Workshop 3: Dominant Culture and Identity

Beautiful orange sunset over a deep blue ocean. — Tapestry is Sunsetting

The UUA is no longer updating Tapestry of Faith programs.

Part of Building the World We Dream About: For Young Adults, 18-35

In This Section

Introduction
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

To consider “Whiteness” … is not an attack on people, whatever their skin color. Instead, [it] is an attempt to think critically about how white skin preference has operated systematically, structurally, and sometimes unconsciously as a dominant force in American—and indeed in global society…
Workshop-at-a-Glance
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

Activity Minutes Opening 3 Activity 1: Culture and Identity 45 Activity 2: Putting “White” on the Table 15 Activity 3: Racial/Ethnic Identity Formation 25 Activity 4: What Role Has Whiteness Played in Your Life? 25 Closing 2…
Spiritual Preparation
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

If you are a White person, meditate or journal about how you discovered your “whiteness.” What role has Whiteness played in your life? If you are a Person of Color or from a group marginalized by race or ethnicity, how did you learn about “Whiteness?” How has Whiteness impacted your life?
Opening
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

Activity time: 3 minutes Materials for Activity Worship table or designated space Chalice, candle, and lighter or LED/battery-operated candle Leader Resource 1, Meditations of the Heart List of this workshop’s goals Covenant established in Workshop 1 Description of Activity Light the chalice or…
Activity 1: Culture and Identity
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

Activity time: 45 minutes Materials for Activity A computer with Internet access, and a large monitor or a digital projector Newsprint, markers, and tape Paper and pens or pencils Preparation for Activity Preview http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsItFEqQqAE&context=C4febf71ADvjVQa1PpcF… video, The…
Activity 2: Putting "White" on the Table
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

Activity time: 15 minutes Materials for Activity Leader Resource 2, Putting White on the Table Preparation for Activity Familiarize yourself with Leader Resource 2….
Activity 3: Racial/Ethnic Identity Formation
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

Activity time: 25 minutes Materials for Activity Handout 1, Four Stages of Identity Formation: A Model Handout 2, Four Stages of White Identity Formation: A Model A computer with Internet access, and a large monitor or a digital projector Newsprint, markers, and tape Participant journals and writ…
Activity 4: What Role Has Whiteness Played in Your Life?
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

Activity time: 25 minutes Materials for Activity Leader Resource 3, Serial Testimony Protocol Newsprint, markers, and tape Optional: Talking stick or other object for each small group Preparation for Activity Read Leader Resource 3 and prepare to explain the serial testimony process to the group.
Closing
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

Activity time: 2 minutes Materials for Activity A copy of Singing the Living Tradition, the Unitarian Universalist hymnbook Taking It Home Preparation for Activity Copy Taking It Home for each participant. Description of Activity Distribute Taking It Home….
Taking It Home: Dominant Culture and Identity
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

To consider “Whiteness” … is not an attack on people, whatever their skin color. Instead, [it] is an attempt to think critically about how white skin preference has operated systematically, structurally, and sometimes unconsciously as a dominant force in American—and indeed in global society…
Handout 1: Four Stages of Identity Formation: A Model
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

This model can be a valuable tool to help people who identify as a Person of Color or as a member of a historically marginalized ethnic group, and those working with them, to better understand identity formation….
Handout 2: Four Stages of White Identity Formation: A Model
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

This model can be a valuable tool to help people who identify as White to better understand their identity formation. A limitation of such a model is that human beings are all different and that each of us is constantly evolving and changing. Keep in mind that these stages are meant as guidelines.
Leader Resource 1: Meditations of the Heart
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

Excerpted from Meditations of the Heart by Howard Thurman. Copyright (C) 1953, 1981 by Anne Thurman. Reprinted by permission of Beacon Press, Boston, Massachusetts. It is very easy to pretend to understand what one does not understand….
Leader Resource 2: Putting White on the Table
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

Read the following sentences aloud in pairs, pausing briefly between the two items in each pair, and pausing again after each pair is read. This is my best friend, Mandy. This is my best white friend, Mandy. I love green beans. I love green beans made by that white company Dole Foods….
Leader Resource 3: Serial Testimony Protocol
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

Adapted from the work of Peggy McIntosh and Emily Style. “Giving testimony” can mean bearing witness, giving evidence, speaking the truth of one’s experience and perspective, and claiming responsibility for one’s own truth. The serial testimony protocol is very simple: The facilitator poses a…
Find Out More
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

The UUA Multicultural Growth & Witness staff group offers resources, curricula, trainings, and tools to help Unitarian Universalist congregations and leaders engage in the work of antiracism, antioppression, and multiculturalism. Visit…

Download all of Building the World We Dream About: For Young Adults (Word) (PDF) to edit or print.

The UUA is no longer updating Tapestry of Faith programs.

Workshop 3: Dominant Culture and Identity

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