Dismantling White Supremacy Culture Resource of the Month: Whiteness at Work

Whiteness at Work logo

Last year our staff team at the MidAmerica Region worked through a virtual course offered by The Adaway Group, entitled “Whiteness at Work.” The course is being offered once again with new material. There are five sessions covering topics such as “Organizational Reckonings,” “Power, Perfectionism, and Cultures of Niceness,” "Operationalizing Racial Equity,” and “Trust and Cultures of Care.” There are significant resources on shared language and issues that come from a variety of organizations and institutions. The cost is $199 and the material is online through March 2022.

Why would I repeat a course I have already taken?

  1. Dismantling white supremacy culture is a journey, not a destination and I will be learning about this until I die. The material covers power, race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation.
  2. The presenters are clear that BIPOC people might want to engage this material differently at a different time and they make way for that.
  3. The presenters are exceptional and do not find shame or blame useful.
  4. To do this work we need to pay consultants for their time, energy, education, and experience, and the price point is good. I recommend congregations create a yearly budget for such work.
  5. The material will remain online for eight more months so there is an abundance of time.

This year I registered and asked if anyone on Congregational Life Staff in the UUA wanted to participate. As of now nine of us have agreed to meet five times to discuss the material and our learnings. Whether you take part in this program or not, I hope you find ways for your congregation to explore topics of power, race, gender, age, gender identity, ethnicity, and sexual orientation, discuss them together and adapt based on what you learn. It is a transformative, life-affirming journey.

In Love and Faith,
Rev. Sharon Dittmar