Raising Critical Consciousness in a Whiteness Workshop Series: Possibilities and Limitations

• In Event: 35.051 - Exploring Pedagogies of Resistance: Auto-Ethnographies on Initiatives to Promote Activism

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to present preliminary findings from a critical ethnographic study of three iterations of an 11-week, sequential Witnessing Whiteness workshop series (Tochluk, 2010). Drawing upon the theoretical framework of Critical Race Theory and Critical Whiteness Studies, the study begins from the premise that racism is endemic to U.S. society and, for White people, a process of raising critical consciousness regarding whiteness is necessary to create a functional multiracial coalition of anti-racist activists focused on transformation at the institutional level. The workshop series, based on Tochluk’s (2010) work and adapted to the local context, is co-facilitated by myself, a White female researcher, and a Black male community partner affiliated with a local antiracist non-profit. In the tradition of critical ethnography, I occupy a dual role as researcher and participant in the setting. The series attracts a self-selected group of mostly White people (a total of 19 White participants) who are interested in “doing something” about racism having been particularly galvanized by the 2016 election, while many of the participants of color (a total of 6 participants of color, all Black) see the space as an opportunity to share their experiences, understand Whiteness more deeply, and witness conversations about race among White people to which they would not be privy otherwise. The paper reports on findings from audio-recorded workshop sessions and post-workshop interviews with individual participants, asking three interrelated questions: What motivates people, especially White people whose privilege does not require them to do so, to work toward racial justice? What do participants learn through this workshop series, and how do they put that learning into action? As a researcher-practitioner, in what ways has my own perspective shifted throughout the course of teaching the workshop?

The paper discusses three main findings. First, most participants are motivated to do racial justice work due to some type of marginalization experience based on race, ethnicity, class, gender identity, sexual orientation, and/or religion in childhood. Second, the series introduces a self-reflexive communication process that is new to many of the participants. For the White participants, despite the fact that many of them have already been working in racial justice spaces, most have not reflected much on their own racial identity. For the Black participants, engaging with the workshop provides a space to be heard by White people in a way that is not afforded to them in other spaces. Third, participating in the workshop series has prompted some toward activism, while others are content to limit themselves to self-reflection. I argue that two factors create this divergence in post-workshop activism: (1) the stage of racial identity development (Helms, 1995) with which participants entered the workshop; and (2) the focus of the workshop on individual attitudes and skills rather than systemic racism. This paper contributes to an understanding of how racial identity development unfolds through the process of an 11-week workshop and raises questions about the its efficacy in producing sustained antiracist activism at the structural level.

Author

• Marguerite A. Wilson, Binghamton University - SUNY