Introducing the Systematic Racism Worksheet

Encounter - Present and explain the systematic racism analysis worksheet.  The instructor should fill out the worksheet using a community that they have previously been a part of (be careful to maintain confidentiality regarding that community).

•    Element Types – Element types are the building blocks of community culture.  In order to understand how a community operates and to approach addressing racism (or other cultural-structural problems) in it each of these elements will need to be examined.  There will be overlap between the elements as some have multiple forms.
     Rules govern the operations of the community and the interactions of its members.

     Roles are specific positions that community members hold with associated privileges and responsibilities

     Rituals are practices of the community done for their meaning or out of habit

     Goals are things that the community aspires to accomplish for individuals or the corporate body

     Values are concepts and ideals that the community finds to be significant

•     Element Forms – Each of the cultural elements exist in the three forms of formal, informal and tacit.  Formal elements can be found in writing, they are openly known by the whole community and are a part of guiding documents such as community guidelines and charters (Formal example: scripture will be read at every worship service as defined in the Presbyterian Book of Order).  Informal elements are known and shared openly by the community but are not found in “official” documents (Informal example: ‘coffee hour’ is held at the end of every worship service, and is announced regularly).  Tacit elements are largely unknown by newcomers to a community but still have an important role in shaping it.  Tacit elements are discovered by a newcomer when only they are violated, these are usually things have evolved within the life of the community but have never been openly discussed or adopted (Tacit example: Sister Henrietta plans the community picnic every year and she doesn’t need your help)

The facilitator should spend some time before class filling out this worksheet with an anonymous community in mind that s/he is familiar with.  It will be very helpful to learners’ understanding to have an example of each of these.  Some elements will appear in several places; for example, there might be a rule that says a particular role must be filled and justified with several values.  Be sure to maintain the formal/informal/distinction even if one element has manifestations of all three forms.
 

The next step is for learners to take the worksheet to communities that they know and want to examine.  The instructor should consider splitting learners up into groups to examine certain communities (if you have representation from different communities in the room) or to focus on a single element of their community’s culture.

Reflect - Relate portions of the worksheet to material learned previously in these sessions.  Where do the categories help learners to see racism at work?
 

Allow at least 30 minutes