United States society is centered upon white American culture. White cultural norms are the standard by which all are judged, and white cultural practices control access to power and resources. This reflects a historic legacy of white supremacy that carries into our present day. In a multiracial nation such as the United States, a society centered on whiteness is inherently unfair. Many have reacted to that unfairness by working for racial justice and equity. These efforts have called whiteness into question but left much to be done.

 This workshop offers a strategic model developed by CSWAC on how the racial structure of our society might be changed in a way that is fair and equitable to all. We call the model Decentering Whiteness and Building Multiracial Community. In brief, we believe our society should be centered on a multiracial culture and white culture needs to be moved from its central position, or decentered.

Although simple in the broadest sense, the Decentering Whiteness and Building Multiracial Community model has some implications that are not immediately obvious. This workshop will compare and contrast other approaches to changing racial structure and then look at some of the implications of CSWAC’s model. We’ll look at both decentering whiteness and building multiracial community as goals, and why one goal cannot be met without the other. In the process, we’ll discuss how each goal might be accomplished.

 Topics Covered in the Workshop

• basic concepts important to a multiracial perspective
• centered and decentered whiteness
• features of whiteness as centered
• decentering these same features of whiteness
• envisioning a multiracial community
• how to begin building multiracial community
• requirements for multiracial community building

Dates and Time

The workshop will take place during three Tuesday meetings in June 2021, for a total of 6 hours of information-packed content.

First meeting: Tuesday, June 8th*

Second meeting: Tuesday, June 15th*

Third meeting: Tuesday, June 22nd*

* All meetings take place at 7-9pm Eastern; 6-8pm Central; 5-7pm Mountain; 4-6pm Pacific.

All meetings are recorded and the recording will be made available for viewing after each meeting by registered workshop participants only.

Registration fee

Standard rate: $125

For More Information Please Contact

Catherine Klebl
catherineklebl@gmail.com

 

 

Meet the Facilitators

Charley Flint

Activist, educator, and scholar, Charley Flint is Professor of Sociology at William Paterson University, Wayne, New Jersey. Dr. Flint is also the Coordinator of Internships in Criminal Justice; has served as the Director of the Race and Gender Project; and was the founder of ALANA, a program of and for women of color in higher education in New Jersey.

Charley was the first black woman to receive a PhD in Sociology from Rutgers University in 1981, where she was an active participant in the development of the Women's Studies Program. She has published and presented on a range of subjects including the reintegration of incarcerated females, poverty and teen pregnancy, the intersectionality of race, gender and class in political attitudes as well as issues of whiteness and white privilege. She has contributed to several publications, serves as peer reviewer for the Journal of Violence Against Women and has been interviewed on CBS, NBC, FOX, BET and in several print media outlets on issues of race, ethnicity, criminal justice, and gender.

Charley is also past Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the New Jersey Association on Corrections, past President of The New Jersey Association of Criminal Justice Educators, and past Board President of the YWCA of Eastern Union County. In addition to her services as a board member, Charley also designs and co-facilitates workshops for CSWAC.

 

Jeff Hitchcock

Jeff Hitchcock is co-founder of the Center for the Study of White American Culture, Inc., where he presently serves as Executive Director. He has authored several articles and a book, titled Lifting the White Veil: A Look at White American Culture. With CSWAC he has designed and facilitated many workshops, staff trainings, and presentations on the topics of whiteness, white privilege, white American culture, and what white people can do to help foster a multiracial society

Jeff received his MBA from the Stern School of Business, New York University, and his MS in Social and Personality Psychology from Rutgers University. Aside from his academic pursuits and work with institutional clients, he is active in organizing for racial justice. He is a member of the AntiRacist Alliance (ARA), a multi-chapter association of racial justice activists in the New York metropolitan area, and a founding member of the ARA North Jersey chapter.

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