Denial + Defensiveness

From Tema Okun (2022):

“[O]ur cultural ​dis-ease with truth telling, particularly when we are speaking truth to power. White supremacy culture encourages a habit of denying and defending any speaking to or about it. White supremacy culture encourages a habit of silence about things that matter and, as the collective of artists fighting the AIDS epidemic so wisely and succinctly said, silence=death.

Defensiveness shows up as:

• The organizational structure is set up and much energy spent trying to prevent abuse and protect power rather than to facilitate the capacities of each person or to clarify who has power and how they are expected to use it.
• Because of either/or and binary thinking, those in power view and/or experience criticism as threatening and inappropriate (or rude).
• People respond to new or challenging ideas with objections or criticism, making it very difficult to raise these ideas.
• People in the organization, particularly those with power, spend a lot of energy trying to make sure that their feelings aren’t getting hurt, forcing others to work around their defensiveness rather than addressing them head-on. At its worst, they have convinced others to do this work for them.
• White people spend energy defending against charges of racism instead of examining how racism might actually be happening.
• White people claim that participation in anti-racist activity means they cannot be racist or be engaged in racism; closely linked to individualism.
• White people targeted by other oppressions express resentment because they experience the naming of racism as erasing their experience; closely linked to either/or/binary thinking.
• An oppressive culture where people are afraid to speak their truth.”

What does denial + defensiveness look like in music education?