While the main purpose of this regular feature of the MidAmerica Messenger is to offer congregational resources for dismantling white supremacy culture, we understand that institutional change cannot happen without individuals doing their own work. As mental health professional Krystal Jagoo says in an article for Verywell Mind, “calls for accountability on a systemic level” are “an opportunity to be more personally accountable to invest in the work of dismantling white supremacy.”

In her article, “Dismantling White Supremacy in Your Everyday Life,” Jagoo addresses a question we often hear from individuals in our congregations: Why call it white supremacy? To answer the question, she references the work of Ijeoma Oluo, who says that

white supremacy is in our workplace, our school system, our government and our prisons. It is in our books and movies and television. White supremacy has been woven into the fabric of our nation from the moment that white settlers decided that their claim to land was more important than the lives of indigenous people. This is not a new problem. This is America.

Elsewhere in the article, Jagoo refers to another attitude we sometimes see in our congregation: “If you are white, you may be accustomed to thinking of yourself as having as valuable of an opinion on this topic as BIPOC folks, despite their experience of surviving its harms for centuries, while you and your ancestors have benefitted.”

She goes on to say, “in this way, it is necessary to understand that if you lack lived experience of oppression based on an aspect of identity, you will never be a better authority on that reality than someone who has personally navigated those challenges.”

Jagoo admits that “dismantling white supremacy can feel overwhelming,” but she also says, “on a positive note, dismantling white supremacy relies on highly transferable skills you have likely used on a regular basis for other endeavors that required behavioral change.”

If you are looking for resources that not only explain the need for doing the individual work of dismantling white supremacy, but also offer sound advice on how to go about it, Jagoo’s article is an excellent place to start.