Overview
Lead this activity as a step toward recognizing how white supremacy and racism show up in your meeting’s culture, space, and practices.
Adapted from the Teen Racial Justice Curriculum by Lisa Graustein, 2013
– Tape together four sheets of newsprint so you have a big surface on which to draw and write.
– Explain to the group that together, you will be creating a picture or map of race, racism and white privilege in the meeting.
– Draw a square in the middle of the page and then lines diagonally off of each corner
– Ask folks to close their eyes and picture the meeting in terms of race, and then say whatever words come to their minds. Write those words in the box in the middle of the paper.
– In the space to the right, write “Racial Demographics and Images” (you may need to define the word “demographics”). Ask folks to name the racial demographics of the meeting and to describe the racial aspects of any images that they see in the meeting (e.g. the kid in the Hicks’ “Peaceable Kingdom” painting is white, the poster on the wall in the First Day School room has people of all different races, the meeting retreat photo has people of European and Asian descent in it, etc.).
– In the section of the paper to the left of the box, write “HISTORY” and ask the group what they know about the racial history of the meeting (e.g. founded by white people, sits on Native land, was part of the Underground Railroad, had African American members in the 1800s, etc.).
– In the space above the box, write “Interactions with Community” and then write all the things that the meeting does with the surrounding community (e.g. AVP in local prison, serve at soup kitchen, hold peace vigil on commons, volunteer to tutor students at X, etc.).
– In the space at the bottom of the box write “Messages” and ask folks to name the explicit and implicit messages they get about race and racism from the meeting. What has the meeting said or minuted about race or racism? What have you heard people say in messages in meeting or in conversation? Think about the images on the walls — what messages about race do they send? If the meeting has tutored or done a service project in a community of color, what messages are being stated in that project?
Reflection and Closing
Depending on the size of your group, ask people to share in pairs or as a whole group.
- What was one thing that really surprised you in this exercise?
- What are two questions that you have after doing this exercise?
- What are three things you want to know more about?
- What are four resources you see within the meeting that could help promote racial justice?