Eracism Minute June 10, 2018 - Haley Holmgren

Good morning. I’m Haley Holmgren here to present an Eracism Minute, a minute of consciousness-raising on behalf of the BUF Black Lives Matter Ministry Action Team. Eracism is defined as the removal from existence of the belief that one race is superior to another.

One of the activities that I’ve taken part in at Pacific Northwest UU Youth Conferences is a Privilege Walk in which participants stand shoulder-to-shoulder and take a step either forward or back depending on our answer to some questions such as:

Question 1: Few white people in the history of the US have ever been convicted and executed for killing a person of color.  All white persons take a step forward.

Question 2: All those who were raised in a community where the vast majority of the police, politicians, and government workers were not of your racial or ethnic group take one step back.

Question 3:  All those who went or go to a school where the majority of teachers are of your race or ethnicity take one step forward.

After around 25 questions, we took a breath and slowly looked at who was ahead of us and who was behind.  We silently reflected on our position of privilege in our society. It was a powerful experience for me.