Workshop 4: Whiteness and Privilege

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

The struggle for racial justice in America calls those of us who are White to make this journey. Our presence is needed. We have been absent too long. — Rev. Dr. Rebecca Parker, from Soul Work: Anti-racist Theologies in Dialogue, Marjorie Bowens-Wheatley and Nancy Palmer Jones, editors (Boston:…
Workshop-at-a-Glance
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

Activity Minutes Opening 2 Activity 1: Introducing White Privilege 15 Activity 2: Aesthetic Journaling on Whiteness and White Privilege 50 Activity 3: Dismantling Privilege Role Play and Discussion 50 Closing 3…
Spiritual Preparation
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

Take a few minutes before leading this workshop to consider how unearned privilege accrues in your own life. Read Handout 1, White Privilege. If the concept of privilege is new to you, pay attention to what you think and feel as you read the list. If the concept is not new to you, recall how you…
Opening
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

Activity time: 2 minutes Materials for Activity Worship table or designated space Chalice, candle, and lighter or LED/battery-operated candle List of this workshop’s goals Covenant established in Workshop 1 Description of Activity Light the chalice or invite a participant to light it while you of…
Activity 1: Introducing White Privilege
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

Activity time: 15 minutes Materials for Activity Handout 1, White Privilege Newsprint, markers, and tape Preparation for Activity Copy Handout 1 for all participants. Write the following questions on newsprint, and post where they will be visible to all participants: What is my response to the…
Activity 2: Aesthetic Journaling on Whiteness and White Privilege
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

Activity time: 50 minutes Materials for Activity Newsprint, markers, and tape Participant journals A variety of writing materials Index cards, four per participant A large variety of found objects, such as fabric, mechanical parts, string, rope, buttons, cotton balls, foam letters and shapes,…
Activity 3: Dismantling Privilege Role Play and Discussion
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

Activity time: 50 minutes Materials for Activity Newsprint, markers, and tape Handout 2, Dismantling Privilege Handouts 3, 4, 5, and 6, Privilege Scenarios 1-4 List of reflection group assignments (Workshop 3) Preparation for Activity Copy Handout 2 for all participants. Review the scenarios and…
Closing
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

Activity time: 3 minutes Materials for Activity Taking It Home Leader Resource 1, Living Wide Open Preparation for Activity Copy Taking It Home for all participants. Practice Reading Leader Resource 1 aloud. Description of Activity Distribute Taking It Home and read the instructions aloud….
Taking It Home: Whiteness and Privilege
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

The struggle for racial justice in America calls those of us who are White to make this journey. Our presence is needed. We have been absent too long. — Rev. Dr. Rebecca Parker, from Soul Work: Anti-racist Theologies in Dialogue, Marjorie Bowens-Wheatley and Nancy Palmer Jones, editors (Boston:…
Handout 1: White Privilege
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

Adapted from a piece originally published in Weaving the Fabric of Diversity (Boston: UUA, 1996). If I am a White person in America: I can turn on my television or watch a movie and see many images of people of my race in a wide variety of roles, including many positive and heroic ones….
Handout 2: Dismantling Privilege
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

Steps for Dismantling Privilege Step 1: NAME IT! Grapple with understanding of what privilege is and how it works in everyday life. Step 2: DEAL WITH IT! Identify privilege, address it, and take some personal responsibility for not allowing it to continue. Step 3: REFRAME IT! Build new roles,…
Handout 3: Privilege Scenario 1
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

This scenario explores the intersections of race, class, and gender. It takes place in the Crown Heights area of Brooklyn, New York. Two police officers have stopped two people in a car on Nostrand Avenue and Bergen Street. After some time, a passerby interrupts the situation….
Handout 4: Privilege Scenario 2
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

By Nora Rasman, a White Unitarian Universalist. This scenario concerns the recent, major increase of gentrification and forced relocation within Washington, D.C….
Handout 5: Privilege Scenario 3

India McKnight

From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

This scenario is set at a Unitarian Universalist congregation. For the first time ever, the congregation is hosting a youth conference with the theme of “Homelessness and LGBTQ Youth.” The majority of the attendees, congregational leaders, and guest workshop leaders are youth….
Handout 6: Privilege Scenario 4

Jessica York

From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

CAST Lexie, a White bookstore manager. She is one of three manager/trainers in the company. She has decades of sales experience, though she has only been in books for three years. She currently manages a small mall bookstore that is part of a chain….
Leader Resource 1: Living Wide Open
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

Material excerpted from the book I Will Not Die an Unlived Life copyright (C) 2000 by Dawna Markova Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC, Newburyport, MA and San Francisco, CA www.redwheelweiser.com.
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.

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Workshop 4: Whiteness and Privilege

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