Being Called a Racist: Can you handle it?

As an anti-oppression consultant, it is my job to cultivate a humble and thoughtful response in my White clients when issues of racism come up or when they are called racist. I want my clients to be able to handle claims of racism without getting defensive. I want their internal dialogues to be those of grace and curiosity because being racist is rarely about being a bad person. Instead, it is most​ often about benefitting from a system that fundamentally deems White folks as safer, smarter, more beautiful, more capable, harder working, cleaner, better, and normal. One only becomes intentionally complicit with racism when s/he remains defensive, rejects curiosity, refuses to listen, and demands to be made comfortable.