Resources for White People to Learn and Talk About Race and Racism

By Nicola Carpenter, Operations Specialist at Fractured Atlas

In October, we posted about our process and reasoning for race-based caucusing at Fractured Atlas. It’s been a few months since then, so we wanted to continue sharing our experiences.

As the White Caucus Liaison at Fractured Atlas, I’m often asked about resources that the Fractured Atlas White Caucus reads and discusses. Many of these resources were gathered by Tiffany Wilhelm, the White Caucus Guest Facilitator from July through December 2017, and others were picked up from a variety of other places. This is not meant to be a complete list, but rather a jumping-off point for white people to teach themselves about Race and Racism, and to get a sense for the kinds of things the Fractured Atlas White Caucus has been reading/watching/listening.

About Caucusing

• Racial Identity Caucusing: A Strategy for Building Anti-Racist Collectives by Crossroads
• Caucus and Affinity Groups from Racial Equity Tools
• Principles for White Affinity Study Groups
• Tools for White Anti-Racist Organizing by the Catalyst Project
• White Awake Manual — a set of educational resources for guiding white affinity processes
• SURJ Political Education Site
• Vital critique: Whites Only: SURJ And The Caucasian Invasion Of Racial Justice Spaces by DiDi Delgado, Black Lives Matter-Cambridge

Facilitation Resources

• Anti-Oppressive Facilitation by AORTA Collective
• Facilitation Tools for Meetings and Workshops by Seeds for Change
• Social Justice Toolbox
• Notes about Theatre of the Oppressed and Forum Theatre

Things to Read

These are some of the readings that the Fractured Atlas White Caucus has read.

• “From White Racist to White Anti-Racist: the life-long journey” by Tema Okun
• “What Motivates People from Dominant Groups to Support Social Justice” Diane J. Goodman and Lee Anne Bell
• Opportunities for White People in the Fight for Racial Justice Edited by Jonathan Osler
• “Costs of Oppression to People from Dominant Groups” by Diane J. Goodman and Lee Anne Bell
• “The Work Is Not The Workshop: Talking and Doing, Visibility and Accountability in the White Anti-Racist Community” by Catherine Jones
• “white supremacy culture” by Tema Okun
• “What is White Supremacy?” by Elizabeth Martinez
• Dismantling Racism Works Web Workbook — dense website with so many resources. Sources for years of caucus sessions!
• A Call for Moral Courage in America by Darren Walker, Ford Foundation
• Detour-Spotting for white anti-racists by jona olsson
• Talking points — Effective Strategies for Confronting Racism in Conversation by WHAT’S UP?! Pittsburgh
• Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) — national organization organizing white people for racial justice. Links to groups around the country can be found here.
• SURJ Resources for Calling In
• SURJ Guide to Talking White Supremacy Post-Charlottesville
• What is the role for white people working for racial justice in this current period? (Aug 22, 2017) A Joint Statement from the Organization for Black Struggle and the Anti-Racist Collective
• “The Costs of Racism to White People” by Paul Kivel
• “Grieving the White Void” by Abraham Lateiner
• “Accountability in a Time of Justice” by Vivette Jeffries-Logan, Michelle Johnson, Tema Okun
• The Subtle Linguistics of Polite White Supremacy by Yawo Brown
• White Fragility and the Rules of Engagement by Robin DiAngelo
• White People, It’s Time To Prioritize Justice Over Civility by Tauriq Moosa
• White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard to Talk to White People About Racism by Dr. Robin DiAngelo

Things to Listen

Sometimes it’s nice to mix up the media type.

• Seeing White Series from Scene On Radio, a 14-part documentary series exploring whiteness in America.
• Uncivil, a podcast from Gimlet Media that presents a history of the Civil War not often found in school textbooks.
• Identity Politics, a podcast on race, gender, and Muslims in America.
• Code Switch, a podcast that presents contemporary news viewed through the lens of race and identity.)

Things to Watch

• Slavery By Another Name, PBS Documentary
• 13th, Directed by Ava DuVernay

We want to make sure that the White Caucus stays accountable, and we think that transparency is a powerful accountability tool. What other materials should we add to our list?

Nicola Carpenter is the Operations Specialist at Fractured Atlas, a nonprofit organization that helps over 1.2 million artists with the business side of creative work. To learn more about Fractured Atlas, or to get involved, visit us here.