Why is it so important for us to focus on racial equity in our work, even as we develop mindsets and strategies to dismantle all oppression? (Here "we" means white people, like myself) 1/8

Our country and our profession were founded on white supremacy. And white supremacy is the foundation on which so many other oppressions are modeled and integrated and performed in our society and our work. 2/8

If we focus on developing anti-racist practices in our thinking & our workplaces, we will also be developing the thinking & the tools to dismantle other oppressions. (I am not equating all oppressions. I'm taking about developing a mindset that can do anti-oppression work). 3/8

But if we (especially white positional leaders) sideline race in our equity work, if we don’t make it the focus of our attention, we will not really be tackling the hardest problem for which we as white people are uniquely responsible: racism. 4/8

We need to address white supremacy and racism head on because that is the hardest cultural belief system for us to tackle and it is an urgent need right now in our profession and our country. 5/8

I just don’t believe we can do equity work at all w/out starting with race & white supremacy. White supremacy is the oppression that is foundational to our beings as white people. We must unlearn it. 6/8

Racism/white supremacy is also the problem that we white people are least comfortable seeing and admitting and talking about and trying to solve. So unless we're going to confront this head on, we're just not doing anti-oppression work. 7/8

Our society will not begin to heal until we white people do this anti-racism work, not only to make the world better for all oppressed people, but to make it better for everyone, including ourselves. 8/8