Deal with Racism: See It, Believe It, Say It, and Act on It!
What do we mean when we say "Dealing with Everyday Racism."Lets focus for a moment on the concept of dealing with racism. What does it mean to deal with racism. Well we surely don't mean to ignore it or downplay it. We do not mean to explain it or excuse it. We could not possibly mean to embrace it or condone it.
When I say deal with racism. I say it a special way. I say Hey deal with racism. When I say deal with racism, I mean you must See It, Believe It, Say It, and Act on It!
See it
I remember something Alice Walker once experienced when she dined at a restaurant with two friends. A couple of white men starting singing some racially charged song. One of the women simply sat eating as if nothing had happened, the other women was outraged and complained to the management. Both women were white, but Ms. Walker noted that the woman who took action was Jewish. She told this anecdote to illustrate the long history of Jews taking action against racism. What really amazed her and me was the woman who either did not recognize racist behavior or choose not to act. If I take the tack that this woman was in fact an ally, the problem may have been that she simply did not see racism.
One might pose the question what would have happened if the Jewish woman had not been in the room. Maybe after a time this woman may have noticed Alice's discomfort, maybe if it still wasn't clear she might have inquired as to the cause of Alice's discomfort and maybe she too may have acted. In either case one must see racism before you can challenge it.
Some of you may have wondered why maybe Alice Walker had not acted first. Who knows, maybe her ally was quicker on the draw or Alice was not sure about her relative safety in a strange town. I only know that many times a victim of oppression after evaluating the relative risk, may themselves choose not to act. In any case, it is one of the main roles of an ally, is in making it safe for a person to challenge their oppression. They can challenge the oppression themselves, support the victims challenge or refuse to benefit from the oppression.
Believe It
I remember once during a department meeting at work, I had brought a demo tape of a commercial about a new product I was developing. After watching the demo, the group broke into spontaneous applause. At which point instead of thanking me for my presentation, my boss immediately began commenting on how happy he was with someone else's project. It was an awkward moment. My friend Ken, an ally, was outraged. It was the response of two other colleagues that amazed me however, both were adamant that my boss' behavior was just impolite, not racist. They refuse to believe that this mild mannered man could engage in racist behavior. An ally must accept the truth of the perceptions of a victim of oppression. If I say it hurt me, it did. If I say it was racist, I know what I am talking about. And two people of color do no have to agree that something is racist, if even one feels it is racist - an ally should treat it so. Scary isn't it this faith thing.
Say it
My friend Ken, a very dear man, came to me troubled one day because of something that had occurred when he was trying to sell his home. One of the potential buyers made a racist statement during the tour of Ken's home. He and his wife were shocked speechless. They quickly ended the tour, but felt that they should have done more to challenge the words spoken within their home. I asked Ken why he did not simply say "That is racist, and I do not condone such language within my home."He confessed that saying the words had not occurred to him. He thought he had to lecture or shout or jump up and down or something. I said he should only jump up and down if he were wearing comfortable shoes, but that simple direct statements works what ever the wardrobe.
Act on it
Alice Walker's friend took action. White abolitionists were the stations on the underground railroad. White college students across the country joined the freedom rides. We have always had allies in the fight against racism and many of them engaged in action to challenge the systemic nature of racism. At this stage, an ally pays a heavy price, they may lose their access to privilege, often they are treated worse than the oppressed people themselves and some have paid the ultimate price with their lives. In some areas of my life, I have reached this stage of being an ally. I wrestled daily with the added exposure. It is often very uncomfortable. At this stage one finds it painful watching yourself fall back into old habits. Sometimes I truly wish that my eyes had not been opened to the reality of someone else's oppression. I can only imagine the pain and confusion of an ally against racism. If you are in this stage, I honor you and stand with you in our mutual struggle for freedom.
We all have an opportunity to be allies in the fight against oppression. It is risky to step outside of ourselves and see the world through the eyes of another but it is necessary if we are to change the world for the better. As witches and pagans, we know how our energy can affect the world around us. With love, compassion and intent let us take the first steps toward healing and lasting change.
Posted in
- Printer-friendly version
- 2145 reads
Wish I could be there. Very well spoken.
Katrina,
I wish you all the blessings and power you need on your journey. Thank you for these words. It is good to remember that returning to work (and thus returning to grace) bring a chance for us all to rest and have joy.
Wishing you joy in the Work.
David
Dear Katrina- Thorn reposted your blog and happy am I. Your passion, always so immense, comes blowing out in these words. So akin to my own heart and soul that it makes me have a bittersweet smile.
The Storm is only now coming to the edges of our universe and yet it will sweep and consume all that is. In the end, our beautiful universe will be so much...more? Different? Complete? Who knows?
All I do know is my soul came here to witness and be part in this period. I cannot shrink from the work. I am here with you, fae sister!
Thought-provoking piece, Katrina. Thanks.
I don't know what to call myself either. In Pagandom, I've taken to referring to myself as a Witch at Large. In the interfaith world where I'm active, I call myself a Pagan. Sometimes I call myself an uppity woman or a Second Wave Feminist. I've never really thought to publicly identify myself by my sexuality, het woman, which is very "white bread" and old-fashioned. Not only het, but serially monogamous for the most part. It seems almost a liability these days to say you're het, but I am proudly and happily so. I tend towards intellectualism but only have a BA, which doesn't carry much weight, at least in public and professional worlds, no matter how much you've studied, trained, and can articulate, even teach.
My biological heritage is Irish, Dutch, French Huguenot, Euro-mongrel. My social heritage is Roman Catholic on one side and conservative Methodist, temperance-crusading, women's rights and education on the other, with distinct East Coast sensibilities, now mellowed by more than half a century living on the Left Coast. My maternal political heritage is conservative Republican (altho what my relatives might think of current trends in the GOP I cannot imagine, since they did have brains and they did think and they did have a social conscience), yet I am much farther left in my outlook than any elected official I know. My paternal political heritage is blue collar Democratic, except that my dad broke with his family on politics and allied with my mother's family's conservatism.
I'm a former hippie, a home-birth advocate, a home death and green burial advocate, an opponent of capital punishment and resorting to warfare to resolve humankind's differences. I support the right to conscious self-deliverance. I rejoice in any and all consensual expressions of love and eros. I'm a lover and a mom.
I have never missed voting in an election and I disrespect those who don't avail themselves of this hard-won right. (I have ancestors who fought the Brits in the American Revolution.) I support workers' rights. I recognize our interdependence on this planet, so could be called a greenie. I'm a committed environmentalist in my day-to-day life (in terms of eating locally grown food, expanding public transit, recycling, preserving open space and wildlife, opposing exploitation of natural resources [strip mining, oil-drilling, nuclear facilities, agribusiness, monocultures, clear-cutting timber, overuse of pesticides, genetic modification, etc.]) I want to make the city streets "safe for dancing," as my old friend Tony Serra said when he ran for mayor of SF on the Platypus Party ticket.
Well, you got me going there, my friend. Thought-provoking read, as I said. ;-)
xo,
Macha
Lovely azaleas!
[cough][gag][snort][sneeze]
Just lovely...
I know what you mean.
I feel you. There is too much bs- particularly when people decide that their temperament is tantamount to truthful and ignore everyone else.
I get irked by immature extroverts or closet introverts who ignore you REPEATEDLY and then pretend you're out of line for being upset by the time they can't pretend you didn't say anything anymore. I find that the same people will ignore you if you blow up right away, too, and that it's because they just don't think that honoring what you value is important to maintaining a relationship, or even worse: that you don't know what you value at all and that it's all a mind game for their pleasure or annoyance. Then they call you passive-aggressive, aggressive, moody, touchy and temperamental. I call them "not listening".