{"id":3019,"date":"2018-06-06T11:58:02","date_gmt":"2018-06-06T17:58:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wholeperson.com\/blog\/?p=3019"},"modified":"2018-06-06T11:58:02","modified_gmt":"2018-06-06T17:58:02","slug":"unpacking-white-privilege","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wholeperson.com\/blog\/unpacking-white-privilege","title":{"rendered":"Unpacking White Privilege"},"content":{"rendered":"

Unpacking White Privilege: An <\/strong>Experiment<\/strong> in \u201cGoing There\u201d with White Relational-Cultural Practitioners<\/strong><\/h1>\n

By Lisa Eible, DSW, MSW, LCSW<\/p>\n

\"Transforming<\/a>We were an informal group of educators, social workers, and therapists who felt deeply moved by ongoing race-related violence, and the difficulty in talking about race-related topics, even among RCT practitioners. We formed an informal group to examine our own white privilege and to address race-related issues and have been meeting for the past year and a half. As the poster describes, we are focused on further development of our personal and professional lenses in the application of RCT to racism (interpersonal and systemic). We seek to understand our individual and collective journeys and to further develop Relational-Cultural theoretical constructs related to racism. We expect and plan further work on this topic, as our group work continues. Lisa Eible may be contacted at lmeible@yahoo.com.<\/em><\/p>\n

From its inception and early beginnings, Relational-Cultural theory (RCT) has been characterized by co-creation. Jean Baker Miller strongly held to the notion that the work itself was \u201cin relation\u201d\u2014that is, ever changing in a context of mutual learning and impact (Miller, 1976). In this rich collaborative tradition, a group of Relational-Cultural practitioners began working together on a personal, professional, and theoretical journey related to racism and white privilege after the 2015 Jean Baker Miller Institute (JBMTI) in response to yet another national race related tragedy\u2014the Charleston, South Carolina church shooting. A call to action developed there for further RCT work specific to issues of racism and white privilege. Miller (1976) cited the importance of a \u201cgood conflict\u201d; and authors such as Ayvazian and Daniel Tatum (1994), Daniel Tatum (2004), Jordan (1997), Tatum and Garrick Knaplund (2004), and Walker (2002) addressed racial issues. Our group thought there was another layer of \u201cunpacking the knapsack\u201d of white privilege which needed to be done (McIntosh, 1989).<\/p>\n

A call was made for conference attendees and other RCT practitioners who were interested in working on issues of racism.\u00a0 It was decided that the group would be composed, at least to start, of those who identified as \u201cwhite\u201d.\u00a0 We observed, in the group\u2019s conception, a need for \u201cus to work on our own issues\u201d and not place additional stress and expectations on our sisters and brothers of color to help us \u201cget it\u201d.\u00a0 This was a decision made in love and protection, not with the purpose of exclusion. It was also a place to start, not a forever decision.<\/p>\n

Initially, two groups of social workers, therapists and educators from across the United States and Canada were established and began meeting in Fall, 2015, via on-line meeting forums. While all group members identified as \u201cwhite\u201d and \u201cfemale\u201d, there were cultural, religious, and sexual orientation differences among group members. The initial goals were to raise each person\u2019s individual awareness of their own privilege and to name how it impacted the lens through which they experienced the world.\u00a0 The longer-term goals of the group are to contribute to the Relational-Cultural theory literature as it relates to issues of race, diversity, and white privilege, as well as to develop some sort of individual or collective social action agenda.\u00a0 The two groups combined to form one group after the first series of meetings due to a smaller number of participants at that point, and has continued as such through April 2017.<\/p>\n

A closed Facebook group was set up to share information that included materials such as worksheets, journaling, readings and videos (ex. Race\u2014The Power of an Illusion<\/em>, Wealth: America\u2019s Other Racial Divide<\/em>). Survey Monkey was used to gather data from the nine participants in the final group. In response to the question, Have you changed as a result of your participation in this group, participants answered:<\/p>\n