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Dismantling Racism Resource Book

2. Rage/Depression

Rage is the stage where people of color are often consumed by anger at white
people for their racism. Rage is a reaction to the brutal oppression people of color
have endured for hundreds of years. Rage can take the form of people of color
attacking whites or other antagonistic behavior. Some people of color actually
think that rage is empowerment. But in reality, it is the opposite. Rage isn’t
empowerment because it usually is not driven by the desire to strategically and
constructively dismantle racism. Rage is reactionary.

The other side of this stage can often be depression. People of color can react to
the realization of the previous stage by being overwhelmed with the immensity of
the oppression they will have to endure. Depression can also be the result of
identity conflict.

3. Exclusion and Immersion

In this stage, people of color use our rage productively by directing it to
temporarily exclude whites from our social lives and immerse ourselves in our
culture. This is a necessary stage of development for people of color. Exclusion
gives us time and space to deal with our problems. Immersion can be healing time

when we learn about the culture that was taken away from us. Some people of
color mistake excluding whites from our circle or immersing ourselves in our
culture as empowerment. We think that by only having “us” around we have
reached our ultimate goal. Some of these people remain in this stage for years.
For other people of color, this exclusion and immersion can push them to the next
stage. We want to learn more about ourselves, our people and our history.

4. Self Awareness & Investigation

In the previous stage, people of color begin to develop an awareness of ourselves,
our culture, and our history. In this stage awareness is not enough; we want a
much deeper level of knowledge. We need to understand our place in history and in
the world. It is particularly useful and important to investigate and study the
history and culture of other people of color and that of white people. This gives us
a better perspective about ourselves, and helps us prevent the wedges that racism
so often constructs between groups in order to divide and conquer us.

Dismantling Racism Project 46 Western States Center