An official at the Oregon Health Authority (OHA), a government organization that coordinates medical care in the state, justified delaying meetings with the argument that "urgency is a white supremacy value."
The organization previously made the news when a health official dressed up as a clown while presenting COVID-19 deaths in 2020.
Quoting white antiracist educator Tema Okun, Regional Health Equity Coalition Program Manager Danielle Droppers informed the Oregonian health community that a scheduled meeting between OHA officials and members of the public would not take place as it was initially scheduled.
"Thank you for your interest in attending the community conversation between Regional Health Equity Coalitions (RHECs) and Community Advisory Councils (CACs) to discuss the Community Investment Collaboratives (CICs)," wrote Droppers. "We recognize that urgency is a white supremacy value that can get in the way of more intentional and thoughtful work, and we want to attend to this dynamic. Therefore, we will reach out at a later date to reschedule."
Droppers' email was obtained by Reason magazine, which reached out to Droppers for comment, but did not receive an explanation.
Health officials who spoke to Reason said they were "taken by surprise" by the statement, with one who looked into the claim that urgency is a white supremacy value.
As detailed by Reason, the claim that punctuality is a form of white supremacy is an idea popularized by Tema Okun, whose views on so-called white supremacist traits have been widely embraced by proponents of critical race theory. Although not explicitly a part of CRT, Okun's work often accompanies CRT materials in diversity, equity and inclusivity training.
Comment: Okun's 2010 dissertation can be read hear: THE EMPEROR HAS NO CLOTHES: TEACHING ABOUT RACE AND RACISM TO PEOPLE WHO DON'T WANT TO KNOW
Identity Matters
This dissertation is shaped by my identities as a white, Jewish, heterosexual, upper middle-class woman. I currently teach in classrooms of predominantly young, white, Christian students from working class backgrounds, most assuming a collective heterosexuality. I am also informed by many years teaching in other contexts as an anti-racism trainer, educator, and activist, years when I had the opportunity to work with both colleagues and communities diverse in every way. While the analysis I offer in these pages might be "universal" in terms of its applicability to people from every walk of life, the teaching strategies I explore are grounded in my experience. While any one of these strategies may prove useful to any number of people (and in fact, that is my hope), what works for a white teacher, trainer, educator, facilitator, activist is going to be different than what works for a person of color, an LGBTQI person, or a person with any combination of margin identities.
In addition to urgency, other supposedly white supremacist qualities include perfectionism, defensiveness, preferring quantity over quality, binary thinking, worship of the written word, individualism, right to comfort and objectivity.
The OHA, which was responsible for coordinating Oregon's COVID-19 pandemic response, was widely lambasted on social media over the debacle.
Reader Comments
If so, what do you believe richie rich, or is it all in your name?
So, I think there is a term for what you allude to......" pantheism ".....maybe I'm off base on that, but no harm meant. Assuming it is in the ballpark of what you were expressing, let me ask: Is " Pantheism " a religion or a " religious belief "? Is there a difference between a religious belief and a religion?
The paradox I suppose when trying to discuss and appreciate "religion" is it is so intertwined with belief - although you got to wonder why most religions seem to be regional in nature --- i.e., are the religious beliefs actually based on individual thought and reflection or are they more a function of where you were born? I suspect for most individuals the answer is the latter.
My view is folks ought be free to have what ever religious beliefs they desire as long as those beliefs don't translate into harm upon others - either others in general or more typically others who don't share the religious beliefs. In my book, any religious belief that claims to be the "only way" typically is the type of belief that ends up causing more harm than good - I tend to dismiss religious beliefs of this nature - it gives me no comfort when it seems anybody outside "the system" is excluded. Organized religion seems contradictory to me in many ways - ultimately it seems to spring from a desire to "control the masses" versus a true recognition of higher spiritual forces.
Anyhow, thanks for your response.
BK