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Easy Online Checkout! Unity in DiversityFor Whites Only
Bob Terry wrote prolifically on racism and unity/diversity beginning with his groundbreaking book, For Whites Only.
This volume presents a different and enlightening perspective on the consequences of racism for whites and how it undermines the progress of whites as well as people of color. In this book, Bob Terry exposes the racism of both liberals and conservatives.
As an alternative to racism, he proposes a new white consciousness. Whites cannot be color blind, nor can whites be black. New white consciousness is an awareness of white as a color and of the role of whiteness in racial disunity. Put more bluntly, it is an awareness that the race problem is not a black problem but a white problem.
For Whites Only
On Being White
"What does it mean to be white today?" It is the question, addressed directly to me in 1969, that confounded my life and launched me on an exciting and, at times, frightening odyssey. What follows is a summation of conclusions derived from decades of dedication to answering that question.
When Whites first confront the meaning of their whiteness, a consistent pattern emerges. First, there is the blank stare: "I never thought of it." After some reflection, they lay out a second series of responses that list the advantages of being white: easy mobility, freedom of choice, membership in a majority culture, preferential treatment. Rarely do respondents suggest anything negative about being white. As the discussion proceeds, and I press a group to cite any losses of being white, their responses fall into two broad categories. One group cites the negatives of "reverse discrimination" and other forms of supposed preferential treatment occasioned by affirmative action; the other group pinpoints inordinate fears, social incompetencies of dealing with people with whom whites have had little contact, stereotyping, prejudice, and oppressive uses of power. Each time I use this exercise I am struck afresh by what I think is a key insight into whiteness--an insight that has deepened in its implications for me over the years. TO BE WHITE IN AMERICA IS NOT TO HAVE TO THINK ABOUT IT. Except for hard-core racial supremacists, the meaning of being white is having the choice of attending to or ignoring one's own whiteness. ~ Bob Terry, excerpt from “On Being White: The Negative Impact On White Values”
Contact us for special pricing on multiple downloads Metaphors and Racism
Racism is a scourge on the earth. It ravages communities, nations and individual’s lives, destroying all in its path. It quickens elaborate rationalizations and takes its toll on all those that it touches. At times it flares up--vicious and ugly. At other times it appears more benign and even waning in its intensity and destructive power. No matter, it still challenges the human community with one of its most persistent problems. It demands our very best thinking about its nature, what to do about it and what keeps it thriving.
There is little doubt that, at a minimum, racism should be suppressed. Ideally it should be eliminated. Quickly, however, this broad agreement vanishes when the three questions--what is racism, what strategies should we adopt to suppress and seek its elimination, and what causes and keeps racism alive--are introduced into the conversation. And so, while shared direction unites us, specific strategies continue to divide us. I have made an effort to sort out the contrary views about the nature, solutions and causes of racism. These reflections grow out of twenty-five years of inquiry into the topic as well as first hand experience in working with thousands of persons and groups to combat racism. What I plan to do is examine the frameworks that are ordering the empirical investigations and policy recommendations. My thesis is that racism appears in many guises, speaks in many voices, behaves in many ways. Each manifestation suggests a different definition and strategy. Thus, racism is itself an expression of diversity. Yet, underlying all these diverse expressions resides a unified and terrifying primordial collective fear. That fear, when unacknowledged and unaddressed, destroys and separates peoples from each other and corrupts ourselves. It will not go away. It must be faced and embraced or it will continue to divide and destroy humankind, even undermine the ecological foundation necessary to sustain life on the earth. ~ Bob Terry, excerpt, “Metaphors and Racism”
Instant download 9.97
Faith, Racism and New Possibilities
One of the toughest tasks facing white dominated organizations in the United States is the hard, honest and heartfelt wrestling with racism. With heavy historical baggage, cynicism with quick fix strategies that fail, avoidance by so many people and a subject matter—racism—defined so many ways, it is no wonder the issue is ever-present and rarely addressed. Usually some hostile event triggers attention, then it fades into the background again. Even riots/rebellions and hate murders remain on the white public radar screen for short periods of time.
In spite of these denial and avoidance patterns, there are people from all racial and ethnic backgrounds absolutely committed to the elimination of racism and the co-creation of organizations and societies that can be both color-neutral and color-conscious. Living this paradox every day, organizationally and personally, is the ultimate challenge. Racism undermines living the paradox. It advocates color-neutrality when color-consciousness is appropriate, and it advocates color-consciousness when color-neutrality is appropriate. Racism violates the promise of authenticity. To eliminate, diminish, and ignore a racial or ethnic group derails the principles of God, of creation and of a robust destiny. Faith based organizations and educational institutions are committed to serve God, to live authentically and to focus on and exhibit leadership in all of their actions. Anything that derails authentic action requires and demands attention. Racism derails and requires leadership’s attention and action. Sometimes the derailment is up front; sometimes it is behind the public person or organization. This is the shadow side of racial life. The tough challenges are two-fold. First know and understand what racism is and how it manifests itself organizationally and personally. Second, figure out what can be done that actually works to confront and eliminate the derailment and restore or create a faith based authenticity. Racism destroys both the victim and victimizer. Racism lives a lie every day. Claims of other’s negative differences loop back on the perpetrator. Some people have argued that Hitler was authentic. He believed in Aryan supremacy and lived it every day. If authenticity is only read as a “walk the talk” phenomena, they are right. However, it is not enough to walk the talk if you walk off a cliff on a regular basis. Authenticity is more than integrity. It is also wisdom about the world. For Hitler to claim supremacy for whites, he had to proclaim inferiority for Jews and others. Since they are not inferior, being God’s creation, Hitler ends up lying about himself. And if you do not know yourself, you will destroy whatever you touch. Hitler did just that. He did not exhibit leadership. He destroyed the very followers he promised to lead to a better life. Faith serves the promise of authenticity, of God. God, the ground of what is true and real, calls us to live both inside and outside simultaneously. Leadership serves the promise of God; racism derails it. A faith based organization is committed to serve the promise of God. A faith based organization is committed to stop any derailment. ~ Bob Terry, excerpt from “Faith, Racism and New Possibilities” Instant download 9.97
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