Session 2:
Prompts

This week is a good time to remember to stay close to the invitation to let go of being a “good white person” or a “bad white person.” We do not need to “perform” in any way as we talk about this. Supported by our agreements, we can be real. We can move together into this exploration with kindness and curiosity, towards ourselves and others.

1) Community Agreements 

• Does anything need to be said? explored?

2) My people

• Who are “your people”? Where are they from? What were the stories told to you growing up about their culture, their connection to place?

• Were there stories about “other people”?

• How do you relate to your ethnicity/ethnicities?

• Do you know if, when and how your people became racialized as “white”? Did they give anything up in the process?

3) My skin

• What are some of the times and circumstances when you have become particularly aware of the color of your skin? What does this bring up?

• How do you relate to being “white” or identified as such?

• What’s it like for you to talk about race?

4) My history of race

Many of us have told our life stories in study groups, chapters and training for ordination groups. Some of us may have been asked to share our lives through what we experience to be significant spiritual turning points, inspired by the journey of Siddhartha experiencing the Four Sights. Sangharakshita famously wrote a personal history of Going for Refuge…

• So far, in your life, what have been your turning points, or significant moments, with regards to race?