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Equity & Social Justice Advisory Group Resources: Allyship

Last Updated: Dec 9, 2024 1:54 PM

Introduction

"Allyship is an English-language neologism used in contemporary social justice activism to describe efforts by groups of people to advance the interests of marginalized groups both in society at large and in particular social contexts, for example universities or workplaces. The term and related behaviors are controversial, with critics alleging that allyship is an ideological, performative, and insincere notion that may ignore prior concepts of tolerance and solidarity."

Wikipedia contributors, “Allyship,” Wikipedia, March 28, 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allyship.

How to be an Ally

Books

Me and White Supremacy

Call Number: Lockwood Library General Collection HT1575 .S23 2020 (and Online)

ISBN: 9781728209807

Publication Date: 2020-01-28

Me and White Supremacy teaches readers how to dismantle the privilege within themselves so that they can stop (often unconsciously) inflicting damage on people of color, and in turn, help other white people do better, too.

Saad, L. F. (2020). Me and white supremacy : combat racism, change the world, and become a good ancestor. Sourcebooks.

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White People and Black Lives Matter

Call Number: Lockwood Library General Collection E185.615 .L88 2019

ISBN: 9783030224882

Publication Date: 2019-08-14

This book interrogates white responses to black-led movements for racial justice. It is a philosophical self-reflection on the ways in which 'white' reactions to Black Lives Matter stand in the way of the movement's important work. It probes reactions which often prevent white people from according to black activists the full range of human emotion and expression, including joy, anger, mourning, and political action. Johanna C. Luttrell encourages different conceptions of empathy and impartiality specific to social movements for racial justice, and addresses objections to identity politics.


Luttrell, J. C. (2019). White people and Black Lives Matter : ignorance, empathy, and justice. Palgrave Macmillan.

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White Fragility

The New York Times best-selling book exploring the counterproductive reactions white people have when their assumptions about race are challenged, and how these reactions maintain racial inequality. In this "vital, necessary, and beautiful book" (Michael Eric Dyson), antiracist educator Robin DiAngelo deftly illuminates the phenomenon of white fragility and "allows us to understand racism as a practice not restricted to 'bad people' (Claudia Rankine). Referring to the defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially, white fragility is characterized by emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and by behaviors including argumentation and silence. These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium and prevent any meaningful cross-racial dialogue. In this in-depth exploration, DiAngelo examines how white fragility develops, how it protects racial inequality, and what we can do to engage more constructively. Download readers guides at www.beacon.org/whitefragility.

DiAngelo, Robin, and Michael Eric Dyson. 2018. White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism. 1st ed. New York: Beacon Press.

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So You Want to Talk about Race

"...Ijeoma Oluo guides readers of all races through subjects ranging from intersectionality and affirmative action to "model minorities" in an attempt to make the seemingly impossible possible: honest conversations about race and racism, and how they infect almost every aspect of American life...."

Oluo, Ijeoma. 2019. So You Want to Talk about Race. First trade paperback edition. New York, NY: Seal Press.

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