Building Bridges - February 20th

Karen Buys leading

10 participants

For this discussion, we stepped away from the text to consider an article by Te-Nehisi Coates, “The Case for Reparations”.

It may be found here: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-case-for-reparations/361631/

The discussion began with several definitions of reparations. [I’m not going to reproduce those here; the reader can look them up as an exercise.] As might be imagined, this entire topic brought up a lot of discussion, and I have tried to represent some of the statements made (not always an exact quote).

“What’s the problem with reparations?”

Several responses were offered: Who gets them? In what form? How much will they be? Who pays for them?

Reactions of Whites to reparations would probably be best represented by their (previous) reactions to Affirmative Action and “Welfare Queens.”

Damages are not merely monetary, but of opportunities lost as well.

Mention was made of the changes in the Alabama prison population when opportunities for education was made available: recidivism was reduced; how was this paid for? There were no costs incurred: local churches sent unpaid volunteers into the prison to teach.

The Coates article notes that reparations payments to Israel were made before an overhaul of the German educational system. There, education was not an impediment to payment; it was an outgrowth. In addition, the payments made had an element of recency, being paid out shortly after the end of World War 2, whereas slavery ended more than 150 years ago, and subsequent egregious episodes (Jim Crow, etc.) were still a long time ago (100 years, 50 years,…). Pyaments were also made for losses of a tangible nature (property, art, jewelry).

In moving forward with reparations, the questions were asked, How do we overcome “We are not accountable”? How do we overcome, “There are people in our society who deserve our help”?

How do we make the system “fair”?

-       Acknowledge that the current system is not fair

-       Accept our (Whites) accountability

-       Make changes

Some additional readings were circulated following the discussion:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/business/reparations-slavery-japanese-american-internment/

https://www.npr.org/2020/02/15/805991106/early-novel-written-by-free-black-woman-called-out-racism-among-abolitionists?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social

Homework for next week: “White Fragility” chapters 8-10

Building Bridges - February 12th

Karen Buys leading

12 participants

Prior to meeting for this discussion, a number of articles and internet links were shared for discussion; here they are:

Indigenous people face the same racist social construct as other minoritieshttps://sojo.net/articles/super-bowl-over-discrimination-indigenous-peoples-face-not

We will be seenhttps://www.thesunmagazine.org/issues/530/we-will-be-seen

A Meditation from Fr. Richard Rohrhttps://cac.org/to-know-thee-more-clearly-2020-02-09/

Survivors Recount the Relevance of Holocaust Remembrance https://nowthisnews.com/videos/news/survivors-recount-the-relevance-of-holocaust-remembrance?jwsource=em

The “Red Summer”

https://thegrio.com/2019/07/23/hundreds-of-black-men-women-and-children-burned-alive-shot-lynched-by-white-mobs-during-red-summer-ignored-century-later/?fbclid=IwAR14CI-6QeR6olulIAFPonkJ4UCYebX4ToxRqMgYkzRmJgvanBo-EgPFcDQ

“The whole United States is Southern!”

https://www.memphis.edu/benhooks/creative-works/pdfs/payne.pdf

James Baldwin debates William F Buckley (1965)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFeoS41xe7w&feature=youtu.be

Reviewing all these, we were reminded to be alert to the ally of denial, distancing. That is, the trick of saying, “Well, that was then, or that was there,” to say, “Not now, and not here.”

The “homework” from last week was to identify the (few) things that resonated with each of the group in the first six chapters. Many comments and insights as well as personal stories were shared. Here are a few (quotes are not exact and any emphasis shown is mine):

“The impact on me – asking myself – how does this fit with my understanding?”

To throw up ones hands in frustration and say, “I’m done with this,” as in “I can’t stand to think about this [racism] any longer,” is a measure of white privilege.

“Racism is a system; it’s more than personal prejudice or bigotry.”

“I find myself feeling the pressure of the history of my own family’s role in the construction of our racist society.”

“My education has been horribly neglected; I am ignorant, and I am grateful for this group.”

“We [the United States] are not nearly as progressive as we kid ourselves.”

“When I’m telling a story, can I resist not “naming” people when it is irrelevant to the story. Example: ‘I was talking to this Asian lady in the store’… or ‘I met this gay guy yesterday on the golf course’…”

“I didn’t catch the whole ‘White Savior’ bit in ‘The Blindside’.” [a Sandra Bullock movie; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blind_Side_(film)]

The example of “The canary in the cage” [see Chapter 2, page 23]

“We Shall Overcome” was pretty simplistic; it is all so much more complicated than that.

“The concept of the United States as a ‘melting pot’ was propaganda.”

An opening question was asked, but the response was delayed:

How does racism affect white people?

As racism is a system, white people may realize that they (we) are a part of this system.

As a closing exercise we reviewed “Common Patterns of Whites” found here: https://robindiangelo.com/resources/

For the next meeting, we will step away from the text for a week to discuss “The Case for Reparations.”

Reading: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-case-for-reparations/361631/

— Duncan Taylor

Building Bridges, February 5, 2020

Ten participants

Karen Buys leading

No chapters were specifically reviewed today, at least at first; there was just general discussion around some leading statements or questions [Not all of these came from Karen.] Here is a sampling of those.

How does one respond to the statement, “White people gain nothing by diversity.” Or, “What is lost in Whiteness?” White society teaches, “Nothing is lost the whiter your community/company/social scene.”

  Responses:

•   Diversity expands a person’s humanity.

•   Diversity helps to break down stereotypes.

•   Exposure to diversity can raise contradictions to upbringing.

•   Exposure to diversity can address fears and misconceptions.

•   Diversity enables an escape from a “flat world” – it can change a world view.

How do you present the concept of flavor to someone who can’t taste?

However, it was noted that Diversity can be used as a “cover” from Integration: it is not enough to tolerate those who are “other,” they must be appreciated.

White people like feeling superior. It is taught by the culture, even if it is not ever explicitly stated.

Chapter 3: “White people don’t know the racial history of the US”

If White people don’t know it, we are complicit. White people can continue in their thoughts of “supremacy.”

It’s not just white history that is taught in our schools, it is a positive (slanted) white history. Are white people ignorant of the negative aspects of their history in this country? Or are they in denial of their negative role? Or is there actually malicious intent in suppressing education about that role? Again the difference in textbooks between Texas and California was brought up.

In this day and age, with all the resources available, ignorance of the racial history of the US is impossible – it is willful.

The idea of America is great; the reality is it is not.

Some additional resources were noted:

“Wilmington’s Lie:: A review

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/08/wilmingtons-lie-review-david-zucchino

“Lies My Teacher Told Me”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lies_My_Teacher_Told_Me

 Homework for next week (February 12): What one (or more) things/thoughts/concepts in the first six chapters really resonated with you?

— Duncan Taylor

Building Bridges - January 22, 2020

Karen Buys leading, 13 participants

“White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism” - Foreword, Introduction, Chapter “The Challenges of Talking to White People about Racism"

I liked this cover note on the book by Claudia Rankine (poet, author, playwright) - “A necessary book for all people invested in societal change”

The positives and negatives of “Identity Politics” were discussed. Karen provided a very long, and complicated, definition for this. [see the Author’s Note]

Karen asked, “How is institutional racism upheld by individual racism?”

Our homework was to assess our reactions and respond to the question, “What does discomfort do for you?"

On Thursday after our meeting, Karen sent out this note:

I saw this article today and it’s a helpful look at just how many “microaggressions” teenagers face on a daily basis. I put the term in quotation marks because while the incidents are generally small, the effect they have is anything but small. 

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/racism-african-americans-quiz.html?te=1&nl=well-family&emc=edit_ml_20200124?campaign_id=16&instance_id=15394&segment_id=20595&user_id=5015cef5abbc3a840131814ee0de4f58&regi_id=6779633120200124

Peace,

— Duncan Taylor