Direction from Chris Germer
- Teachers need to begin the process of making people of color and other minorities in our culture feel welcome. This requires, first and foremost, humility—“not knowing.” In other words, “I am going to put my foot in it and I’m committed to learning and not making more mistakes.” People of color are likely to have good will when it is clear that teachers are committed to inclusiveness.
- A good time to make our commitment clear is at the beginning of every program with an explicit welcome to people of all walks of life, welcome to people with class, income, ability, racial, ethnic, age differences, etc.
- Shame is a major obstacle to dialogue and persistence toward inclusiveness—shame in the perpetrator and shame in the victim. Shame will inevitably arise when exploring the topics of equity, diversity and inclusiveness. Mindful self-compassion is a perfect antidote to the shame, especially by being able to recognize shame and to respond in a humble, compassionate way rather than shutting down or attacking.
- A sense of safeness is key. And a sense of belonging. We all need to feel safe, and to belong. Shame makes us feel unsafe and feel like we don’t belong. Self-compassion can help to re-establish a sense of safeness.
- In diverse groups, MSC teachers should be willing to let people of various identities, such as people of color and white people, to occasionally make separate groups to explore their experience of a practice or a presentation.
- One way that self-compassion can help the inclusiveness dialogue is to remember that “all beings wish to be loved.” When we feel shame, we can open rather than close when we say to ourselves, “just as all beings wish to be loved, so do I wish to be loved.”
- In multicultural conversations, it is important to distinguish between intentionand impact. When we hurt someone, we might become defensive and say, “Oh, I didn’t mean it that way!” It is better to validate the impact – “My intention was very different, but what matters is the impact I/it had on you. I’m sorry for the hurt I caused. A good resource on microaggressions is Dr. Derald Sue on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_ltWFYVW2Y
- An obstacle to dialogue and persistence toward inclusiveness can be other well-meaning teachers or participants who judge those who are “newly potty trained.” The metaphor is like an older sibling who learned to use the potty and then looks down on their stinky younger sibling. There is a legacy of pain in all forms of bias. As white people, for example, we need to work together to unpack white fragility – unpack the suffering. When we identify with an oppressor group, we will probably feel shame and want to feel above it all. It is important to “cut each other some slack and celebrate our good will” as we work together toward a more inclusive society.
- Being color blind is an outdated approach that is no longer appropriate. We need to validate the pain of oppression. Just because we flush the poop, it doesn’t mean the next person will not smell it. J
- It helps for teachers to cultivate a circle of diverse friends. Then they will not feel timid when people of color participate in a class.
- There are many guidelines for equity, diversity and inclusiveness conversations, such as: https://www2.humboldt.edu/diversity/faculty-resources/challenging-conversations