By: Shannon Sullivan | August 16, 2021

As white leaders seek to bolster support and healing opportunities for Black, Indigenous and other Staff of Color throughout the racial uprising and reckoning, many have been surprised by the loud and often swift demands of white staff. Sometimes, these demands seek for white staff to also be included in these opportunities. More often, these demands list what else the organization needs to do in seeking racial justice, from the perspective of a white staff member.

White supremacy culture traits assure us that we need to be heard, that we have expertise to offer, that we need to 'speak up on behalf of those who are silenced'—often without even checking in with those assumed people. further, we are all impacted by what is going on around us, so it can be even easier to convince ourselves that it's our job to step up, that if we stay silent we are complicit. But, the thing is, we're already complicit. If we do, in fact, work somewhere that silences Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC), and we've chosen now to start making demands about it—we're complicit. If we choose now to center ourselves and our perspectives rather than recognizing the opportunity to make space for our BIPOC colleagues, we're complicit. If we rely on the fallback white supremacist notion that we know how to 'fix' everything and we're going to tell folks exactly what to do, we're complicit.

It's hard to know what the 'right' thing is to do right now for white folks. However, i'd offer that part of the work is letting go of the notion that there is a 'right' thing to do. Resist either/or thinking, resist centering your demands or your suffering, resist your insistence on fixing things. Figure out where you can lean your shoulder into work your BIPOC colleagues are doing or wanting. Engage in the deep introspection it takes to resist the white supremacy culture traits in yourself. Center somatic and healing practices in your workplace where you have the power to do so. Breathe.