Buddhist Practice and Anti-Racism (feat. Jessica Locke)

Overthink

Ellie Anderson, Ph.D. and David Peña-Guzmán, Ph.D.

Philosophy, Society & Culture, Education

4.7 • 550 Ratings

🗓️ 26 January 2021

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On episode 14 of Overthink, Ellie and David sit down with Dr. Jessica Locke, an expert in Buddhist philosophy, to discuss mindfulness as a tool for anti-racist education and social justice work. After investigating the ways that Western science and capitalism have watered down Buddhist mindfulness, they explore with Dr. Locke how Buddhist practices can be an important part of a social justice toolbox. Together, they explore how mindfulness practice changes one’s relationship to suffering, alters our view of the world, and can be especially important for white people unlearning habits of white privilege.

Works Discussed:
Jessica Locke, "Living Our Histories, Shaping Our Futures: Buddhist Practice and Anti-Racist Education for White People"
Joseph Goldstein, Mindfulness
Ronald Purser, McMindfulness
Bessel van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score
Essential Mind Training, ed. Thupten Jinpa
Interconnected, the Karmapa, Orgyen Trinley Dorje

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, I'm Ellie Anderson.
0:09.2	And I'm David Pena Guzman.
0:11.0	Welcome to Overthink.
0:12.6	The podcast, we're two friends who are also professors.
0:16.3	Put philosophy and dialogue with the everyday.
0:18.8	Because big ideas are within everyone's reach.
0:21.6	Since June 2020, a lot of white people in the US have recognized that anti-racism is an ongoing, even lifelong process. And they've
0:40.4	started to recognize that in spite of their best intentions, many of them are racist, even when they
0:46.9	don't hold explicitly racist beliefs. Yeah, I think a lot of white people have for the first time
0:53.1	started to acknowledge racist habits of perception.
0:56.8	The idea that I might have a kind of knee-jerk reaction to being alone with a black man in elevator,
1:03.8	to use an example that our former teacher, George Yancey, discusses in some of his writings on racism.
1:09.3	And so there's been a lot of talk about white people, quote, doing the work.
1:14.0	You know, whatever that means.
1:15.3	Yeah, doing the work.
1:16.9	I recognize that I'll be doing the work for a lifetime.
1:20.3	Yeah, but I think also a lot of white people sometimes just don't quite know what doing the
1:26.2	work really means.
1:28.4	Mm-hmm.
1:33.3	I mean, it sometimes kind of seems like it's about reading books and doing Zoom workshops.
1:36.3	Or sharing Instagram infographics.
1:38.9	And don't get me wrong.
	...

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