The School of Drama (SoD) is dedicated to becoming a more multicultural and antiracist organization. This guide is meant to help orient our employees in this work. Please note, this guide will be continually updated and is intended as an introduction to a complex topic specifically for SoD employees. Last updated: 2/10/2022. Questions, comments, and suggestions can be directed to gkorf@uw.edu. Created by Gabrielle Kazuko Nomura Gainor in collaboration with Geoff Korf and Ryan Gastelum.
Employee Expectations
If you work for the UW School of Drama, you are expected to:
- Embrace our commitment to respecting and representing diverse peoples and cultures. Please read:
- The entirety of this page
- The UW School of Drama Anti-Racist Action Plan
- The Process for Voicing Concerns.
- The Process for Responding to Concerns
- Work to educate yourself if there’s something you don’t understand. (Use Google, find resources in a book, or ask questions—while being mindful of who you are asking. For example, if you are white, please keep in mind it’s not the job of People of Color to educate others about racism).
- Be willing to interrupt behaviors that hinder antiracism and inclusion. (This could look like: examining one’s own biases or defensiveness, “calling in” a colleague who may have said something racist, etc.)
- Understand that the SoD is a place where we think critically and engage actively with the world around us. (You don't need to become an expert on activism, the history of race or social justice. But at the SoD, we are actively involved in today's conversations surrounding equity and antiracism).
- Engage with the ways that race (and its intersections with gender identity, sexuality, ability, class, ethnicity, etc.) shape peoples’ lived experiences. Be willing to acknowledge your own racial identity.
- Model and support the mission and values of the School. For example demonstrate inclusive behavior, maintain a safe work environment free from aggressions, work to repair harm where needed.
- Participate in trainings and workshops related to racial justice and interrupting bias. Black, Indigenous, and other PoC colleagues should prioritize their own care and needs and engage in these events to whatever extent works best for them (this includes opting to not attend these events).
- Commit to preventing and reducing harm to BIPOC. As employees of a predominantly white institution (PWI), we commit to working on ways to prevent and reduce harm, while knowing that if we act too quickly or fail to recognize our own internalized racism, we have the potential to cause more harm.
- To learn more about white supremacy, white supremacy culture, racism, white privilege, and how they operate, read more below.
White Supremacy & Racism
Modified from definitions at racialequitytools.org.
- White supremacy is not simply reflected in groups like the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis. Instead, white supremacy is the status quo in which we live in the United States. It’s a system that assigns value, morality, goodness, and humanity to whites, and harms communities of color in different ways. White people enjoy privileges and rights that other groups do not. Often, people who experience white privilege are not conscious of it, because our white supremacist system “normalizes” whiteness. Having white privilege in and of itself does not make you a bad person; none of us can help the way we were born. What you can control is what you do with that privilege.
- Because we live in a white supremacy culture, certain characteristics show up in all of us, regardless of race. Characteristics of white supremacy culture include defensiveness, power hoarding, either/or thinking, right to comfort, and more. They are damaging because they promote racism. To learn more, please read “White Supremacy Culture” by Tema Okun of dRworks.
Racism can refer to:
- Race prejudice + social and institutional power
- A system of advantage based on race
- A system of oppression based on race
- A white supremacy system
Racism is not synonymous with “treating people unfairly,” or having hatred or bias toward a certain group. Racism involves one group having the power to carry out systematic discrimination. The group in power can then shape the cultural beliefs and values to support its racist policies and practices.
Racism operates in countless ways. It can be as blatant as hate speech written in a hallway, or as subtle as a microaggression experienced by a Latinx employee in a casual chat with her white colleagues.
Two ways of thinking about white supremacy and racism
- “White supremacy is not the shark, it’s the water.” In other words, white supremacy is not an isolated incident you can capture and remove. It’s insidious; all around us.
- Systemic racism is like a moving walkway at the airport. There are different groups who are using the walkway.
- Some are running in the same direction that the walkway is flowing. (These people are overtly/actively racist).
- Some are simply standing on the escalator, going for a passive ride. (These are people who claim that they “aren’t racist” but have done nothing to resist white supremacy).
- And some are running on the walkway, but in the opposite direction—like fish swimming upstream. (These people are anti-racist, refusing to go in the direction that white supremacy wants).
Shared Understanding
The School of Drama operates under the following knowledge:
- Identifying and uprooting white supremacy culture is required for transformative change.
- Racism is real, pervasive, and built into the fiber of our institutions–including the University of Washington, the School of Drama, our classrooms, and our stages.
- Racism in all its forms hinder progress at our school.
- The School of Drama has an obligation to address and work to prevent harm that Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color experience everyday in our school, which is a reflection of our society.
FAQ:
Why focus on race before other forms of oppression?
Whether it’s health, access to housing and good jobs, graduation rates, incomes or incarcerations, disparities are greatest when one examines race. Other forms of oppression are also important, but racial oppression has been proven to be most impactful. Addressing race first is an important step toward liberation for those most harmed. Addressing race first is also the quickest way to ensure liberation for all.
I am new to racial equity work and/or worried I will make a mistake. What should I do?
You’re not alone. Antiracism work can seem daunting. But it’s a work that requires humility and a desire for change rather than expertise and perfection. You will make mistakes, and you can do better. You have the power to accept responsibility, to become educated, to apologize, and to seek to repair harm.
Who benefits from white privilege?
Everyone has some form of privilege. White privilege, however, refers to the unquestioned and unearned set of advantages, entitlements, benefits and choices bestowed on someone specifically because they are white.
- In America, if you identify as—or are perceived as white–you benefit from some degree of white privilege regardless of your culture, ethnicity, sexuality, religious beliefs, country of origin, or how recently your family may have immigrated.
An example of white privilege:
- “One of my children has blonde hair and blue eyes. This doesn't negate the fact that she is the grandchild of a Filipino immigrant, or the great-grandchild of Japanese Americans forced to live behind barbed wire during World War II. However, it does mean that, based on how she looks, she will be able to blend in more than I ever could. She will enjoy certain advantages and privileges that some of her family members never had. I hope to raise her to have pride and love for her different cultures—and a high degree of savvy for how she can push back on a system that gives her preferential treatment. To me, this is an antiracist identity to be proud of.” — Gabrielle Kazuko Nomura Gainor, former Director of Engagement
- Having white privilege does not mean that you or your family hasn’t struggled; you can be white and still experience numerous forms of oppression.
How is white privilege experienced?
Some examples below from Peggy McIntosh’s “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”:
- “If I wish, I can arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time.”
- “I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed.
- “I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented.”
- “Whether I use checks, credit cards, or cash, I can count on my skin color not to work against the appearance of financial reliability.”
- “I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race.”
Select terminology:
The following terms and more can be found at racialequitytools.org unless otherwise noted.
Privilege: Unearned social power. Privilege is usually invisible to those who have it because we’re taught not to see it.
An example of privilege/unearned social power:
“My father was a first generation American whose parents were Jewish refugees that escaped pogroms in Eastern Europe in the early 1900s and immigrated to the Midwest U.S. He was orphaned at the age of 16. He went to a public university, served in World War II, earned a PhD, started a monthly theatre newsletter, and eventually built a beautiful custom house for his family. He worked very hard to overcome many adversities in his life and had a very rich, thriving life as a theater educator. How is it possible to say he benefited from unearned social power? The unearned part of all of this was the privilege of being white. While I’m sure that he must have experienced anti-semitism in his life, he also was allowed to attend any University in a period in which African-Americans were not. His whiteness gave him access to jobs and social circles that many people of color did not have. That he was well educated and owned his own home were also privileges he enjoyed later in his life, and while he certainly worked to attain those things, his ability to attain them was aided by the unearned privilege of being of European ancestry.” — Geoff Korf, Executive Director of the School of Drama
BIPOC: A term referring to “Black and/or Indigenous People of Color.” While “POC” or People of Color is often used as well, BIPOC explicitly leads with Black and Indigenous identities, which helps to counter anti-Black racism and invisibilization of Native communities.
People of the Global Majority: Can be used interchangeably with BIPOC and POC, since Black, Indigenous, and People of Color represent over 80% of the world’s population. This wording points out the demographic inaccuracy of the euphemism “minority” and can feel more empowering for some people, as it can unite people from all corners of the world that are struggling against white oppression.
(Source: Language Matters: POC Caucus Renamed Global Majority Caucus, 2019; and adapted from: People of the Global Majority in the Outdoors Nature, & Environment Frequently Asked Questions).
White: A set of characteristics and experiences generally associated with being a member of the white race, such as people of European ancestry. White people in America typically have lighter skin and are perceived as being “normal,” contrasting non-white peoples who are seen as "other" in society. Whiteness, therefore, comes with a wide variety of privileges.
Construct of Race: The construct of race is real, it just isn’t a biological fact. Race is a made-up social construct with powerful social consequences.
Race designations have changed over time. Some groups that are considered “white” in the United States today were considered “non-white” in previous eras, in U.S. Census data and in mass media and popular culture (for example, Irish, Italian, and Jewish people).
The way in which racial categorizations are enforced (the shape of racism) has also changed over time. For example, the racial designation of Asian American and Pacific Islander changed four times in the 19th century. That is, they were defined at times as white and at other times as not white. Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, as designated groups, have been used by whites at different times in history to compete with African American labor.