GWN- The Whiteness of Educational Policy Making

How should whiteness be broached within an institutional context by those who may not be in a position of power?

I believe that discourse is the best way to broach the topic of whiteness in an institutional context. Those without power are not able to make changes in government/ institutional policy, so the only thing to do is bring the concept of whiteness and its privileges to the front of people's minds. In no way to I mean to protest or demonstrate, to decry the lack of foresight on the part of our institutions, but merely to help white friends and colleagues question the seemingly obvious status quo of white supremacy.

How should Whites be made aware of, and become engaged in, the conceptualization and application of race and anti-racism?

Whites need to understand the inherent privilege and dominance that comes from being White in our white dominant society. This is a hard topic to bridge with most white people, as no one wants to be seen as a racist, and most white people are not individually racist. It's difficult then, for white people to understand that all of their experiences embody an inherent racism. How can this be done? I think a good way would be Carr's example, in which he tells people to imagine a room full of black people. "How would you like it if you were the only White with 11 Black people around the boardroom-table, and every time you spoke the others would smile and whisper to each other that this is the White perspective?" (Carr 229) Imagining this scenario made it easier for me to understand where non-whites are coming from. Also, to become engaged with the conceptualization and application of race and anti-racism, whites have to come to the understanding that there is racism, albeit institutional, and the fact that we are racist doesn't make us evil. Racism will never disappear as long as it is ignored, which is the knee-jerk response of so many institutions in Canada.