Our Problem, Our Path

As the Director of the Race Institute for K-12 Educators, Ali Michael, Ph.D. works with schools and organizations across the country to help make research on race, Whiteness, and education more accessible and relevant to educators. Ali is the author of Raising Race Questions: Whiteness, Inquiry and Education, winner of the 2017 Society of Professors of Education Outstanding Book Award. As a member of a multiracial editorial team, she has co-edited The Guide for White Women who Teach Black Boys, Teaching Beautiful and Brilliant Black Girls, and Everyday White People Confront Racial and Social Injustice: 15 Stories. With her colleague Toni Graves Williamson, Ali adapted Robin DiAngelo's White Fragility for a Young Adult audience. Ali sits on the editorial board of the journal Whiteness and Education. Her article, What do White Children Need to Know About Race?, co-authored with Dr. Eleonora Bartoli in Independent Schools Magazine, won the Association and Media Publishing Gold Award for Best Feature Article in 2014. When she is not writing, speaking, or training, Ali is striving to be an anti-racist co-parent to two amazing kids. Her writing and speeches are available at alimichael.org. Eleonora Bartoli, Ph.D., is a consultant and licensed psychologist, specializing in trauma, resilience-building, and multicultural/social justice counseling. She earned her Ph.D. in Psychology: Human Development/Mental Health Research from the University of Chicago in 2001. After receiving her clinical license in 2005, she opened a small independent practice, which she has held since. After 15 years in academia (12 of those years as the director of a Masters in counseling program), she became a full-time consultant. Her mission is to share the tools of counseling and psychology in support of social justice work. Throughout her career, Dr. Bartoli has held leadership positions in professional organizations at both the state and national levels. She has also presented at numerous conferences and is the author of a number of publications focused on multicultural counseling competence, white racial socialization, and the integration of social justice principles in evidence-based counseling practices (please see her website, dreleonorabartoli.com, for details). Dr. Bartoli has been the recipient of academic awards, including the Lindback Foundation Award for Distinguished Teaching and the Provost Award for Outstanding Advising and Mentoring. The Gillem-Bartoli Alum Award for Contributions to Social Justice was established to honor hers and a colleague's contributions in their role as activist-scholars within academia. In all her work, Dr. Bartoli integrates an understanding of neuroscience, focusing on how it informs symptom development as well as healing and resilience-building strategies.

Publisher's Acknowledgments About the Authors Part 1: Beginnings Prologue About This Book Ali's Journey Eleonora's Journey Part 2: Seeing Ourselves Clearly in the Here and Now Chapter 1: Racism Is a White Person's Problem Internal Work: Antiracism in a Human Body Chapter 2: Myths of White Supremacy Internal Work: To Act, You Must Pause Chapter 3: What White People Learn About Race Internal Work: Antidotes to White Supremacist Priming Chapter 4: Now We Know What Not to Say . . . What Do We Say? Internal Work: Empathy Is Our Superpower Chapter 5: Can White Antiracist People Feel Proud of Being White? Internal Work: Don't Get Stuck in Stereotype Threat Chapter 6: Who Is White . . . and Why? Internal Work: But It's Not Fair! Part 3: Who Will We Be as the Racial Hierarchy Falls? Chapter 7: Taking Feedback and Using It Wisely Internal Work: On Moral Injury and Racial Competence Chapter 8: Talking to Other White People About Race Internal Work: Healing Is Essential to Antiracist Practice Chapter 9: Creating and Sustaining White Antiracist Learning Spaces Internal Work: To Prepare for Antiracist Action, You Must Train for Courage Chapter 10: Taking Action Appendix A: Common Unproductive, Possibly Biased Behaviors of Some/Many White People That Perpetuate Racist Dynamics and Structural Racism Appendix B: Examples of White Group-Level Behaviors/Privilege References Index

"With compassion and humility, Michael and Bartoli offer a practical handbook for white antiracist awareness and practice. Filled with relatable examples and nuanced explanations, this is a step-by-step guide for responding to the obstacles - both internal and external - of unlearning our white socialization and challenging systemic racism. Our Problem, Our Path is a must-read for starting and maintaining the life-long process of white anti-racist practice." -- Robin DiAngelo, Ph.D. "If you're a white person looking for a guide to transition you away from racial complacency and towards an antiracist practice, this is it. Our Problem, Our Path starts with something rarely articulated: What does the path look like and where might it lead us? This story-rich jewel promises to gather up white people and equip us with strategies that build the awareness, knowledge, and skill we need to find and support one another on the path to liberation for all." -- Debby Irving "Our Problem, Our Path lays the groundwork for engaging in compelling and critically important conversations to understand how to enter productive, honest discussions and reimagine what is possible when discussing how we think and feel about race. This book will challenge and energize anyone who reads it and takes the journey to widen their path; it is visionary, practical, courageous, and invitational." -- Peggy Brookins, President and CEO "This book serves as a master class and recipe for what is practically needed to talk about and address racism in the world along with the mental and emotional steps needed to accomplish genuine change, one person, one family, one neighborhood and one community at a time. As a member of the global majority, as an African American, cisgender Black man with a clinical psychology doctorate degree, reading this book provided me with much needed and timely hope that someone understands us and that we have at least two allies on the inside. We have a least two superheroes mightily using their superpowers of empathy to educate, challenge, and awaken those willing to listen. Readers are provided well-outlined steps to break down hate and fight for a just and equitable world for us and for all of our children." -- Dr. Tim Barksdale, Senior Executive Director, Clinical Services "Our Problem, Our Path: Collective Antiracism for White People is a roadmap to intercept Whiteness and define key practices necessary to embody Anti-Racist leadership. As a Black woman leading efforts toward systematizing equity, I sought out the expertise of "Ms. Ali." She humbly supports and models the unpacking of various complexities nestled with intersections in walking the path towards transformation. Although her work is framed for a White audience, through her discourse and facilitation I have witnessed People of Color and Indigenous folk grapple with the manifestations of their own internalized oppression. Dr. Michael's work exemplifies that the study of self is one of the greatest tools in addressing racism." -- Myla Pope, Director "It is rare to find a book that places White people at the center of understanding their Whiteness. Our Problem, Our Path is exactly what it says: a path for White social justice activists to take if they honestly want to understand the impact of their Whiteness on themselves, on society, and on systems. This will not be an easy read, but it is a must-read. Take the Path and start creating #GoodTrouble." -- Dr. Eddie Moore Jr., Founder "The hard work to ensure a more racially just American society cannot live solely in the work of Black, Brown, and Indigenous people alone. Many claim to be anti-racist, but too often gleefully swim in the most shallow of waters, ignoring the depth of work it takes to actually be anti-racist. Our Problem, Our Path is both a powerful roadmap and book that lights a path of action to create a society that is more consistently educationally and racially just. We all deserve nothing less." -- Sharif El-Mekki, CEO "Michael and Bartoli have written the book I've been waiting for, one for all the white people who know racism is wrong, who want to do the right thing, and who want their children to live in a better world. Writing with clarity and from deep experience, the authors explain what antiracism means and how to do it without adopting the hectoring tone that can turn people away from this essential work. While James Baldwin correctly identified racism as a white people's problem, Michael and Bartoli manage to frame it as a positive life mission that will benefit us all in the end. Above all, Our Problem, Our Path offers the wise guidance, with generous helpings of empathy and compassion, that white people need if we are to talk with one another about (and eventually eradicate) the invisible caste system in which we all live." -- Maureen Costello, Executive Director