Self-Knowledge

What is Self-Knowledge in the Context of Anti-Racism?

Self-knowledge requires an understanding of our own particular relationship to race and racism ; this relationship will be different for racialized people and white people. Often, racialized people (people of colour and Indigenous people) are more conscious of race and racism (and thus, connected to it) as it is part of their daily lived experience. For white people, or for those who appear white, race and racism are often invisible because they do not have to see it or deal with it in their daily lives.

Becoming aware of our relationship to race and racism is a complex, life long process. This process of learning/unlearning may not be entirely linear and can be fraught with pain, guilt and other uncomfortable emotions. According to racial identity development models, identity unfolds differently for racialized people and white people (Cross, 1991; Helms, 1995; Tatum, 1992). Given that Canada’s prevailing cultural values are of European (Western) origin, these ideas continue to shape our societal norms and policies. Thus, for white individuals, this process of self-discovery will call for the examination of their own whiteness (i.e. power and privilege) and how they have knowingly or unknowingly benefited from it. This will require looking closely at their group’s assumptions, beliefs and behaviours associated with race and racism. Following this re-evaluation, they are then able to reconnect to their group with more awareness of the aspects of the group’s culture that they wish to keep, and that which to let go of or challenge.

For racialized individuals, they too must find a way to “break” or distance themselves from the dominant culture in order to see it more objectively. This could mean reconnecting with another aspect of their cultural or racial identity. It could also involve examining the ways in which they might have internalized the negative messages perpetuated by society/individuals about their own racial group or other groups. In an interview with Jemele Hill at the 2019 Aspen Ideas Festival, author and academic Ibram X. Kendi talks about coming to terms with his own racism, even as someone who was brought up in the black middleclass with an awareness of civil rights, black power and how racism functioned:

“Growing up in those spaces, I was led to believe, as a black middle-income person, that I was superior behaviorally to the black poor. … I was also not raised in any aggressive way to think of black women as equal to black men. I was not raised in any aggressive way to think of the black queer community, white queer community, as equal to black heterosexuals. … There’s so many different groups within the black community, let alone other communities, that are degraded and demeaned that even us too have been manipulated into believing that that is the case. And so in many ways, I had to come to grips with that. I had to look in the mirror. And I had to recognize the ways in which I had internalized racist ideas and that’s why I actually argue in How to be an Antiracist that internalized racism is the real black on black crime” ( 00:18:08-00:20:08 ).

Whether one is racialized or not, self-knowledge is a necessary part of anti-racist work as one’s views will be filtered through our personal location (experience and identity). Moreover, the work of anti-racism can be extraordinarily demanding and requires a great deal of physical, mental, and emotional investment. Understanding one’s own location in relation to race, racism and anti-racism can help one to stay energized and focused on being not only “non-racist” but anti-racist—someone who takes an active stand against racism and its institutionalized policies and norms and their manifestation through individuals’ actions, behaviours and words.

Click here to see our glossary definitions of Dominant Culture, Internalized Racism, Race, Racialization, Racism, White Fragility, Whiteness and White Privilege/White-Skin Privilege

References:

• Cross, W. E. Jr. (1991). Shades of black: Diversity in African-American identity. Philadelphia: Temple University.
• Helms, J.E. (1995).  An update of Helms’s White and People of Color racial identity models. In J. G. Ponterotto, J.M. Casas, L.A. Suzuki, & C.M. Alexander (Eds.), Handbook of multicultural counseling (pp. 181-198). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Kendi, Ibram X. (2019). How to be an Antiracist. Aspen Ideas Festival.
• Tatum, B. D. (1992). Talking about race, learning about racism: The application of racial identity development theory in the classroom. ProQuest Psychology Journals, 62 (1), 1-24.