The Resistance Flower: A Teaching Partner to Strmic-Pawl’s White Supremacy Flower

Abstract

In 2015, Hephzibah Strmic-Pawl introduced the concept of the White Supremacy Flower to teach students about the role of White supremacy in U.S. society across time—from the founding of our country, through its history, to present times. This model brings attention and focus to the social structure that produces White privilege, rather than focusing on the experiences of privilege and oppression. I have shared this model with students over the years, and we have all learned from it. While teaching about Indigenous women’s health, I realized that the White Supremacy Flower was in need of a partner to illustrate resistance to White supremacy in this United States from the founding of our country, through its history, to present times. The Resistance Flower offers a perspective on the praxis of fighting White supremacy, refusing White supremacy, critical engagement with the social structure that has perpetuated and perpetrated racism for over five hundred years. Here I introduce the Resistance Flower, which offers students the opportunity to examine opposition to White supremacy and highlight the role of anti-racism across U.S. history.