Learning Empathy: stories of my life

Published by vegankid | Filed under Ourstory, Safe Spaces, Taking Action, Whiteness

At Rachel’s request, i am re-posting this comment that i had left in response to her piece, Racism and Empathy, as a seperate post. So here it goes…
Our experiences are similar. I grew up in a small, rural, midwestern town. Growing up, i knew of two families of color in our town (they moved [...]

Racism and Empathy: Some of My Approximating Experiences

Published by rachels | Filed under Ourstory, Safe Spaces, Taking Action, Whiteness

In a previous post, I talked about how most Whites need to develop great empathy for people of color. I also discussed a concept called approximating experiences, which is one way Whites can develop more empathetic orientations. Feagin and Vera say that that approximating experiences help Whites grasp what it is like to [...]

White Racism and Empathy (or the Lack Thereof)

Published by rachels | Filed under Ourstory, Portraying Race, Slavery and Racism Denial, Taking Action, Whiteness

Prologue: This is part one of a two part series on white racism and the lack of empathy it creates. In this part, I provide a few example that demonstrate this problem, and talk about why empathy is important in the fight against racism. In the second essay, I talk [...]