Brief Report Back Saturday 10/24 Zoom Gathering "What Will White Womyn Do To End Racism?"

After sharing our recent challenges and successes on our journey to becoming more courageous and effective anti-racists, we once again visited how we listen to and act in support of Black womyn’s leadership, our awareness of the dire necessity that we as white womyn take responsibility for recognizing, confronting and eliminating racism when and wherever it occurs – including taking responsibility to bring up and make normal the ‘conversation’ itself amongst our neighbors, friends, co-workers – wherever we find white people to interact with.

Hyper awareness of our language choices, to think before we speak and choose words that convey racism and not just being open to being called on a racist ‘choice’ we make but being willing to be vigilant and conscious so we can finally truly eliminate racism from our word choices.

Classism was on the screen also today: how racism and classism are intrinsically entwined. The richest people are 99.9% white, the poorest of the poor are 99.9% Black and brown. The whiter someone is or the closer to especially strate white christian males, the wealthier someone is; the more Black or brown – not to mention pagan lesbian mother – you are, the farther down the class structure you are. There are poor white people and in greater numbers than poor Black and brown people but neither in greater percentages of total population nor in ‘losing’ white privilege.

We spoke of divide and conquer and the immense skill the power structure has now and always has beginning with early days of dividing white indentured servants from Black people, and also dividing Native people from Black people. And today tRump and that power structure’s ability to direct poor white peoples’ attention to the possibility they too will be rich one day (or the children) rather than making the connections with all poor people to reveal the true common enemy.

We touched on Candice Wade and again the range of responses to racism, impacts of racism on the targets of racism. Especially what is our role as white people who are attempting to step back and listen to Black and brown people in engaging with Black people around issues of race and racism? And if we do, how do we as white people have conversations with or about Black and brown people when we carry racism on our backs, thru our thoughts, inside our DNA?

We as white people continue our struggle neutralizing the weapons of racism we carry, (have) support(ed), and repurposing them into anti-racism tools of smashing racism.

Resources mentioned included: “Eyes on Whiteness” with Sonya Renee Taylor https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03F6H7RGB0s; WhiteAwake.org

Please join us this Saturday evening October 31st 6pm eastern, 3pm pacific time - same zoom room!