Anti-Racism Moment 7/17/21 - Sarah Pearson

Anti Racism Moment 7/17/21

 

Critical Race Theory.  Most of us first heard this term a fewmonths ago.  We understand that it is a framework used in academia through which race and racism are viewed as embedded in U.S. Laws and Policies. 

We also are aware that this term has become the new boogeyman of the right.  It is being used as a catch-all term to describe what are actually diversity and anti-racism initiativesin K through 12 schools, many begun in response to George Floyd’s murder. 

But Parents from Virginia to Texas, from Connecticut to Missouri, have overwhelmed PTA meetings and challenged school boards and educators with fury over their teaching of this“critical race theory”.  Are they simply misguided and unaware that critical race theory is not present in K12 education? Will this “movement” clear up once they understand that?

No.    These mostly white parents are reacting to the teaching of the truth, to the addressing of racism.  They are not reacting to something imaginary, they are just calling it by the wrong name. 

The problem is that this reactionary parent movement is having real consequences.

5 states have now passed laws that limit how teachers can address “divisive” concepts, like racism.  22 states have proposals on the table that would limit how schools can talk about race.   White Voter’s net support for Black Lives Matter reached an all-time high in June of 2020 with those in support being 10% higher than those in opposition, but now, that figure has flipped, with 10% more opposing than supporting BLM.

Rydell Harrison, who is black, was hired as superintendent of schools in SW CT after the murder of George Floyd and was tasked with addressing racial inequity.  But as the “critical race theory” protests bloomed this year, he was one of many educators relentlessly targeted by parents and his community, causing him to resign in June. 

Brittany Hogan, a black woman recently hired as a diversity coordinator in Rockwood, Missouri felt she had no choice but to resign after being violently threatened by local and national figures.

So it seems obvious that we are facing an intense backlash against an equity movement that was making great strides a year ago.   Why?  Is backlash of the proportion we are seeing inevitable?  What can we do to mitigate it so that the grassroots movement of Black Lives Matter can gain ground rather than lose it?

Anti-Racism Minute 7/4/2021 - Lauralee Carbone

 This is the article from which I extracted an Anti-Racism minute for the July 4, 2021 service:

Racism is the greatest threat to democracy today - The Fulcrum

Tyrone Grandison

June 15, 2020

Grandison is a co-chair of the Seattle Human Rights Commission, a political partner of the Truman National Security Project and board chairman of the Data-Driven Institute, a nonprofit that promotes data science to solve public health problems.

Ahmaud Arbery. Breonna Taylor. George Floyd. All names you have heard in the past month. All Americans who deserve to live and breathe the values America was founded on. All human beings deserving the basic and common courtesies we publicly and externally promote. Unfortunately, they were not afforded the privileges that are extended to the average white American.

If you question that assertion, you likely have the privilege of never having to live your life in constant fear of how others react to you and what they may do to change your life instantly. You have the privilege of firmly believing the police force is present to serve and protect you. You have the privilege of being an individual — with your actions not prejudged by negative racial stereotypes and you not being seen as representatives of your entire race.

We are all patriots. We are all committed to vigorously supporting America and prepared to defend our democracy against its enemies and detractors. Right now, democracy's most formidable enemies and detractors are internal — people, policies and systems. Racism is the greatest threat to democracy today. It is time to live up to our patriotic beliefs and put in the work needed to make America a place where all people are equal.

As a white person, you can be unaware of the racist origins of the American police force. You can ignore the media proactively painting blacks as demonic, super-human, menacing, "more mature," lazy and less deserving of compassion and empathy. You don't get to experience the systems and the networks that exclude the very people who are a bedrock of American prosperity.

You can be unaware of the laws and institutions that have forced generations of servitude, poverty, inequality and despair. You can be blissfully unaware of white Americans breaking every treaty they signed with American Indians, Mexicans and Africans in the pursuit of Manifest Destiny. You can ignore the sadness and sorrow of the genocides — local and global — executed in your name. You can wrap yourself in the flag and recite the talking points that make you feel good about yourself and your fanciful role in the world.

And you can live each day blissfully unaware that a chance encounter may be your last.

What about the American dream for the Indians slaughtered for the land we walk on? What about the American dream for the black slaves that were beaten and brutalized to make your money and deliver your creature comforts? What about the American dream for the Asian immigrants you imprisoned, stole from and demonized? What about the American dream for Latin Americans you put in cages, dehumanize and subject to human trafficking and abuse?

Our country is our values. The Declaration of Independence declares: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

The schizophrenia and hypocrisy of the American experiment rests in the series of lies that we learn as history, which have been embedded into the fabric of everyday life through laws and systems.

It is clear that views of equality in 1776 were aspirational and applied only to white men. It is clear that Indians and the enslaved were "othered" and denied those three unalienable rights. But, approaching 250 years later, the idea of America and the reality of America are still miles apart.

It is now time to address this original sin. It was easy — and remains so — for our government to count a slave as three-fifths of a man, deny veterans' benefits to black and brown soldiers, create Jim Crow laws, institutionalize redlining and incentivize the overseeing of black bodies but the protection of white ones. Now it is squarely the responsibility of white people to collaborate with minority groups to transform the current state of affairs into equitable systems, policies and networks that finally live up to our founding principles.

Those in power are the ones who need to affect change. The powerless can initiate, ignite and press for change, but the powerful control the levers of the system.

As an American, you owe this to every single "other" — in other words, not a white person — to be better, and do better, to finally create a more perfect union.

The system is not broken. It was designed this way. For decades, many black and brown people have raised their voices about the oppression they experience. Many of them have mobilized, identified the ideas that need work, and provided recommendations on what needs to be done.

How do you help? How do you stop America from devolving into one of the nations that it routinely destabilizes? How do you create a better world for you and your kids, and their kids?

First, you must believe and defend your black friends and colleagues. Silence means you are on the side of the oppressor. March towards your path of being anti-racist. In an ecosystem that has racism as a cornerstone, being non-racist is not enough. You must speak up, stand up and risk something to keep this great representative democracy called America.

Second, you must overhaul the institutions that multiply and reinforce the racist ideals of our forebears. It is time to overhaul the justice system, the financial system, the police system, the health care system, the prison system, the education system and the housing system — for starters. What steps can you take to make those systems anti-racist? Should asset forfeiture be examined? Should funding sources for the police be revamped? Should police unions be reformed? Should "broken window" policing be stamped out? Look deeply. Pick your favorite issue in your favorite system or institution.

Third, focus on policy and policymakers. It is time to elect officials who align with our principles and then write laws creating this equitable and just society we all deserve. This applies to everyone — whether white, black, brown or Asian.

It is time to mobilize to elect and create the country and society we all desire and deserve.

Anti-Racism Minute 5/9/2021 - Cat McIntyre

 

This Mother’s Day morning, I’m reading you a letter from Twitter written by a Black mother, Sprinavasa Brown, in June 2020.

“For all my White friends, fellow parents in my children’s school, neighborhood, sports teams, etc.

“I’m keeping it to 100, so here is the truth…do not even ask me for a playdate, sleep over, babysitting, meet up or even send a birthday invite unless you can OPENLY talk with me and others about how you are actively being anti-racist as a parent, auntie, uncle, etc. If you have children in your life and you are not talking with them about racism, you are privileging whiteness and perpetuating white supremacy.

“It is not enough to say, ‘I love you and love your kids,’ or my favorite, ‘your kids are so beautiful, my kids love your kids.’ I am raising two, bright, exceptional and beautiful Black children. Who are Blackety Black Black. They are not here to make your child feel good, or give you a Black kid photo OP, or help you feel better because you live a segregated, insular life surrounded mostly by people that look like you, and my family is one of the only Black families you know in the city, ok state.

“What I may have tolerated before 2020 I damn sure won’t anymore, because I’m tired of the same conversations. Think of it as a new expectation for my parental friendship, if you must. If I have to teach my 9 year old (and been doing it since he was 5) how to behave, talk, dress, to be able to survive in this world as a Black boy, you better believe I expect you to teach your child to be anti-racist. NO excuses. Don’t talk about it, be about it.”

Check out @curious.parenting for more information and resources.

BUF Black Lives Matter Ministry Action Team BUF Black Lives Matter Ministry Action Team Minutes – May 3, 2021 Business/Planning Meeting

 BUF Black Lives Matter Ministry Action Team

Minutes – May 3, 2021 Business/Planning Meeting

 

Present: Murray Bennett, Lauralee Carbone, David Curley, Barbara Gilday, Amoret Heise, Bharti Kirchner, Tom Kirchner, Cat McIntyre, Henry Ohana

 

Anti-Racism Minutes:

            May 9              Cat (Ann Stevenson demurred for this Sunday)         

            May 16            David will ask Pam Graham    

            May 23            Bharti Kirchner            

            May 30            Henry will recruit        

            June 6              Henry will recruit

 

Remember to alert Rev. Paul on or before the Wednesday before the service where you will speak that you’re giving the anti-racism minute at the service.

 

Program Planning:  May 10:  Beginning of five monthly meetings where we watch and discuss “Amend,” available on Netflix. Lauralee and Cat will practice the technology to make sure we can show it on zoom.

 

Beloved Conversations 2:  

Evaluation of Beloved Conversations:  Cat summarized evaluation response: sent to 36 people, six of whom had been facilitators; nine people who had been participants responded. Ratings on a 1-10 scale averaged 7.1, rather positive. Asked whether they recommended a second offering of this program, 1/3 said yes, 1/3 said no and 1/3 had no response.

The $1,000 in the budget is there for next fall. We will continue to explore local alternatives. Some preferred multiple meetings over a single session, to grow cohesion among participants. Lauralee will assess feasibility of Kim Harris presenting the program. Cat will continue searching for the presenter for Fall 2019 How to talk to your Racist Uncle. Barbara suggested Louise Wilkinson, who does diversity training in at a Bellevue church. 

 

ABC:  Barbara Gilday reported ongoing discussions with WWU social justice arm of the School of Education. They have asked students to propose mentorships that will be reciprocal for BUF and for the students.  Genia has suggested enlisting young people from BUF for dialogue on how BUF can achieve the Beloved Community. Tom Kirchner reports that they have received commitment for financial support for one Black male student for four years, including dorm. They have additional offer of tuition and fees, without room and board. They continue with negotiate this with University of South Florida.

 

Phone Tree and BUF Banner:  Response to recent Anti-racism minute that reported on Rapid Response phone tree included two people who asked to be added to the list, and some voiced confusion about how to get on the phone tree. Cat will send out a request to BUF-News to solicit additional people who want to be called.  If a banner exists, it cannot be found in the SEJC closet because there is no light in the closet at present. Henry will explore with a lightbulb or a flashlight to see if there is a banner which can identify BUF people at community vigils or demontrations.

 

Next Business Planning Meeting:  June 7, 6 pm

Next Program Meetings:  May 10 and June 14, 7 pm.

 

Respectfully submitted

 

Cat McIntyre, co-facilitator

Minutes – May 3, 2021 Business/Planning Meeting

 

Present: Murray Bennett, Lauralee Carbone, David Curley, Barbara Gilday, Amoret Heise, Bharti Kirchner, Tom Kirchner, Cat McIntyre, Henry Ohana

 

Anti-Racism Minutes:

            May 9              Cat (Ann Stevenson demurred for this Sunday)         

            May 16            David will ask Pam Graham    

            May 23            Bharti Kirchner            

            May 30            Henry will recruit        

            June 6              Henry will recruit

 

Remember to alert Rev. Paul on or before the Wednesday before the service where you will speak that you’re giving the anti-racism minute at the service.

 

Program Planning:  May 10:  Beginning of five monthly meetings where we watch and discuss “Amend,” available on Netflix. Lauralee and Cat will practice the technology to make sure we can show it on zoom.

 

Beloved Conversations 2:  

Evaluation of Beloved Conversations:  Cat summarized evaluation response: sent to 36 people, six of whom had been facilitators; nine people who had been participants responded. Ratings on a 1-10 scale averaged 7.1, rather positive. Asked whether they recommended a second offering of this program, 1/3 said yes, 1/3 said no and 1/3 had no response.

The $1,000 in the budget is there for next fall. We will continue to explore local alternatives. Some preferred multiple meetings over a single session, to grow cohesion among participants. Lauralee will assess feasibility of Kim Harris presenting the program. Cat will continue searching for the presenter for Fall 2019 How to talk to your Racist Uncle. Barbara suggested Louise Wilkinson, who does diversity training in at a Bellevue church. 

 

ABC:  Barbara Gilday reported ongoing discussions with WWU social justice arm of the School of Education. They have asked students to propose mentorships that will be reciprocal for BUF and for the students.  Genia has suggested enlisting young people from BUF for dialogue on how BUF can achieve the Beloved Community. Tom Kirchner reports that they have received commitment for financial support for one Black male student for four years, including dorm. They have additional offer of tuition and fees, without room and board. They continue with negotiate this with University of South Florida.

 

Phone Tree and BUF Banner:  Response to recent Anti-racism minute that reported on Rapid Response phone tree included two people who asked to be added to the list, and some voiced confusion about how to get on the phone tree. Cat will send out a request to BUF-News to solicit additional people who want to be called.  If a banner exists, it cannot be found in the SEJC closet because there is no light in the closet at present. Henry will explore with a lightbulb or a flashlight to see if there is a banner which can identify BUF people at community vigils or demontrations.

 

Next Business Planning Meeting:  June 7, 6 pm

Next Program Meetings:  May 10 and June 14, 7 pm.

 

Respectfully submitted

 

Cat McIntyre, co-facilitator

Anti-Racism Minute 5/2/2021 - Daria Kurkjy

 

Guilty On All Charges

Dan Rather and Steady Team Apr 20 287 130

Guilty. On all charges.

A surprise? It shouldn't have been. We all saw the video of a murder taking place before our eyes. The jury, a multiracial assemblage of Derek Chauvin's peers, saw the same thing. And it didn’t take long for them to come to that conclusion. 

The history of how power, race, and the will of the state have played out over the course of our nation's history did mean that this verdict, unanimous and complete, carried some currents of surprise. No facts or video were enough for millions of Americans watching the verdict in real time, with pits in stomachs, to feel the luxury of taking this outcome for granted.

We have been here before, far too many times. We have seen pictures of our past, of lynchings and slave auctions, but also of more recent times, to understand the fraught shadows that hung over this trial. And yet, we have a guilty verdict. Three of them. On all counts.

While this provides justice for George Floyd, what it means as a larger symbol is something that we cannot know at this time. Is it an inflection point, or a blip? Is it a further bending of the arc of the universe towards justice, or is it a detour? 

I have lived long enough as an optimist to cling to that lens through which to view today’s news. To be sure the system often doesn’t work, especially for Black Americans and other marginalized communities. But today, the system worked. It worked because of the bravery of the young woman, Darnella Frazier, who shot the unflinching video. It worked because of the peaceful protests in the streets. It worked because the Minneapolis Police Department made it clear that this is not who they want to be. It is rare to see a chief of police testify against a fellow officer, but Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo took to the stand and condemned the actions of Derek Chauvin as a violation of their policy, training, values and ethics. It worked because of the prosecutors and the jury.

I think you can consider today’s verdict as something that will strengthen police forces not weaken them. We need law enforcement that is accountable. We need good officers lauded and bad officers punished. We need a system that prosecutes people like Chauvin to the full extent of the law, which must apply as equally to those who wear the badge as it does to the citizens they should be serving and protecting.

We cannot wash ourselves of the sins of the past. And we cannot allow ourselves to ignore them. But we also cannot allow ourselves to lose our hope and sense of purpose. I recognize it is easy for me, with the privileges I carry, to make such a statement. So I turn for inspiration to the leaders in the past and present who fight on in hope to align the reality of America to the noblest of our founding ideals. I pray for a continued march of progress, recognizing that each step forward can only be accomplished with great grit, resilience, and determination. 

Today America took an important step. It is but one step and many more remain. It is no assurance that we will continue to stride forward in justice. But it is also a day to pause and reflect that a better, more just, more equitable America, a more perfect union for all our citizens, is indeed possible. We cannot, will not, be perfect. We can, we must be better —ever improving. Today’s verdict has made the embers of hope glow a little brighter.

—Dan

Anti-Racism Minute 4/25/2021 - Lauralee Carbone

 

Good morning,

I’m Lauralee Carbone. I use she/her/hers pronouns.

I’d like to talk about the intersectionality of race and gender. There is no pride for some of us without liberation for all of us.

Centering the lives of trans and gender diverse BIPOC is the only way to achieve our collective liberation. At the core of this belief lies our commitments to racial and economic justice, intersectionality, accessibility, inclusion, and sex positivity. The work is about reducing state harm and violence, increasing sustainable employment, and engaging in advocacy and education work with service providers to create safer, affirming, and affordable care for all trans and gender diverse people. Achieving these goals is not possible without an explicit anti-racism lens that closely examines and resists anti-Blackness and uplifts Indigenous sovereignty.

We recognize that in order to move the trans community towards liberation, we must address the violence and oppression that targets trans BIPOC, and especially Black trans women and femmes. If we can solve these injustices for trans BIPOC, it will solve things for all. Because our work must dream of a world where all trans people have what is needed to survive and thrive, we need to explicitly center the dismantling of anti-Blackness in all of our work. Defunding police, prisons, and other structures that uphold racism and colonial systems of power and leveraging our power and resources to topple the structures that uphold white supremacy and lead to grave disparities and death is necessary.

The numbers are in. Every issue and experience with transphobia is dramatically exacerbated by the additional intersections of racism and anti-Blackness. These experiences are compounded further for those with additional intersections, including queer and disabled people, women, immigrants, and sex workers, among others. 

The 2015 U.S. Trans Survey highlights these disparities. Black trans and gender diverse respondents reported experiencing homelessness, poverty, violence, and mental health distress at significantly higher rates than white trans people and cisgender Black communities nationwide. They also experience significantly higher rates of police harassment, violence, arrest, and incarceration among Black respondents, with Black trans women being four times more likely to be incarcerated than trans people generally. Since the COVID pandemic, it has only gotten worse for our beloved communities. 

Lack of secure and affordable housing, policing and the prison industrial complex, medical racism and healthcare access issues, and increasing gentrification and generational wealth disparities, among other issues, contribute to the systemic violence that trans and gender diverse BIPOC communities face. Systemic and structural racism and oppression exist alongside interpersonal violence, and both severely impact BIPOC, especially women. In 2020, 44 trans people were murdered in the US, an all time high, the majority of whom were Black and brown trans women. I mourn these valuable lives lost, and celebrate the trans and gender diverse communities across WA State that tenaciously survive, and fight for collective liberation from these structures that seek to destroy. 

Prioritizing and committing to anti-racism and resisting anti-Blackness requires thoughtfulness, intention, resources, transparency, and accountability: this is why we need an expansive anti-racism action plan to infuse and prioritize anti-racism throughout our organization and all of our programming. This is what the work of building Beloved Community is about.

AntiRacism Minute 4/18/2021 - Cat McIntyre

 I would like to give you an update from Beloved Conversations: Meditations on Race and Ethnicity, a program held here BUF in spring 2019. At the end of the twelve-week program, the group of 30 participants came up with a list of goals for BUF. One goal was creation of a rapid response network to mobilize congregants to boldly respond with actions for justice when racial justice issues arise in the community, the state and the nation.

 

Possible projects included vigils for momentous events, especially events affecting people of color.  To this end, Henry Ohana and Genia Allen drew up a Rapid Response phone tree with 57 people from our congregation who said they wanted to be involved. Ten of the people on the list would call the others. 

 

We recently used the BUF Rapid Response Phone Tree to alert congregants of a candlelight vigil  held at Maritime Heritage Park on April 3 to recognize Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders recently murdered. The vigil was organized by the Whatcom Peace and Justice Center, Whatcom Focused Youth Movement, Whatcom CARE and Whatcom Human Rights Task Force.

 

A good—sized group of BUFsters assembled that evening at the vigil. We sat together, with our candles and listened to several local speakers of Asian American and Pacific Island heritage. They described their personal experiences of racism in Whatcom County.  The vigil began and ended with songs by William John, from the Lummi Nation. 

 

If you were not called for this vigil, and would like to be notified by phone of similar, future events, please let me, Genia or Henry know of your interest.