White Supremacy/Dominant Culture

I will reference white supremacy or white dominant culture quite a bit throughout my blog posts, so I want to take a minute to explain what I mean when I use these words.

To start, I want to be very clear that this does not reference people who identify as white or groups like KKK.

This references a type of culture that is so ingrained in various aspects of our lives in so many ways. At some point in our history, someone decided how things will be, and made it the norm. They became these implicit rules that we do not even realize we are following.

To help us understand this, a great human being, named Tema Okun, wrote an article called ‘White Supremacy Culture’ in 1999 that has been circulate far and wide. It is one of the most straightforward descriptions that lays out how the culture shows up. It also gives us the gift to think about what are the alternatives. When I first read the article, I was struck by how normal the white dominant culture is and couldn’t visualize how would we do things differently. Up until my mid-30’s, I barely saw people or environments working to dismantle it. Therefore, had no alternative examples to go by.

I highly recommend reading it, referencing it often, exploring what you want to bring to your life or work environment, talking about it with your friends and colleagues, and challenging yourself to think about what else could be different that isn’t on this list. For more information visit: https://www.whitesupremacyculture.info There are additional resources and explanations, including how to use the tool and preventing yourself from using it as a weapon or to get stuck.

I will be referencing often as well. When I do, I will be using the words white supremacy culture or white dominant culture interchangeably and intending to both mean the same as the article referenced above.