Why did I make this video?
In a time of rapid social change, intensified backlash targeting social justice efforts, and competing messages about how to navigate race issues, many white people are apathetic or skeptical about today’s antiracist demands. They believe both white nationalists and antiracists are equally extreme. This is a disaster for the future of an inclusive, multiracial democracy. Advancing a healthful, positive antiracist white identity can mitigate this problem.
What can you expect to take away from this video?
This video explains how a positive antiracist white identity can disrupt dangerous dynamics playing out across the US. The dynamics include large numbers of white people accepting authoritarian ideology, believing it will protect their sense of self and way of life, and too few people effectively challenging what underlies this trend.
People dedicated to racial justice will learn how to combat rhetoric that advances a mindset aligned with authoritarianism. For example, when white nationalists post flyers that say “It’s Okay To Be White,” antiracist responses too often fail to articulate how white people can feel good about themselves and be antiracist at the same time.
Watching the video will also help you determine the most useful messaging to use with the white people in your lives, depending on where they are in their racial identity journey. This is necessary because language common to antiracism often confuses white people who don’t know how to interpret phrases such as, “we need to dismantle whiteness.”
The goal is to help you feel more equipped to articulate a pathway for white people to develop a positive sense of themselves and how the apex of white identity development is healthful, generative, and liberating.
Video running time: 1 hour 19 minutes
Thank you to David Campt and Ryan O’Leary for their role as “discussants” in the video, reacting and responding to the information in a way that adds interesting dynamics.
