“In the midst of getting my understanding of racial categories shaken up, I started thinking, What if, instead of categorizing people by skin color, hair color was the guiding physical attribute? To compare it to the way race works in… — Debby Irving Copy Share Image
“Only a small part of reality, for a human being, is what is actually going on; the greater part is what he imagines in… — Debby Irving Copy Share Image
“Be it Europeans’ initial assumption of the right to invade in the 1600s, the Indian Removal Act in the 1800s, or the English-only acts in the 1900s, the white settlers established and the white government of the United States has enforced a model of dominance and assimilation that elevates those who can fit the prescribed mold while excluding and destabilizing… — Debby Irving Copy Share
“Shifting from a superior/inferior paradigm to a strength-in-difference paradigm was kind of a good news/bad news situation. On the downside, I had to admit Bruce had been right to resist my Pygmalion makeover attempts. On the upside, I finally had someone I could work on: me. I noticed my tendency to micromanage him and made a conscious effort to let… — Debby Irving Copy Share
“Any cycle that traps someone in a state of perpetual disadvantage is the real issue for the person experiencing it.” — Debby Irving Copy Share Image
“Eduardo Bonilla-Silva comments: “[The] melting pot never included people of color. Blacks, Chinese, Puerto Ricans, et cetera, could not melt into the pot. They could be used as wood to produce the fire for the pot, but they could not be used as material to be melted into the pot.” — Debby Irving Copy Share
“The story of race has become a self-fulfilling, self-perpetuating prophecy as the story creates the ideas, which then reinforce the story.” — Debby Irving Copy Share Image
“Choosing to engage in the effort to dismantle racism promises to bring with it discomfort, yet how can I compare my discomfort to what… — Debby Irving Copy Share Image
“Racism demands an artificial and divisive construction of humanity, in terms of how I make sense of others and also how I envision myself.” — Debby Irving Copy Share Image
“Understanding whiteness, regardless of class, is key to understanding racism.” — Debby Irving Copy Share Image
“I now understand that acting like a white American wasn’t just a “When in Rome do as the Romans do” cultural sensibility, but a matter of survival. In policy after policy, act after act, the United States has reaffirmed its commitment to being a melting-pot society adhering to Anglo-Saxon standards, as opposed to a mosaic nation built on the diversity… — Debby Irving Copy Share
“I’ve heard it said that conversations are the way human beings think together.” — Debby Irving Copy Share Image
“If there’s a place for tolerance in racial healing, perhaps it has to do with tolerating my own feelings of discomfort that arise when… — Debby Irving Copy Share Image
