A few quick tips for countering oppression at BUF

A few quick tips for countering oppression at BUF

 ~ Don't make and/or Challenge your assumptions.   Eric Law talks about how

  

 ~ Ask Questions  -  Demonstrate “Holy Curiosity”

 ~ Be mindful of your (white, male, economic, relational, educated, accredited, clergy, professional, hetero, cis, "been around for forever", etc.) privilege in any given interaction and/or space and think about how to best equalize the power dynamic.

~ Consider that everyone has more identities (and history) than you're aware of.  No one is just a race + gender expression + orientation. Our identities are infinite.

 ~ Welcome discomfort. There's so much more opportunity there.

 ~ Be mindful of how much space you claim, and what that might mean for others.

~ Don't touch people (or things) without explicit consent.             Not everyone responds to touch the same way; not all "friendly" touch is appropriate.

 ~ Be mindful of your language and that there may be someone within earshot to whom it may be exclusionary/hurtful.

 ~ Try to Listen more than you speak.   

 ~ When you speak, speak (only) for yourself (unless requested to speak for a group).

~ Don't make a member of a marginalized group responsible for your education about issues of marginalization and oppression. Seek out those allied people and groups (like Allies for Racial Equity) dedicated to helping with that.

~ Be aware that your intent will not always = the impact of your words & actions.

~ Try not to take things personally.

 ~ Be open to learning.

 ~ Exercise humility.

~ Remember that not everyone has the same information!             Share respectfully if you have the opportunity.

DRUMM and other Readings and Resources

Wow! Is there a lot going on at UUA around racism! I've copied just a few of the readings and resources below.  Go ahead and surf!

http://alliesforracialequity.wildapricot.org/page-1440854

http://www.cwsworkshop.org/resources/WhitePrivilege.html

http://druumm.onefireplace.org/

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXSqfWmM95Kvgj8QuAgE8Uo2m-W3zTrcr  (Webinar Series from Allies for Racial Equity)

http://www.euroamerican.org/

When you understand white American culture, you are better able to:

1. understand race in the United States

2. work effectively to create just and equitable organizations

If our society is to move beyond its racial problems, then change is needed. This raises the question, who must change? Should it be white people, or people of color? A fair answer would be "both."

How much thought have we, as a society, given to the changes white people need to make? Increasingly, people from all walks of life are asking this question. There is a growing awareness that race affects white people, too. Scholars and activists, leaders and followers, and people of all races, including white people, are coming to see that to undo the racial structure of our society — a structure which touches and harms us all — we have to explore the other half of the equation, white American culture.

White culture forms the central values of our society, and yet is often treated as invisible, normal, and outside the discussion of race. If, as a nation, we are to truly develop just and equitable organizations — and a multiracial society centered on multiracial values — we need to discuss whiteness and white culture along with other racial and cultural groups. White people need to think about how white culture and values can find expression in non-dominant and non-oppressive ways.

https://world-trust.org/mirrors-of-privilege-making-whiteness-visible/

http://www.pbs.org/race/000_General/000_00-Home.htm (3 part documentary about race in society, science & history)

http://www.pbs.org/race/000_About/002_04-background.htm

Eracism Minute 5/14/17

Eracism Minute - May 14, 2017 - Cat McIntyre

Good morning, my name is Cat McIntyre. Here's what's in my heart this morning.

Reading The New Jim Crow, one line that hit me hard was: when young white people smoke marijuana, they go to college. When young black people smoke marijuana, they go to jail.

I went to college for eight years, and I smoked a lot of marijuana.

That was 40 years ago, but right now, our country continues to conscientiously deprive black people, especially black men, of their liberty and their right to vote.

In our Black Lives Matter Ministry I am learning, with others, more about institutional racism, white privilege and our oppressive cultural system.

This is not easy. Each time I peel off another layer of my ignorance, I feel embarrassed about an uncomfortable truth: how I benefit from my white skin.

Today at noon, there's an information meeting downstairs about the Black Lives Matter Resolution. Please attend, ask questions, and tell us what is in your heart.

African-American Generations Timeline from October 2016 Service

Generations: A Timeline

adapted from a program by Gail Forsyth-Vail, Director of Religious Education at North Parish Church (Unitarian Universalist), North Andover, MA

I represent the first generation of West African people who came to North America as slaves. We came to Jamestown, Virginia in the year 1619.

I represent the children of those people, born between 1625 and 1650; and I remain enslaved.

I represent the grandchildren of those Jamestown slaves, born between 1650 and 1675, and I remain enslaved.

I represent those Jamestown slaves’ grandchildren’s children, born between 1675 and 1700.  Many of my generation remain enslaved.

I represent their grandchildren’s grandchildren, born between 1700 and 1725.  Many Europeans have come now, and taken land for towns and cities, but I remain enslaved.

I represent the grandchildren’s grandchildren’s children, born between 1725 and 1750.  The natives who used to live in the area have been driven out to make way for the expanding number of cities and towns in these British colonies, and I remain enslaved.

I represent the great, great, great, great grandchildren, born between 1750 and 1775.  These British colonies have begun to clamor for political independence, stating that “all men are created equal.”  But we remain enslaved.

I represent the great, great, great, great, great grandchildren, born between 1775 and 1800.  The British colonies are now a country: The United States of America. Many native people have lost their lands as the United States has become bigger and bigger.  The cotton gin has been invented, meaning that the farmers can grow lots more cotton. It takes a lot of people to take care of the cotton. Many white people choose to get the help they need with the cotton crop by buying more slaves.  Thousands more West African people, kidnapped from their homes, arrive in chains.

I represent the 9th generation of African slaves, born between 1800 and 1825.  This country is twice as big as it was just a few years ago. Many white people are going West, looking for more places to build towns and cities.  The cloth mills in the North are hungry for cotton, so farmers in the South grow more and more, needing more and more slaves. As more and more slaves arrive, I too remain enslaved.

I represent the 10th generation, born between 1825 and 1850.  The Indian Removal Act of 1830 is pushing Indians from their land.  Many Indians are slaughtered. In 1848, the United States takes a huge piece of Mexico and now rules over its Spanish-speaking citizens.  There are now groups of people writing and speaking against slavery, but I still remain enslaved.

I represent the grandchildren’s grandchildren’s grandchildren’s grandchildren of the Jamestown slaves, born between 1850 and 1875.  The country has fought a civil war. The railroads have been built by Irish and Chinese workers. The Indian wars continue in the West, as native peoples are forced into small areas of land called reservations.  Slavery has been officially outlawed. I am no longer a slave, but people in power are working hard to limit my rights.

I represent the 12th generation, born between 1875 and 1900.  There are now laws limiting who may come to this country and who may not.  The Supreme Court has declared that whites and non-whites ought to be separated.  I am no longer a slave, but the law says that I have fewer rights and privileges than white people.

I represent the children’s children’s children’s

Children’s children’s children’s

Children’s children’s children’s

Children’s children’s children

born between 1900 and 1925. A world war is fought in this time, and women are finally allowed to vote.  I still live and work under laws that separate me from white people.

I represent the following generation, born between 1925 and 1950.  The country suffers the Great Depression – when many people lose their jobs – then fights in the Second World War.  Just like the rest of society, people of color in the military are kept separate from whites.

Whole towns full of new homes are built after the war for the returning soldiers; people of color are not allowed to live in many of those towns.

I represent the children born between 1950 and 1975.  This is the time of the Civil Rights Movement and of Martin Luther King, Jr.  At long last, the children’s children’s children’s

Children’s children’s children’s

Children’s children’s children’s

Children’s children’s children’s

Children’s children

Of Jamestown slaves have achieved equality under the law.

I represent those born after the bicentennial year, 1976, while U.S. cities were raging over school integration, and in smaller cities like Bellingham, significant numbers of non-white citizens began to change our community’s self-perception. Also during this period we experienced the racial turbulence following the beating of Rodney King. But as the new millennium dawned, we looked ahead with guarded optimism.

I represent the generation of today, born since September 11, 2001. I was born into an interdependent world where it has become increasingly clear that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Two generations have passed since racial discrimination was legally sanctioned, and our first African American president has been elected and re-elected. My generation will continue to tell the stories of our human struggles for freedom. And we will do our part to carry forward the dream.

**Original** 13 Steps To Confronting Racism From July 2016

13 STEPS TO CONFRONTING RACISM,

IN SUPPORT OF #BLACKLIVESMATTER

Step 1. Be willing to lean into discomfort.  Reading this is part of learning how to be supportive of folks that you most likely have not been taught to support, and the more you learn, the more you will come to realize and deeply understand why you haven’t been taught to support people of color, why you actively have to seek out information, and why racism happens even when you aren’t saying anything racist.

Step 2. Leaning into the discomfort, use that wonderful Unitarian brain and heart of yours and

get educated. Seek out information and media created by people of color, and listen actively to what they are saying: online, activists, books, forums, movies etc. There is a group of folks at BUF who are working on planning ongoing educational forums. However, information is easily accessible to those who are motivated to find it.

Step 3. Begin to overtly respect black lives by respecting the privacy, physical space, spirituality, culture, language, and lived experience of black people.

Examples:

Educate without expecting black people and people of color to teach you!

Do not touch someone’s body without asking.

Do not ask to touch their hair.

Do not use their culture (if you are unsure of what that is, look up cultural appropriation.

Do not respond to someones experience with a counter-argument LISTEN!

Don’t ask people of color where they’re from; “Where are you from?” implies that they don’t belong.

Step 4. Being a part of and supporting #BlackLivesMatter is a part of supporting good police practices. Those who are sworn to serve and protect should do just that. Please help us hold our officers accountable, and support systemic change so that officer training and police practices reflect the inherent worth and dignity of all people. Being pro-black lives does not make a person anti-police.

Step 5. Self-care is essential to learning new ideas and creating new systems. A rested and aware brain is a creative brain. Ask yourself: How are you feeling? Can you feel the paper in your hand? If your sitting, can you feel the furniture or floor supporting you? If standing, can you feel your feet on the floor? Confronting racism (internally and in community) takes the entire self. It takes the whole self. Are you able to feel your emotions and sense your body? Connecting to your own emotions and physical sensations creates a strong foundation for learning new ideas, new ways of connecting, and new ways of finding resources within.

Step 6. Some people respond to #BlackLivesMatter with the saying #AllLivesMatter. Of course, all lives matter. However, we need to acknowledge that black people have been consistently and specifically targeted and killed because of their race.  This movement is a response to that reality. When people say #AllLivesMatter, they are pushing the black experience aside and denying that our society literally makes decisions wherein black people’s lives do not count as much as white people’s lives. These decisions are still being made.   Additionally, white individuals do not get to re-name the movements that people of color are initiating.

Step 7. You might not think that you act overtly racist. However, racism is a systemic problem. Our country is built on a legacy of devaluing black life, which we unintentionally benefit from economically, socially, and politically. If you are white, a simple Google search for “white privilege,” will provide you with many resources. Consider the benefits you experience everyday because you’re white. If you are white carefully examine your own behavior and the behavior of those around you. How do you feel when you see a person of color? How do you act differently because of those feelings?

Step 8. Realize that the oppression of black people intersects with and overlaps with the oppression of other marginalized identities. MOVEMENTS FOR EQUALITY NEED NOT COMPETE. Additionally, recognizing that you have privilege because of your race does NOT negate your experience if you have been discriminated against in other ways (i.e. for your sexual orientation, gender identity, or socio-economic status).

Step 9. Racism is everyone’s problem; not a problem that people of color should be expected to solve. Racism is sustained by the behavior of white people and the institutions set up by white people, so racism will change primarily when white people’s behavior changes.

Step 10. Good intentions and saying “I’m sorry,” do not solve the problem. People of color are calling for white people to change, learn, speak the truth and take risks on their behalf. This includes being in uncomfortable situations, taking direct action, and giving our time and money.

Step 11. Mistakes will happen, they are essential to growing and learning. Learn from past mistakes and make a commitment to do better next time.

Step 12. Reverse Racism does not exist! Many people feel that when people of color have negative feelings toward white people, it is “reverse racism.” However, this denies the validity of black experience. In fact, people of color have many reasons to be angry and distrustful of white people.

Step 13. Many white people think the answer to racism is to see “everyone the same,” or be “color-blind.” This denies the unique experience of people of color. Please do not say you are color-blind. An ideal society is not a “melting pot” where everyone’s culture is mixed in, but rather a quilt where the individual identities shine brightly and true diversity is celebrated.

RESOURCES: www.joincampaignzero.org

             Support the #BlackLivesMatter movement at www.uua.org

Eracism Minute 2/11

 Eracism  Moment  Feb  11, 2018

 Rev. Barbara Davenport

 I’m Barbara Davenport and have been a member of this Fellowship since l993 arrived here from the East coast. Barbara Cheatham and I both came here as newly minted UU ministers. Barbara  to serve this congregation and  I became the minister in Mt. Vernon. 

    Growing up in  rural Vermont on a 140 acre  subsistence  farm-- Vermont,  notoriously the  nation’s  whitest state--  for the first 16 years of my life, I never saw  a black person. 

My  knowledge  of black people came originally from children’s  picture books like Little Black Sambo.  Impressed with Little Black Sambo’s bravery and courage in confronting the tigers, when we got our  black   lab   puppy, when I was 6,  I named him Sambo. 

    In    l954   when I was 16, I flew  alone   to Jacksonville,  Fl to meet up with my best friend, Dot, and her family who had driven down   from Vermont, for spring break.

. When I got off the plane I headed for the nearest  women’s bathroom.  To my utter  befuddlement    it was filled with  “Colored” women who gave me  quizzical looks and  whispered to each other. Florida, 1954 was when I first  encountered “whites only” signs  everywhere--laundromats, drinking fountains, and restaurants.

 The visible signs are gone but the invisible ones still exist. 

My black friend Joe Lloyd, my age,  who lived in my York neighborhood- for many years,  but moved back to his  birth place, Birmingham,  when he retired.

Some of you may have known him as Joe the Tailor.

To this day Joe will not go into inhospitable restaurants where white folks congregate.

          After college, in l964  my husband and I moved to Raleigh NC and were actively involved with our lay led  Unitarian Fellowship’s anti racism work. We lived in Raleigh  until l970—during the height of the civil rights movement.

The  passage of the l964 civil rights act, outlawing segregation in schools and public   places  set off an avalanche of race riots

and  made for troubling times.

      One time, myself and other members of our lay led  Raleigh Unitarian Fellowship brought black children to the public swimming pool. Officials promptly closed the pool.

When we’d   stage sit ins at lunch counters and restaurants with African Americans,   we’d be offered a different menu , one with far higher prices than the usual “white” menu. 

    Although the  Civil rights  act  of 1964 outlawed segregation,  centuries of  inequality and racism are not erased with the stroke of a pen.   Discrimination  is erased  only by the hard work of those who suffer under inequality and those who benefit from it and from white allies and advocates.

   Last summer  my aunt turned 100.  We had a  birthday party for her in Montpelier Vt. Asher,  my 10 year old  biracial adopted grandson  was  the only black person among the  130 of us.  Noticing this,  someone at our table asked him:   “ How does it feel to be the only

Black person in this room.

Asher, with a cheerful grin, promptly replied, “Oh racism is so yesterday”

Would that his words were true.

I worry a lot about  my precious  grandson.   How do I  both   encourage his  exuberant optimistic spirit,  while  at the same time warn him of the dangers of being a black man in American.   When and how do I  help him understand his own roots-- of slavery and systemic discrimination?  

  I’m haunted by this quote  I saw in the Museum of Memory and Tolerance in Mexico city .

 “Without memory there  is no recognition, without recognition there can be no justice.” 

Eracism Minute 4/15

Hi, my name is Linda Fels.  I'm a fairly new traveler on this path toward antiracism work.  As such, I've been doing a lot of reading, exploring and pondering.
This past week, I came upon a new term and concept, at least for me.
Social Locator Questions. Let me repeat that.      Social Locator Questions
What the heck are those?
These are questions I have been taught my whole life to use to get to know people I've just met.  Ice breakers.  Connector questions.  In fact, they are still being taught at business trainings I've attended in the last few years.
So what are these questions, you may ask?  Things like . . .
Where do you work?  What do you do for a living?  What part of town do you live in?  Where are you from?  What did you do on your last vacation?
Wait a minute! What's wrong with those questions?
As Debby Irving writes in her book “Waking Up White” and I quote “Though, at the time, asking someone, “So what do you do for work?” felt as normal and polite as saying please and thank you, I now see a clear connection to my boxes and ladders mindset.  I needed to be able to fit someone in a box in order to engage with them.  My social skills were based on finding out where people lived, worked, had grown up, and had gone to school so I could place them in a social context, not get to know them as individuals.”  End quote
Wow!  That is exactly how I was raised!!
Thing is for people of color, these questions can trigger a stress response because they have experienced strange reactions to their answers like “Wow, really!  You're a professor!” or “Hmm, what's it like to live in THAT neighborhood?”.
No wonder they consider even the QUESTIONS “microaggressions”!
Definitely not a good approach when trying to build a multicultural congregation or society. 
In fact, in many parts of the world, what you do for work is not considered all that important.  Come to find out it's a dominant white culture thing.
There are lots of beliefs and attitudes that are imbedded in our white culture that seem normal to us but work to separate us from others. But that's a subject for my next Eracism minute.
Think about this question even in a white persons' setting: “So when are you and your partner going to start a family?”  Could be a minefield if they have been struggling with infertility or they decided not to have children for a very private reason.  Think about what your question could bring up for this person you've just met.  And yes, I've been asked this often when my husband was in the military – a perpetual baby factory.
So what are better conversation openers?  Remember, even white people do not want to be put into a box.
How about something you both have in common?  If you are attending a conference, how about “Which workshop did you attend? And what did you think of it?”.  Or at BUF coffee hour, “What attracted you to BUF?” Or even “What was the most interesting thing you experienced this week?”
Try to connect with the person.  We don't have to resort to just talking about the weather.
Don't worry!  We will make mistakes.  This takes practice.
But best of all, we can practice with other white people.
Thank you.