June 12, 2017 BUF Black Lives Matter Team Meeting Minutes

June 12, 2017 BUF Black Lives Matter Team Meeting Minutes

Attendees: Erika, Lauralee, Cat, Rod Martie, Angie, David, Mike Betz, Alice, Courtney, Lisa, Hilde, Lucie, Heidi, Barbara, Sandra

Chalice Lighting

Introductions

Communication Committee Report: Buttons & Banners

Programming Committee Report: Eracism Minutes

Program: Detour-Spotting (Jona Olsson: www.culturalbridgesto justice.org/resources/written/detour)

#20 Teach Me or Help Me, I'm Stuck
"I want to stop acting like a racist, so please tell me when I do something you think is racist." (Spoken to a person of color.)

Reality Check and Consequence: White people often assume that they can learn about racism only from people of color. We further assume that people of color have the energy and/or desire to do this teaching. My understanding is that most people of color are weary of educating white people about racism.

We will get stuck. We'll get frustrated and impatient with ourselves and other white people in this struggle.  We'll stay stuck if we don't seek help from other white anti-racists.  Our inclination in the past has been to ask people of color to help us.  We should seek out other white people BEFORE we go to people of color.  Perhaps, as we become more trustworthy as allies, we will build genuine relationships with a few people of color who will offer their reflections for us when we get stuck.  But this is at their discretion, not ours.  We can't assume or act as though people of color whould be so grateful for our attempts at anti-racism, that they will be willing to guide us whenever we are ready to be guided.

#21 White on White, and Righteously So
"What is wrong with those white people? Cant they see how racist they're being?" or "I just can't stand to be around white people who act so racist anymore." And
You're Preaching to the Choir
"You're wasting your time with us, we're not the people who need this training."

Reality Check and Consequence:  We distance ourselves from "other" white people.  We see only unapologetic bigots, card-carrying white supremacists and white people outside our own circle as "real racists."  We put other white people down, trash their work or behavior, or otherwise dismiss them.  We righteously consider ourselves white people who have evolved beyond our racist conditioning.

This is another level of denial.  There are no "exceptional white people." (4) We may have attended many anti-racism workshops; we may not be shouting racist epithets or actively discriminating against people of color, but we still experience privilege based on our white skin. We benefit from this system of oppression and advantage no matter what our intentions are.  This distancing serves only to divide us from potential allies and limit our own learning.