LANGUAGE AND IDENTITY
THE VALUE OF WHITE ACCOUNTABILITY GROUPS Natalie Jacklin-Chetty At various points in my life as a young White adult South African, I grappled with the racial and social justice impact of apartheid in South Africa, and I knew which side of history I wanted to be on as we moved into our new democracy. I was drawn into the work of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, primarily because I wanted to learn how to facilitate and support others to have deeper conversations about race as we tried to heal from the devastation of racism in our country. It was only in my later years that I started to understand on a personal level how I had been impacted by apartheid and racism, and, to my own shame and horror, the ways in which I had subtly internalised White supremacy and racism, even when I thought I was standing against it. Much of this learning came about through the loving and bold feedback I received from Black friends, family, and colleagues, as well as perspectives I was hearing from people I interacted with in workshops. I also started to recognise that I could not only depend on the feedback from Black people in my life but that I needed to do my own internal work. I realised that my effectiveness as a DEI practitioner had to include my ability to collaborate with other White people to really challenge racism in ourselves, as well as use our racial privilege to confront racism in our families, workplaces, and communities. It was this awareness that led me to acknowledge the importance of White people introspecting together, and educating ourselves and other White people through White accountability groups. I have been working with White accountability groupings in one way or another since 2010. The small group I have been a founding member of since 2012 is called White Work SA. From the article titled ‘White Work South Africa: Invisible Backpack of White Privilege’, our intentions are to: • Continue to deepen our understanding of how to own, accept, and make conscious decisions about how to use our White privilege to play a constructive role in South Africa. • Continue to recognise and confront racism in ourselves. • Recognise and challenge racism in our interactions with others. • Increase our skills in effectively engaging other White people in conversations about White privilege and racism, with the goal of increasing the number of White people who are actively confronting these issues. Over the years, we have allowed ourselves the flexibility to focus on specific issues and areas of personal and professional work. We have gone through periods of meeting regularly and other periods of meeting less frequently. When we do meet, we always connect with the intentions stated above and try to balance our personal work with the work we do with other White people.
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DEI in the Global South | Edition 1
