In the late 1990’s, Tema Okun wrote an article on the characteristics of white supremacy that show up in the workplace and become workplace culture. As an introduction to the article, she wrote: “Culture is powerful precisely because it is so present and at the same time so very difficult to name or identify. The characteristics are damaging because they are used as norms and standards without being proactively named or chosen by the group. They are damaging because they promote white supremacy thinking. Because we all live in a white supremacy culture, these characteristics show up in the attitudes and behaviors of all of us – people of color and white people. Therefore, these attitudes and behaviors can show up in any group or organization, whether it is white-led or predominantly white or people of color-led or predominantly people of color.”
YNPNdc is dedicated to helping dismantle white supremacy culture in Washington, D.C. nonprofits. During this Inner Circles session, we will discuss the characteristic of "Urgency."
"Urgency" is defined as “Our cultural habit of applying a sense of urgency to our every-day lives in ways that perpetuate power imbalance while disconnecting us from our need to breathe and pause and reflect. The irony is that this imposed sense of urgency serves to erase the actual urgency of tackling racial and social injustice."
We will share examples of how these characteristics manifest within nonprofit organizations, and brainstorm together actionable ways that we as young professionals can change this in our own organizations.
Before attending the session, we encourage you to read this page that outlines these characteristics on Okun’s website, WhiteSupremacyCulture.Info.
