1) “Hacking bias” though mindfulness of vedana

What do you notice about visceral responses you sometimes have towards people who are different from you? What are the ones you most / least conscious of?

As far as you know, what stereotypes about people different from you in some way have you been most exposed to in your life? Do any of them have racial dimensions?

2) White delusion and its anti-dotes

McRae invites us to distinguish between delusion and ignorance, as white delusion has a dimension of willfulness. She illustrated this with a personal example. Delusion is not as “innocent” as simply not having knowledge, it takes some effort to maintain and uphold. What does this mean in your life experience?

Analayo and McRae describe the following antidotes to white delusion:

• deliberate contemplation and reflection upon causality (McRae)

• cultivation of equanimity (McRae)

• mindfulness that is internal-AND-external (Analayo)

Have you found any of these to be helpful? If so, how? Do you have other anti-dotes to share?

3) Power, privilege and intersectionality

Important: in both of these practices, this is now about how you think of yourself, or what your own views are about this way of looking at social experience. It’s about how society sees you (and treats you), like it or not. One common objection to this type of analysis is that it is reductionist and materialist. The point here is to explore these exercises to expand our awareness. Of course life is more complex, right and full of potential for transformation. Let’s try to not use that awareness to dodge another type of awareness…

Practice: “Take one step back, one step forward” - You might consider doing an exercise like this with your group. Here is the list of questions used. You can customize them if that helps.

Practice: Draw your map - You can print out a version of this diagram, and mark where you are socially situated. Black and white versions are provided (page 2 and 3) that you can color in, both for how you grew up and how it is now.

• What does it feel like to situate yourself like this?

• What dimensions are missing? Is anything revealing to you?

• What are the dimensions you are least conscious of in daily life?

4) From (white) reactivity to creativity

These questions relate to this helpful handout which summarizes key ideas from Robin DiAngelo.

• Looking at the behaviors associated with white reactivity (or “fragility”), do you recognize any habits you might have on occasion? (page 1)

• Have you had any successes turning from reactivity to creativity? What did that take? (page 2)