[mini hype] Urgency reinforces white supremacy culture
Hi friends! I gave a keynote talk for an association on Friday, and I mentioned a quote from Tema Okun’s White Supremacy Culture website in regards to the characteristic of “Sense of Urgency”. Several people either resonated with this or felt it was a huge takeaway.
In response to the fact that racial justice and equity is urgent, Okun writes:
White supremacy culture is not urgent about racial justice; white supremacy culture is urgent in the name of short-term power and profit. And white supremacy culture likes to engender a culture of urgency in those of us who are working to dismantle it because it knows that living with a constant sense that everything is urgent is a recipe for the abuse of power and burnout.
(emphasis mine) I feel like this sums of the paradox we live in, that urgent matters like racial justice requires us to slow down and to address its very roots.
What do you think? What comes up for you?
[mini hype] Urgency reinforces white supremacy culture
I agree. I heard an organizer say once, "You can't fight if you're tired." It was a reminder to slow down and take care of ourselves but I think it goes back to your point. Capitalism wants us to exhaust ourselves so we can get rid of ourselves before we can get rid of it.
Yes, Leah!
Capitalism and white supremacy and “the American Dream” (which are all different words for the same thing) all attempt to make us feel like we’re alone. This sense of urgency reinforces this feeling.
So does perfectionism.
So does quantity-over-quality.
So does either/or thinking.
All of which are traits of white supremacy culture.
The solution is the collective.
By finding our people, by collaborating and sticking together, we begin to dismantle all the parts of white supremacy.
Thank you for this reminder, Nisha!