Grappling with the Violence of Whiteness

In public discussions of racial violence, the focus is often on people of color and the way they experience racism. In this episode of Peace Talks Radio, our guests turn the lens on Whiteness, asking how the notion of Whiteness came to be, how it has shaped American history and how it perpetuates injustice in interpersonal interactions and systems in American society today. We talk with John Biewen, audio director at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, who produced the 2017 series Seeing White for his podcast “Scene On Radio”. The fourteen-part documentary audio series takes a deep dive into the history of Whiteness as a tool used to oppress people of color. Then we speak with Cheryl E. Matias, Ph.D., an associate professor at the University of Colorado Denver’s School of Education and Human Development. Matias, a woman of color, teaches mostly white teacher-candidates who often have the well-intentioned goal of teaching students of color in urban schools. Her book, "Feeling White", details how her students’ strong negative emotional reactions often derail important conversations about race, and offers lessons on how to work through those “emotionalities of Whiteness” in order to have more productive dialogue. We’ll also hear excerpts from an October 2018 workshop entitled “What Is Whiteness?” taught by educator and anti-racism activist Frida Miles at the Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice. Hannah Colton hosts.