Ep 64: White Guilt is Not Reparations
Ep 64: White Guilt is Not Reparations  
Podcast: Interrupting Business As Usual
Published On: Sun Feb 15 2026
Description: Here's why feelings aren't repair and what accountability actually requires. In this episode of Interrupting Business as Usual, Nikki breaks down a truth many people avoid: white guilt is not reparations. Feeling bad about racism does not redistribute power, repair harm, or return what was taken. This conversation explores the difference between guilt and responsibility, what reparations actually mean in material and structural terms, and why redistribution must be part of ethical leadership and business practice. Nikki challenges listeners to move beyond emotional reactions and into concrete action that supports repair, justice, and collective liberation. Listen If You're Ready To: Move beyond performative allyship Understand reparations in concrete terms Build an anti-racist practice rooted in accountability Explore how business can be a site of repair Engage liberation work with honesty and depth What You'll Learn in This Episode Why white guilt centers feelings instead of addressing harm The difference between fault and responsibility in anti-racism work What reparations actually are and what they are not Why charity and symbolic gestures fall short of justice How redistribution can be integrated into business models The role of wealth, power, and inheritance in systemic inequality Practical ways to move from guilt to accountability Why This Conversation Matters Discussions about racism often stop at awareness or emotional processing. This episode pushes further, asking what it means to take responsibility inside systems built on extraction — especially for those who benefit from them. If liberation is the goal, repair cannot remain theoretical. If this episode challenged you, share it with someone who's ready to move beyond guilt and into responsibility. Conversations like this grow through collective engagement. Special thanks to Def Sound for providing the theme for Interrupting Business as Usual.⁣⁣⁣⁣ → Ready to take action? TAP HERE or visit nikkiblak.com to subscribe to Nikki's weekly email series Resourcing a Revolution for exclusive content, deep dives, and tools to help you interrupt business as usual.