ERACISM MINUTE 8/23/20 & 8/30/20 Henry Ohana

In 1870 the 15^th amendment was passed which explicitly stated that states could not bar citizens from voting based on “race, color, or previous servitude”.  Newly freed black people came out in masses to vote and there was a brief period known as the Reconstruction where many black officials were elected into state and federal political offices.

 

This was not tenable to whites in power and soon they began to create laws that prohibited people from voting for reasons other than race but were specifically targeted against people of color.  Literacy tests, poll taxes, and outright mob violence were used to suppress black voters.

 

In 1957, Eisenhower signed into law the Civil rights Act which was the first attempt at rectifying this situation.  However, this was not enough.  In 1965 the Voting rights acts was passed with the goal of remedying these issues.  A core special provision is the Section 5 preclearance requirement, which prohibits certain jurisdictions from implementing any change affecting voting without receiving preapproval from the U.S. attorney general or the U.S. District Court for D.C. that the change does not discriminate against protected minorities.

 

Now, new ways to suppress black voters were needed.  More and more states began implementing laws that restricted the rights of former felons to franchisement.  Although not directly naming race, with the rising “law and order” governments, blacks by the hundreds of thousands began losing their rights to vote.

 

In 2000, the national election between Al Gore and George W. Bush came down to one state: Florida.  The person who is in charge of all voting in any state is the Secretary of State.  In Florida, it was Katherine Harris.  She was also the Chair of the George Bush campaign.  She hired a private firm to purge the voter rolls of any felons and they were told to use “loose parameters”.  They needn’t worry if the middle initial, the spelling of the name, the DOB, junior or senior – and even sometimes race or gender – didn’t match.  They were to purge those names from the voter roles.  In 1 county 690 people were removed from the voting roles.  When an independent review came along to follow up on this, they discovered only 33 of the 690 were actually previous felons.  There’s no need to go with what happened because we all remember that catastrophe.

 

In 2008, after the Republicans lost the White House, they began organizing on a local and state level very successfully.  By voting Republicans into the State Legislature they could effectively control the voting districts and racist gerrymandering escalated.

 

In 2013, the Supreme Court struck down the section of the Voting Rights act that required states to get approval from the Attorney General before changing any laws regarding voting and voter’s registration.  Right away, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Virginia enacted voter ID laws.  Other states added other various restrictions such as showing proof of citizenship.

 

The governor’s race in Georgia in 2018 shows what happened as the results of restrictions.  One of the candidates, Brian Kemp, was also the State Auditor and therefore in charge of the vote.  He began purging the rolls.  On one night in July 2017 he purged over ½ million people from Georgia’s voter rolls!  Voters from Democratic Counties were purged at over 4 times the rate Republican counties were.  When the day for the actual election came, many, many polling sites were closed thereby making voting unavailable for many and inordinately unfair waiting times for those who could reach a polling place.  As one example, in Randolph Co which is 95% black, 7 out the 9 polling sites were closed.  For those who were able to make it, many were turned away because of “exact match” requirements.  If the voter’s name didn’t match EXACTLY what was written on the roll they were not allowed to vote.  Latinos and Asians were 6 times as likely to not have an exact match and African Americans were 8 times as likely.

 

Now we’re faced with the 2020 election and most of us are already worried about the ability to vote and make sure those votes are counted.

ERACISM MINUTE and Message 8.16.2020 Lauralee Carbone

 ERACISM MINUTE

Good morning! I’m Lauralee Carbone and this is an Anti-Racism Minute. I am listening to Ibram X. Kendi read his book, How to Be an Antiracist and I quote him this morning:

“The opposite of racist isn’t ‘not racist.’ It is ‘antiracist.’ What’s the difference? One endorses either the idea of a racial hierarchy as a racist or racial equality as an antiracist. One either believes problems are rooted in groups of people, as a racist, or locates the roots of problems in power and policies, as an antiracist. One either allows racial inequities to persevere, as a racist, or confronts racial inequities, as an antiracist. There is no in-between safe space of ‘not racist.’ ”

Journeying Toward a Beloved Community: Enacting the 8th Principle

8/16/2020

Good morning! Two weeks ago, Paula Cole Jones and Bruce Pollock Johnson zoomed into our Sunday service from their homes in the eastern U.S. to present their experiences as writers and developers of the 8th Principle back in 2013.  

Ah, have you forgotten already what the 8th Principle is? It’s not a short one that rolls off your tongue like the other seven, and that’s ok. It’s a bit different and I’ll go into why that’s important. 

The 8th UU Principle reads: “We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote: journeying toward spiritual wholeness by working to build a diverse multicultural Beloved Community by our actions that accountably dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions.”

Ok, I see your wheels turning out there. Questions popping up. First off, why isn’t the UUA adopting this for all congregations? Why do we need to do this congregation by congregation? Because that’s how we do things now, from the ground up, not top down. Over 2 dozen congregations have adopted the 8th Principle since its rollout at the 2017 General Assembly and endorsed by Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism and Diverse Revolutionary UU Ministries and supported by the Allies for Racial Equity the UU white ally group. Let’s just say a LOT of UUs have been working on this for many years, nationwide. The Black Lives of UU encourages all Unitarian Universalists to advocate for the formal adoption of an 8th principle, articulating a commitment to the dismantling of white supremacy, within the stated principles of our faith.

Alright, now let’s take the Principle apart and look at some of the terms it includes. Okay, it speaks to dismantling racism and other oppressions. Why racism? At a global level, this would not necessarily make sense (for instance, the oppression of women is fundamental to poverty and lack of development in many areas), but in the USA, racism stands out. Racism in the US stems from chattel slavery, where people were uniquely legally treated as property that could be inherited, for something (skin color) they had no control over. It also causes oppression among Latinx and indigenous peoples.

The 8th Principle speaks to journeying toward spiritual wholeness by working to build a diverse multicultural Beloved Community. What’s THAT, you ask. Beloved Community happens when people of diverse racial, ethnic, educational, class, gender, sexual orientation, and backgrounds/identities come together in an interdependent relationship of love, mutual respect, and care that seeks to realize justice within the community and in the broader world. Wow, that sure sounds like a worthy goal!

But wait, what about that accountably part?  White UUs hold themselves accountable to communities of color, to make sure whites do what they say they will do. Black UUs hold each other accountable and help each other see and dismantle signs of internalized racism. 

In conclusion, our existing 7 Principles imply this 8th Principle, but do not explicitly hold us accountable for addressing these oppressions directly, especially at the systemic level. UUism has great potential for building diverse multicultural Beloved Community as envisioned by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., but it won’t happen without conscious awareness and effort on our part. Dismantling racism, white supremacy, and other oppressions requires work at the personal and institutional levels.  

The UU Principles were designed to be dynamic, not a fixed creed.  It means we want to always continue to be educating ourselves, exploring truth, and raising our consciousness.  When we get to a new level of understanding and clarity, our structure makes it possible to reflect that.  UU is the only religion that intentionally builds in that flexibility to acknowledge the importance of ongoing revealed truth.  This happened when environmental awareness reached a critical mass and got added as a 7th Principle.  We are approaching a similar critical mass level of awareness with the systemic nature of racism and other oppressions.

None of the other Principles mentions love; by having “Beloved Community” in the 8th Principle, it brings our commitment to love higher in our consciousness, consistent with our Standing on the Side of Love campaign.

The 8th Principle is really just the beginning of action, rather than the ultimate goal.  It should lead to restoring funding and support for Anti-Racism trainings for any UUs who want them and the other programs, as well as starting an anti-racism version of the Welcoming Congregation program that was so effective for LGBTQ awareness and progress.  Many people of color have been attracted by the values and potential of UUism, but their souls have been repeatedly wounded by its whiteness.  Let’s make our actions match our values.  Let’s be a UU movement that feeds them.  That would be spiritual wholeness.

Now I’d like to introduce you to the team here at BUF that has been working on promoting the 8th Principle: Mike Betz, Kara Black, Beth Brownfield, Deb Cruz, David Curley, Cat McIntyre, Henry Ohana, and me, representing four Ministry Action Teams under the Social and Environmental Justice Committee, along with Karen Nuckles-Flinn, who is our Inclusion and Diversity Coordinator on the Healthy Relations Team. We’ll be joining you later in our interactive breakout groups. 

Now here to guide us in meditation is Kara Black.

Meeting Minutes 8/3/2020

BUF Black Lives Matter Ministry Action Team Meeting

Minutes:  Monday, August 3, 2020

 

The business/planning meeting was held at 6 pm on zoom.  Present: Barbara Gilday, Judy Fruhbach, Amoret Heise, Cat McIntyre, Henry Ohana, Lauralee Carbone, David Curley, Genia Allen, Claire Lending, Murray Bennett, Mary Alden, Susie Walker

 

Agenda:

1.  Eracism minutes

2.  8th Principle update

3.  Rapid Response Telephone Tree 

4.  Black Lives Matter banner

 

1. Eracism minutes.

            Aug. 9             Mary Alden

            Aug. 16           Barbara Gilday

            Aug. 23           Henry Ohana

            Aug. 30           Lauralee Carbone

 

Everyone giving an Eracism minute should be sure to contact Rev. Paul by Wednesday before the service to introduce themselves, discuss the focus of the service and learn whether they should attend a rehearsal.

 

2.  8th Principle update.  The August 2 service with guests Bruce Pollock-Johnson and Paula Cole-Jones, from Philadelphia and Maryland, respectively, was well received. 

 

Genia very much wants to help organize/facilitate adult classes this year, (in addition to what we're doing in RE) about anti-racism issues and action. She has ordered Widening the Circle/the 8th Principle and will be exploring a possible class/discussion on that, and would also like to help organize a multi-gen service on how to be an ally if that fits in with the BLM vision. She asked what classes, focus groups or topics would be useful and she will get them scheduled. 

 

She also suggested some "movie nights" where we show a movie on zoom (or have a set time for people to watch it on their own), with a discussion afterwards could be fun. Popcorn, chocolate and wine will be encouraged.

 

She has ordered some important books on anti-racism, and can make those available on a check out basis:

            So you want to talk about race

            White Fragility

            Widening the Circle

            Stamp

            How to be an anti-racist

 

The 8th Principle work group will do the service on August 16. We discussed what BLM would like included:

 

§ Focus on parts of the Eighth principle that apply to congregational life

§ Why is the 8th principal important and what is the goal

§ Describe what change would look like

§ Engage Black speakers/ministers

§ How we welcome new people

§ Skit "do's and don'ts" (Lauralee said she would work on this)

§ Longer interactive "coffee hour" discussion

§ RE description (if Genia is available)

 

The coffee hour discussion should have assigned hosts for each group. Each group will include: 1) a facilitator, who assures that participants follow guidelines for how long each person speaks, and without repeats until all have been given the opportunity to speak; and 2) another person to provide history and answer questions. (Facilitators don't answer questions or provide history.)

 

We will provide these suggestions on behalf of Black Lives Matter MAT to the 8th principle working group that is designing the August 16 service.

 

3. Rapid Response Telephone Tree.  Genia and Henry have been working on this. They have designated 11 callers, each of whom would call 4-5 people. Cat McIntyre would be the originator, to call and send info, by text and email, to the 11 callers to pass on. Cat would like the list to be refined to invite others in the congregation to participate and allow people now on the list to opt out. We decided that Lauralee and Hank will write up a blurb for MWU and buf-news to describe the Rapid Response Team concept and invite people to call Cat if they want to join. The Rapid Response concept may also be presented at the August 16 service.

 

4. Black Lives Matter Banner. Lauralee suggested it is time to put up a Black Lives Matter banner outside the church. The poster is no longer in the outside notice board. We should contact Judy Kasper about the process for getting this hung, and how to make the banner.

 

Next meeting: Program meeting Monday, August  10 at 7 pm; business and planning meeting, Sept. 7(??this is Labor Day).

 

Respectfully submitted

Cat McIntyre, co-facilitator