Examining Dominant Power Structures in Social Services with Becky Scott and Lea Calderon-Guthe Masters in Social Work candidates at the Smith College School for Social Work

2. Introductions • Who are we? • Who is in the room? Clinicians, case managers, service providers, peer support workers, administrators, any we’ve missed?

4. Our Learning Objectives • To define and use personal reflection to understand the terms "white supremacy," "white privilege," "white fragility" and "white culture,” and how these terms shape our lives, our communities and our work. • To examine the institutional practices and therapeutic approaches from participants' agencies that uphold white supremacy, protect white privilege, cater to white fragility and promote a vision of wellness defined by white, middle-class culture. • To imagine, together, policies and practices that foster collaboration with clients and redistribute power.

5. Agenda • Shared Assumptions • Group Agreements • Partner Share • Body Check-in • Definitions • White Supremacy Audit • Check-out Discussion

6. Shared Assumptions of this Workshop • Systems of oppression exist • We live in intersections • It’s not useful to argue which system is worse, more important, or causes more harm • All systems of oppression are interconnected • Dismantling systems of oppression will benefit everyone • Blame & shame do not help dismantle • Confronting and interrupting social injustice is painful as well as joyful • Change & liberation are possible • Leave when you need to for space and breaks

7. Group Agreements • Move up, move up • What’s said here stays here; what’s learned here leaves here • The work is not the workshop • Speak from experience • Lean into discomfort, and support one another in that discomfort • Seek learning, not perfection • Any additions/push-back?

8. Partner Share When did you first know your race? How did you know? • Think about your answer for 1 minute, then find a partner. • Each person gets 2 minutes to share their answer with their partner, who will listen without comment. • We will come back together as a group and briefly discuss.

9. Hellooooo anxiety! Who here is feeling the heat? • Race is a complex and complicated topic. It is normal to feel anxious (and a variety of other emotions) discussing it. • Notice your heart and breathing rates. Notice how you are sitting or standing. • ...somatic exercise...

10. White supremacy “A historically-based, institutionally-perpetuated system of exploitation and oppression of continents, nations, and peoples of color by white people and nations of the European (and American) continents, for the purpose of maintaining and defending a system of wealth, power and privilege.” -Colours of Resistance How does this show up in our work?

12. White privilege “The unquestioned and unearned set of advantages, entitlements, benefits and choices bestowed on people solely because they are white. Generally, white people experience such privilege without being conscious of it.” -Peggy McIntosh How does this show up in our work?

13. White fragility “A state in which even a minimum amount of racial stress becomes intolerable, triggering a range of defensive moves.” - Robin DiAngelo How does this show up in our work?

14. The question is not “if,” it is “how”: A white supremacy audit. Time to think critically in a small group activity! Break into affinity groups — either of profession, agency members, or another affinity of your choosing.

15. Remember that feeling of discomfort? Take a moment to reflect on your job. Can you think of an aspect of your work, or of a specific work experience, that makes you feel uncomfortable in that particular way? Write about or contemplate this question briefly.

16. Individual Practice Audit • What are the characteristics that define your personal vision of a “well” or “successful” person? (See the “self-sufficiency matrix” handout for examples of the State’s definition of wellness) • How has your upbringing in our white supremacist culture shaped your vision of wellness? • How has white supremacy defined your vision of success as a service provider? • How can we make space for clients to define their own vision of wellness? • How can we notice whether your client’s vision of wellness aligns with white supremacist cultural norms? How do you notice and tolerate discomfort when your client’s vision of wellness is different from yours? • What are our expectations for ourselves as providers and how does white supremacy culture shape the ways we expect ourselves to behave in our workspace? • How do we push back against the functions of our roles in society that uphold white supremacy? (i.e. as gatekeepers, experts, policy makers, etc.)

17. Agency Practice Audit • How does your agency make decisions? Is there a clear path to institutional change? How is power divided among employees? How are clients represented in decision-making? • Who has control over financial resources, and how these resources are utilized? • How do workers within your agency receive support? How are workers supported in their self-care? • How does your agency hold meetings? Does everyone have an opportunity to speak? Do meetings energize or drain you? • How is work evaluated within your agency? How is successful work measured and whose work is recognized, and under what circumstances? • How do your agency’s practices and policies reflect white supremacy culture? Resource/reference: “Dismantling Racism: A Resource Book” by Western States Center (2003) Portland, OR https://collectiveliberation.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Anti-Racist_Organizational_Development_WesternStates.pdf

18. Closing Commitments and Discussion • What have you learned today? What part of today was most uncomfortable? • What is one change you can personally commit to? (Take this info to a staff meeting!) • Can you and your colleagues collaborate on one organizational change?

19. More Resources “Seeing White,” Scene On Radio podcast series: https://www.sceneonradio.org/seeing-white/ “White Supremacy Culture” tenets by Kenneth Jones & Tema Okun of Dismantling Racism: http://www.dismantlingracism.org/ “Me and White Supremacy” workbook by Layla F. Saad: https://www.meandwhitesupremacybook.com/ My Grandmother’s Hands by Resmaa Menakem (available for purchase in lobby) White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo (available for purchase in lobby)

20. lcalderonguthe@smith.edu & rscott@smith.edu https://www.ucsvt.org/ & https://www.csac-vt.org/