Understanding White Privilege Reflection

I have many specific highlights from the workshop that I would like to reflect on. Over the course of the weekend I found myself moving through different cycles of understanding and growth. When I find myself with larger numbers of people I often experience a state of “otherness,” generated by the initial anxiety of being with hundreds of people I don’t know. After some of the exercises I noticed my anxiety lessen, the work helped me reconnect with my place in humanity, through a sense of camaraderie with others, realizing our sameness instead of focusing on differences.

During the first evening, a vin diagram was drawn which outlined ways to slow down Industrial Growth Society, combining Holding Actions, New Ways of Doing Things and Shift

In the article, Understanding White Privilege, by Francis Kendall, two comments that stand out as related to this are; “Most of us go through our days unaware that we are white or that it matters.” (Kendall, 2) “We participate, intentionally or not, in the purposeful construction of a system that deflates the value of one people’s culture while inflating the value of another’s.” (Kendall, 3) When I observe the terrible state of the world most of this is due to the dominant culture, capitalist culture, the Business as Usual, largely white-centric culture that is rapidly taking over the whole planet. Many of the healing systems and cultures that for centuries lived in harmony with the earth are being oppressed and eliminated. Learning to listen and provide space for the voices of these other cultures to be heard and acknowledged is extremely important at this time. Not only from a social and restorative justice standpoint, but also for the preservation of all life. Being willing to learn from and collaborate with those who are different from us is very essential. I found that The Work That Reconnects legitimizes and incorporates other non-western ways of knowing and being which are supportive to collaboration across