The unearned power and advantages that benefit people just by virtue of being White or being perceived as White.
An institutionally perpetuated and ever-evolving system of exploitation
and domination that consolidates and maintains power and resources
among White people. This system promotes the ideology of Whiteness
as the standard and the belief that White people are superior to other
races.
white
FRAGILITY
A range of defensive (and centering) emotions and behaviors that White people exhibit when confronted with uncomfortable truths about race. This may include outward displays of emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and behaviors such as argumentation, silence, and leaving the stress-inducing situation.
DEFINITIONS
CART is here to help you understand key terms that are needed to understand the oppression in policies today. Check out our equity terms and definitions below!
racism
Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against a person or people on the basis of their membership in a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized.
Active process of identifying and challenging racism, by changing systems, organizational structures, policies and practices, and attitudes, to redistribute power in an equitable manner.
SYSTEMATIC
RACISM
Historical, social, political, institutional, and cultural factors that contribute to legitimize, and maintain racial inequities. Structural racism is not something that a few people or institutions choose to practice, it is the influence of racist concepts and theories that control our economic, political, and social systems.
SYSTEMS
CHANGE
A process designed to address the root causes of social problems and
fundamentally alter the components and structures that perpetuate them in public systems (i.e. education system, child welfare system, etc.)
SYSTEMS OF
OPRESSION
The ways in which history, culture, ideology, public policies, institutional practices, and personal behaviors and beliefs interact to maintain a hierarchy—based on race, class, gender, sexuality, and/or other group identities—that allows the privileges associated with the dominant group and the disadvantages associated with the targeted group to endure and adapt over time.
SOCIAL
JUSTICE
A process, not an outcome, which (1) seeks fair (re)distribution of resources, opportunities, and responsibilities; (2) challenges the roots of oppression and injustice;
(3) empowers all people to exercise self-determination and realize their full potential; (4) and builds social solidarity and community capacity for collaborative action.