BIPOC and White Supremacy in the Academic Workplace: Developing Our Own Analysis Tool

The normalization of a certain pattern of behaviors that have negatively affected the society as a whole but that have literally devastated BIPOC communities is so blatantly displayed, as any normalized pattern, that it is very difficult for us BIPOC to identify those patterns. We just know that they make us feel uncomfortable, that we don’t like them, but don’t know exactly why as "it is the norm." Those patterns or behaviors conform to a phenomenon so pervasive, so "natural," that we seldom stop to review and analyze it let alone call it by its name: white supremacy. While white supremacy is a global phenomenon, it has a special and unique "flavor" in the US, and especially in the academic workplace. As BIPOC women, it behooves us to learn to identify how this phenomenon operates in the workplace. Identifying and being able to put a name to issues is the first step in addressing those issues. During this workshop, attendees will learn to identify some of the most pervasive white supremacy patterns in the workplace by using a simple yet accurate analysis tool from Dismantling Racism: A Workbook for Social Change Groups by Kenneth Jones and Tema Okun, ChangeWork, 2001.