Disrupting white impostors and their claim of white fragility:
Naming it white violence and trauma!
Speaker: Delores Mullings, PhD, RSW
Participants will learn strategies of self-interrogating and institutional action in order to disrupt and replace the voices of white imposters from the centre of anti-racist and decolonization activism, social work education and social work practice.
Robyn DiAngelo and Tim Wise have both become household names worldwide and are known as anti-racist educators, activists, and allies, who attract and hold the attention of large audiences. They have been granted superstardom status and therefore, enjoy exorbitant remuneration for their speaking engagements in institutions, corporations, and schools. Robyn D’Angelo coined the term ‘white fragility’ to help other white people understand how they enact white privilege and white violence on Black, Indigenous and racialized people. Tim Wise frequently challenges white privilege in spaces that are reserved for whites, without consequences. Given that neither Wise nor DiAngelo have lived experience with racism, it seems as if they utilize the historical tactic of borrowing and recreating ownership, otherwise known as theft, for much of their work. This practice is also embedded in social work education and praxis with the overuse of texts from authors such as Anne Bishop, Robert Mullaly, and Peggy McIntosh.
The session will be facilitated through a decolonized lens that will offer participants the opportunity to think critically about their own ideas, values and behaviours with respect to whose voices are represented in their working and teaching environment. Where possible participants will work independently and in groups to explore and challenge institutional norms in order to identify racism and white violence. Finally, participants will be coached to develop and commit to implementing four action plans (two each short-term and long-term) that are realistically doable on a personal and professional level.
Resources
Download: Reflection questions
Brooks De Gier, N. (2021, February). “Confronting anti-Black racism; the activism of Delores Mullings.” Connection, 3(3).
Dr. Delores Mullings is an Associate Professor at Memorial University, School of Social Work. Her scholarly interests fall under the umbrella of anti-Black racism and critical race theoretical orientation, through which she explores topics including decolonizing post-secondary education, anti-Black racism, whiteness and white privilege, settlement and integration, Black parenting, Black elders, racialized LGBTQ people and racist human rights policy. She has an innate love for the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) which is exemplified in the social justice-oriented and learner-centred approach that she employs in her teaching and learning scholarship. Dr. Mullings, therefore, integrates adult learning principles and a variety of teaching pedagogy to challenge and engage learners in ways that respect their knowledge, life experiences, agency, and differing social locations.