Working Towards Ending Racism

  Anthea Butler paints a compelling picture of our current toxicity- through: White Evangelical Racism:  The Politics of Morality in America .    Examples of her words may be helpful. In the summer of 2019 in Mississippi, a couple was turned down when trying to rent Boone's Camp Event Hall for their wedding reception.  Why?  The couple, a Black man and white woman, was told by the event hall owner, "First of all, we don't do gay weddings or mixed race... because of our Christian race, I mean our Christian belief."  The hall owner's slip of the tongue was telling in its equation of Christianity with whiteness.  (p.8-9) Evangelical preoccupation with race. communism, and Catholicism would only ramp up in the 1960's.   (p.52) Understand that for those of us in the Black community, it was not the evangelical who came and taught us our worth and dignity as Black men.  It was not the Bible-believing fundamentalist who stood up and told us that...

Resma Menakem's: My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies  - is simply a classic - a Must Read! One can, perhaps, disagree with his splitting of American people in one way - having a third category besides "white" and "Black" with "Blue" (police, security and similar) - but he makes a forceful case for how we all are dealing or not dealing with our traumas - a most important perspective. If you have a white body, there will be times when it will reflexively constrict in order to protect you from some of the truths you'll encounter.  This constriction wil be followed by a thought such as "I'm not like that; I'm a good person," or "White-body supremacy has nothing to do with me," or "This isn't about me because I don't belong to a racist organization." When this occurs, just notice what you're experiencing without doing anything about it.  (p. xiii...

THE PURPOSE OF POWER: How We Come Together When We Fall  Apart : - Alicia Garza's description of how one should build a movement, is an incredibly well written book!   She uses examples from her organizing work in Bayview Hunters Point (in San Francisco) and in her co-founding of Black Lives Matter in making very clear a lot about what one should and should not do.    Garza knows her history very well and explains things most clearly. Examples of her words include: By the early 1970s, two new trends were unfolding within the conservative movement : the new right (which included the Christian or religious right) and the neoconservatives ,,, They come together on things they can agree on in the interest of building and maintaining power.  This has been key to the right's success and key to its survival. ,,, The new right wanted to cast a wider net, beyond its base of southern segregationists and economic elites, in order to expand its reach and influence into...

  White Men are Spirits Some seem static - perhaps stuck Some flowing with the windswept smoke - The Spirit of One White Man may intersect with Others Whether attacking Sharing Intersecting in Part Overlapping Spirit(s) then - Tis easy to sashay in place a Spirit at Peace No Need for Stirring of the Brew - or To Be in Battle with(in) Oneself Churning, Spiraling seemingly out of Control - Tis Much Harder to Struggle with the Demons The Trauma of One's Being - Tis Much Harder to Confront one's Soul Struggling Within Pushing Outward (trying to) Reach Beyond Towards The Spirit of Other White Men - Where one's Essence Challenges en masse Saying Do This! Do That! White Men Must - We Must You Must - The Spirit Then Meets Resistance  Apathy -  or Pushback - Tis More   from Within The "real" Spirit to See Within Individual White Men an Important Part  of: His/Their Heart - Speaking Connecting Within - and/or Speaking  to Multiple White Men Together Connecting - Indi...

  My sense is that as white people - frequently - we: 1. Directly related to how much privilege we have, we tend to remain silent as long as we are in our comfort zone within our privilege, Example:  We used to only be mildly bothered by systemic racist and its persistence - either not seeing it, or seeing it as isolated incidents, or not that major things etc. and/or we had other priorities that dwarfed it. 2. When we feel discomfort taking us out of our comfort zone(s), we commonly begin delving into the new dissonance that we feel Example: The George Floyd killing took many of us out of our comfort zone, 3. As we process and work through the discomfort many of us find a deepening (positive) challenge that contains discomfort - but also has resolve - to move forward positively - feeling the importance of what we are doing - the necessity of sustaining what we are doing. Example: We seek additional self-education such as in this course as well as building allies doing the wor...

  THE SUM OF US: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together – by: Heather McGhee – is a very important read for those of us who care significantly about racism.   McGhee confronts repeatedly the myth that racism is a zero-sum game.   It is totally false that when Black People gain from ending racist practices, white people lose.      One example is how the drive for a $15/hour minimum wage among fast-food restaurant workers has helped white workers, as well as Black and Brown fellow employees.    McGhee notes how wealthy (mostly) white business owners play off white workers against BIPOC potential allies.   She clearly shows how both can win, when we unite in our efforts for justice. Some quotes are helpful. Referencing how state and local funding of college education has dramatically increased tuition and resulting student debt, As racialized as the politics of government spending has become, the victims of this new h...

  Breathe slowly and deeply in Let your breath slowly come out Again twice more – Breathe Slowly and Deeply In And Then Out -       - - Is That last Breath A Part Of My Privilege ? - Can He or She Breathe? - My Tears of Rage Aren’t Enough - She Hears of the (latest) Killing It is – her Heart – Her Soul It is – her Son – Her Brother Deeply Within Her - It is Not A Shock Rather A Piercing Penetrating Killing More Of Her Essence - But I Must Do More More May Not Be Enough - I Must Listen And Move Ahead No More Excuses - More Killing Is More Than Wrong The Blood Is On My Hands - Will I do Enough? Too Much Is Not Enough - Now – Not Tomorrow Hearing the Fear Of the White Man Confronting That Fear - Peace is Elusive But Possible - Breathe Deeply Now