- Do I interact with people who are different from me?
- Do I read books or stories written by people of different ethnic or religious heritage than myself?
- Have I taken the time to listen to the voices of others who don’t look like me or have a different background and life experience than me?
- Have I ever said the following phrases or something similar: “she’s pretty for a black girl,” “he’d be handsome if he wasn’t so dark,” “that little girl would be cute if her mom did her hair,” or made other judgments on beauty and acceptance?
- Have I ever asked someone about their heritage or ethnicity by asking “so, what are you?”
- Have I ever seen someone on the street and made a judgement based on how they dress, how their hair is styled, how they walk, how they speak?
- Have I ever participated in or laughed at jokes or comments that belittle or denigrate people who don’t look like me or practice a different faith than me?
- Do I blame the victims who suffer poverty and/or oppression for their plight?
- Do I try to come up with excuses for things I do or say that are perceived as racist or harmful by others?
- Do I dismiss the concerns or observations of others as simply being “overly sensitive” or being “PC” [politically correct or ”woke”]?
- Do I ask someone that I am an acquaintance with, in social or professional settings, to speak for their entire culture?
- Do I use a friend or family member who is of a different background than my own to “prove” that I have said or done nothing wrong?
- Have I ever said “I’m not racist, but…” Do I always speak to others from different backgrounds with respectful tone and language?
- Do I automatically associate negative attributes to an entire group of people?
- Do I use dehumanizing language about others, referring to them as “thugs, animals, illegals,” etc.
- Do I categorize other ethnicities into groups like “good” and “troublesome”?
Commitment:
