Racists Anonymous 2

1. HONESTY & SURRENDER. We admitted to the reality of white supremacy* in our cultural systems and to the forces of white supremacy in our personal lives. We realized that we have no personal power over our social/cultural conditioning and that our racial biases (unconscious beliefs, fears, and triggers) and the reactions they prompt in us are unmanageable.

* We define “white supremacy” as the systems of belief and practice which have affirmed differences among human persons along the lines of biological and/or cultural racial groups and assigned the desirable/moral/superior qualities to those who identify as “white”.

2. HOPE. We came to trust in a Greater Wisdom beyond our socialization; we now understand that we are not, and never were, alone. Through connecting with a loving community of others also doing this work, we now trust that we can learn to live compassionately in reality, still deeply afflicted by racism, and gain greater sanity, joy and peace.

3. TRUST & COMMITMENT. We made a decision to lean on and engage with the Greater Wisdom, as we defined it, and a community committed to helping each other wake up and stay awake.

4. COURAGE & DILIGENCE. We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves, namely of the specific coping mechanisms we have developed in relationship to our privilege and the dominant cultural norms we have internalized. We looked at both our assets and liabilities for our healing process.

5. TRUTH & INTEGRITY. We let go of our isolation and shared this inventory with a trusted someone—a loving witness who provided perspective on our spiritual journey; one who could appreciate what we were doing and how we were growing; someone who helped us to see ourselves as we really were.

6. WILLINGNESS & LETTING GO. We became entirely ready to let go of our old coping mechanisms and committed to facing reality, trusting that we could let go of the will of our ego and allow a greater and deeper Wisdom to lead us on our healing journey.

7. HUMILITY. We humbly asked for help from a power greater than ourselves to remove the obstacles to our spiritual growth and our connection with all of humanity.

8. WILLINGNESS & AMENDS. We made a list of all the ways that we have caused harm in cross-racial relationships and within the context of white solidarity*. We identified the people, places, and things that have been impacted and became willing to make amends.

* We define “white solidarity” as the situation where white people forbear from correcting each other’s racial missteps to preserve an experience of peace/harmony among the group

9. HEALING JUSTICE. We made direct and indirect amends to such people, places and things, whenever possible, except when to do so would cause harm.

10. PERSEVERANCE. We continued to invest in our racial education and to take a regular personal inventory. When we were wrong, we promptly admitted it, naming our racist behavior without defending ourselves or dismissing the impact of such behavior on our community.

11. SPIRITUAL PRACTICE. We sought to improve our conscious contact with ourselves, others, and a spiritual power of our own personal understanding. We focused our intentions on staying awake, emotionally connected, and compassionate toward all human persons. We continued to develop cross-racial relationships with individuals and groups.

12. SERVICE & LEADERSHIP. Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others and to practice these principles in all of our affairs.

1. We admitted we were powerless over racism—that our lives had become unmanageable.

2. Came to believe that a Greater Wisdom could restore us to sanity.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care and direction of a Greater Wisdom as we understood it.

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

5. Admitted to our Greater Wisdom, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

6. Were entirely ready to have our Greater Wisdom transform all these defaults of character.

7. Humbly asked our Greater Wisdom to transform our shortcomings.

8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with a Greater Wisdom as we understood it, praying only for the knowledge of our Greater Wisdom’s vision for us and the willingness to carry that out.

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others, and to practice these principles with sustainability in all our affairs.

--Adapted from Alcoholics Anonymous’ Twelve Steps--

1. (UNITY) Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon group unity.

2. (TRUST IN GROUP CONSCIENCE) For our group purpose, there is but one ultimate authority—a loving power as expressed by our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.

3. (BELONGING) The only requirement for group membership is a desire to stop harmful racist behavior and thinking.

4. (AUTONOMY) Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups as a whole.

5. (PURPOSE) Each group has but one primary purpose—to carry its message to persons wanting to change their racist behavior and thinking.

6. (NON-AFFILIATION) A group ought never endorse, finance, or lend their name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property, and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.

7. (SELF-SUPPORTING) Every group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.

8. (NON-PROFESSIONAL) Racists Anonymous should remain forever non-professional, but our service centers may employ special workers.

9. (SPIRIT OF SERVICE) Racists Anonymous as such ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.

10. (NEUTRALITY EXCEPTION) Racists Anonymous, as an organization, has no opinion on outside issues except for the dismantling of racist systems of thought and behavior.

11. (ATTRACTION, NOT PROMOTION) Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we must always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, films, tv, and the Internet. This work is personal, and must not be used to demonstrate the “wokeness” of participants or organizations that host meetings.

12. (SPIRITUAL AWARENESS) Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.