Cultural Competency Resources

This article from Medium.com provides a list of concrete actionable items that white allies can do each day to support the BIPOC community and build a more equitable society.

The document is a resource list for white people to deepen their understanding of racism. Included in this list are resources that provide historical as well as the current context of racism in America.

This working document is intended be used as a tool for educators to reflect on their own pedagogical assumptions, biases, backgrounds, and preconceived notions, with a view to enabling teachers to intentionally create anti-racist classes.

This site lists characteristics of white supremacy culture that regularly appear in organizations - such as either/or thinking and fear of open conflict - as well as "antidotes" to combat them. These characteristics are shown as damaging to both people of color and white people because they are "used as norms and standards without being pro-actively named or chosen by the group" and they promote white supremacy thinking.

The Implicit Association Test (IAT) is an initiative of Project Implicit, an international nonprofit collaborative that researches "thoughts and feelings outside of conscious awareness and control." The IAT consists of a series of tests that can be taken to measure personal attitudes on race, religion, gender and sexual identity, ability, age, etc., as a first step towards addressing implicit bias.

For those who want to become active anti-racist allies, this list is full of dynamic readings (longer and shorter), podcasts, and various conversations particularly geared toward this goal at this moment. This resource was created for the purpose of providing a starting place for individuals trying to become better allies.

Dr. Cheryl Matias teaches urban education courses at the University of Kentucky to prospective teachers, many of whom are White women. She identifies how the "white savior" narrative serves as a motivator for many of her students, and she examines its implications in the classroom. Dr. Matias also discusses the impact that her students’ whiteness ideology has on her as an educator of color, and how she counteracts the psychological harm done to her through the “pedagogy of trauma.”

This is a Facebook group of people committed to applying a racial justice lens to Minnesota ABE (Adult Basic Education) programming.

The Kirwan Research Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity works to raise awareness to the complexity and impact of implicit bias and the ways it acts as a barrier to access. This website provides a concrete definition of implicit bias and the ways it operates to broaden social inequality. You can sign up to receive their newsletter to get updates on their interdisciplinary research.

Author Peggy McIntosh explains, "I was taught to see racism only in individual acts of meanness, not in invisible systems conferring dominance on my group." Proceeding from her studies on male privilege, her list outlining the "daily effects of white privilege" is a starting point to help people understand how this dynamic shows up in our lives regardless of intent and without our conscious participation - so that we can begin creating a more equitable society.