Anti Racism Training
GO BEYOND ‘NOT BEING RACIST’
Conversations about race stir both strong opinions, and indifference. For those who experience micro-aggressions, overt or systemic racism, having your personal experiences dismissed or invalidated is infuriating, to put it mildly. Yet for those privileged enough to not need to think about race, it can be difficult to understand other perspectives, or what the fuss is all about.
The result is we often talk past each other, or don’t talk about race at all.
While we continue to struggle with racial inequity, we implicitly assume it is the role of minorities to educate the majority and drive change. In the words of Martin Luther King;
“Shallow understanding from people of goodwill is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.”
I’m Not Racist, But…
We have designed our “I’m Not Racist, But…” anti-racism training workshop in Sydney to open a conversation about race that results in people changing their perspectives. We do this by creating a forum for people to express their views without fear of being labelled racist, biased or bigoted, to avoid blaming or being blamed, and to really hear the experiences and feelings of others.
In order to learn more about the invisible nature of systemic racism, we engage each other with honesty, open-mindedness, and vulnerability; to listen deeply to better understand each other’s perspective; and to “sustain the conversation when it gets uncomfortable or diverted”.
Participant Outcomes
In Online Anti Racism Training in Sydney workshop, participants will:
Examine beliefs about race, advantage and justice, and how these issues impact organisations/ institutions/cultures.
Develop an understanding of the terms microaggression, systemic racism, institutional racism and structural violence and how these differ from individual racism.
Begin recognising and identifying microaggressions that may be benign in their intention but ultimately perpetuate systemic racism and implicit bias.
Develop a method of engaging in challenging conversations on race and racism and learn how to draw in different perspectives to explore solutions together.
Identify resources that develop an awareness of historical cases of systemic racism.
Increase awareness of existing resources to facilitate a positive engagement with institutional and systemic racism.
Micro-aggressions
Microaggressions are subtle, everyday exchanges, both unintentional and intentional, that express bias based on their group membership.
Microaggressions can have a serious impact and should not be dismissed because of their brief or often unintentional nature.
Behavioural examples of microaggressions might include:
A white person grabs their purse or wallet as an Indigenous Australian or person of colour approaches them.
Mistaking a person of colour as a service worker
Verbal examples include:
“All lives matter”
“You speak great English.” (Assuming someone is foreign born)
Irrespective of their intention, how do you think they can make people feel?
How it works
Our anti-racism training workshop, “I’m Not Racist, But…” can be run in person, or online. In-person sessions run for up to 50 participants, while Zoom limits us to 24 participants for Anti Racism Training online sessions in Sydney.
The workshop runs for approximately 3 hours, however we’re happy to customise the workshop to suit your needs. Get in touch today to find out more.
