Waking ourselves for the benefit of all.
Introduction to Session Five Study Section
The study materials for session five are resources for you to read (or watch) as you work with the window of harm your white (or white-preceding / European) ancestors endured. We want to emphasize that – in the context of early European empires, the transition to capitalism, and the ongoing exploitation our current economic and social system is based on – this harm has a long and varied history that continues to the present day.
We know that most people will, at some point, have ancestry that was instrumental in causing harm to other groups (including other white or European people). The purpose of this window is to narrow our focus around the harm our ancestors endured, while being open to your own intuitive response to the study and activities of this assignment.
Note that, while we have attempted to touch on a wide variety of experiences, the study portion is not exhaustive, but rather relies on you to make some adaptations between the material shared and your personal ancestral story. Note as well that we are equally interested in the ancestral story of “white people” as a collective, which involves history that influences anyone who is categorized as white, regardless of what pieces of this story their ancestors were (or were not) directly included in.