As said by Okun, “we are all swimming in the waters of white supremacy culture. We are all navigating this culture, regardless of our racial identity.” Some of us are encouraged to collude without awareness, and some are shamed because they can never fully join, no matter how hard they try. Some are denied any invitation at all so that they can be exploited and violated.

2. It shapes how we think and act

We are all conditioned from birth by white supremacy culture. We are conditioned to have an implicit bias about race, ethnicity, gender, age, the LGBTQ+ community, and ability. Harvard’s Implicit Association Test can help reveal to you your implicit biases.

Spoiler alert: most people have an implicit bias towards white skin, even many POC.

These biases affect how we think, act, make decisions, and behave. It constantly reminds us that white = right, and there is a “right” kind of white.

Most concepts we consider “normal” are informed by white supremacy culture. Professionalism and academia, for example, are certainly not immune from white supremacy culture.

3. It can be deconstructed and replaced

White supremacy culture is a construct, but anything constructed can be deconstructed and replaced. While it requires bravery, boldness, and creativity to envision a future without white supremacy culture – one that we are all unlikely to live to see – it is indeed possible to replace this oppressive system (and all the oppressive systems collaborating with it).

If you feel shame and guilt, please remember that we all have to unlearn this systemic conditioning. Me too. I am heavily conditioned by white supremacy culture and still unlearning every day. What matters is that we are committed to doing the work – not that we are perfect in our process of unlearning.