![]() ![]() But it operates in even more subtle ways, by actually defining what “normal” is – and likewise, what “professional,” “effective,” or even “good” is. culture or norms – a focus on individuals over groups, for example, or an emphasis on the written word as a form of professional communication. In many ways, it is indistinguishable from what we might call U.S. Because it is so normalized it can be hard to see, which only adds to its powerful hold. These standards may be seen as mainstream, dominant cultural practices they have evolved from the United States’ history of white supremacy. White Supremacy Culture refers to the dominant, unquestioned standards of behavior and ways of functioning embodied by the vast majority of institutions in the United States. YWCA, “ Our Shared Language: Social Justice Glossary” (2016, accessed Oct 2021). Structural Power - To have structural power is to create and shape the rules, policies, and actions that govern multiple and intersecting institutions or an industry.Īlberta Civil Liberties Research Centre, “ Racism and Power” (2018) / “ CARED Glossary” (2020). To have institutional power is to be a decision maker or to have great influence upon a decision maker of an institution. Power to create and shape the rules, policies, and actions of an institution. Power that social groups possess or build among themselves to determine and shape their collective lives. A grassroots collective organization of personal power. Power that an individual possesses or builds in their personal life and interpersonal relationships. Each of these definitions can manifest on personal, social, institutional, or structural levels: (E) The ability to influence decision makers to make choices in favor of your cause, issue, or concern. (D) The ability to change the rule, standard, or policy to serve your needs, wants, or desires. (C) The ability the set the rule, standard, or policy. Power can be used malignantly and intentionally, but need not be, and individuals within a culture may benefit from power of which they are unaware. The importance of the concept of power to anti-racism is clear: racism cannot be understood without understanding that power is not only an individual relationship but a cultural one, and that power relationships are shifting constantly. All power is relational, and the different relationships either reinforce or disrupt one another. Power may also be understood as the ability to influence others and impose one’s beliefs. Learning to “see” and understand relations of power is vital to organizing for progressive social change. Although power is often conceptualized as power overother individuals or groups, other variations are power with (used in the context of building collective strength) and power within (which references an individual’s internal strength). Wealth, whiteness, citizenship, patriarchy, heterosexism, and education are a few key social mechanisms through which power operates. society some individuals or groups wield greater power than others, thereby allowing them greater access and control over resources. Power is unequally distributed globally and in U.S. Related Resources: Caucus and Affinity Groups SOURCE:, MP Associates, Center for Assessment and Policy Development, and World Trust Educational Services. Groups that use caucuses in their organizational racial equity work, especially in workplaces and coalitions, generally meet separately and create a process to rejoin and work together collectively. At times, people of color may also break into more specific race-based caucuses, sometimes based on experiences with a particular issue, for example police violence, immigration, or land rights. For people of color, a caucus is a place to work with peers to address the impact of racism, to interrupt experiences of internalized racism, and to create a space for healing and working for individual and collective liberation. ![]() A white caucus also puts the onus on white people to teach each other about these ideas, rather than placing a burden on people of color to teach them. For white people, a caucus provides time and space to work explicitly and intentionally on understanding white culture and white privilege and to increase one’s critical analysis around these concepts. Caucuses provide spaces for people to work within their own racial/ethnic groups. To advance racial equity, there is work for white people and people of color to do separately and together. Caucuses based on racial identity are often comprised, respectively, of people of color, white people, people who hold multiracial identities, or people who share specific racial or ethnic identities. A caucus is an intentionally created space for those who share an identity to convene for learning, support, and connections.
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