White Superiority - the idea that people with white or white passing skin, are better than, or deserve to dominate over people with brown or black skin
"All lives can't matter until black lives matter"
"You do not have to buy into this extreme ideology, to harbor thoughts of white superiority."
Although the excerpt below was placed in the last prompt, I find it necessary to include again, especially after listening to the example of hate mail Layla had received.
"We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people"
Implicit bias - refers to the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner
Unravel it in yourself, then dismantle it in the places around you.
Think back across your life, from childhood to where you are in your life now. In what ways have you consciously or subconsciously believed that you are better than BIPOC?
Going back thru the most recent books I have read, I certainly have a tendency to choose books where the authors are primarily white. This is an immediate effort I will be undergoing to diversify my reading choices. "Talking to Strangers" by Malcom Gladwell is the most recent book I've read where race is an immediately present topic, but it was one of the first where I don't feel the topic was privileged. Looking back at books like "Power of Habit", "Happiness Advantage", and "Paradox of Choice", I have been very privileged to be concerned with optimizing every aspect of my life, rather than assisting others with less privilege or opportunity.
Growing up in school I certainly had leaders and teachers that were predominately white, and while I don't know all the implicit biases that could have been ingrained within me because of that, I believe it was also ingrained to treat everyone equally.
I do live in a predominately white suburb. I don't think this makes me "better" than anyone, let alone people of a particular race. I am probably now most concerned of how I view this, rather than what the actual status is. Am I missing something right under my nose? Is it more relevant when I walk thru an underprivileged neighborhood? Harboring internal thoughts like "I'm glad I'm better off" or "good thing I don't live in an area like this". Do I associate that to race or just caliber of the buildings, size of the yard, space between houses, etc... what makes my suburb "better off"?
I do notice a clear over representation of people I follow on Instagram who look and act like me. I will break out of that echo chamber and get uncomfortable to learn and share. Like the reading, this is an easy and actionable step that will go to bettering myself and evolving my behavior. I also think it's important to separate these thoughts from what is being shared directly to social media, as it could lend itself to virtue signaling - the action or practice of publicly expressing opinions or sentiments intended to demonstrate one's good character or the moral correctness of one's position on a particular issue. It is entirely possible to be good and for no one to know, and that resonates with me here.