What Can You Do About that Racist Uncle?
Try a S.P.R.O.U.T. Approach to Resistance
Tiffany Galvin Green, Ph.D.
and Megan Wilson-Reitz, M.A.
Medium.com, August 8, 2020
We are painfully aware that there are many that resist believing in racial equity and justice. For various reasons, stemming from multiple influences and narratives, there are many that still fight the existence of racial and systemic injustice. As a result, these individuals prefer not to grow. Instead, they will actively protect and defend their “shell” of what can amount to white supremacist ideologies, hierarchies of human value, and myths of meritocracy.
So the question becomes — how do we talk to them? How can we work with them? Is there any way we can contribute to the growth of those who choose to ignore, refuse, or resist the work? There will be times and spaces in which we may feel compelled to make an effort to work with an openly resistant person: a family member’s Thanksgiving-dinner tirade, a neighbor’s hateful social media post, a friend’s casual use of slurs, a parent’s open support for a racist demagogue, a student’s problematic essay topic. In these “hard cases,” where should we start?
.... (click below to read more)