Brief Report Back “NOW What Will White Womxxn Do To End Racism?” Zoom Gathering Sunday June 27th

We began with our usual intros: our most recent ‘success’ in challenging racism or practicing our anti-racism skills; and our most recent ‘trial’ challenging or missing our opportunity to challenge racism. On the table were: 1) Black womon stating “don’t call me ‘sis’ white womon”; 2) white womyn’s un/comfort relating with brown and Black people; and at the forefront of most of our consciousness 3) children’s graves in Canada; and lastly but also first, 4) police and white privilege.

1) This led to a discussion about what we as white womyn want and/or need from Black or brown womyn: wanting to be seen as a ‘different’ white person, not wanting to be lumped together with all whites. On the one hand, knowing we are a small minority of all whites who are ‘different’ from other whites, yet on the other hand knowing we have benefitted as have all whites from racism.

Why should we expect Black/brown womyn to see us differently because we WANT to be seen different from the 54% of white womyn who voted for tRump? The privilege of calling Black/brown womyn ‘sister’ is the same privilege as labeling ourselves “allies”, even though we want to be the ones exercising those privileges, we can not. Only Black/brown womyn have that right to invite white womyn to be and use “sister” and “ally” with them.

Continuing next week: How DO we distinguish ourselves from other white people? How do we support and follow the leadership and needs of Black/brown womyn?

2) Again, we examined our feelings when attempting to be the help and support we are trying to be. As the role as “white savior” is a very comfortable one on the one hand, on the other hand when offering to play a ‘supporting’ role but feelng the discomfort of that role – even when Black/brown people are welcoming and accepting. .=

We examined our feelings of “walking on eggs shells”. The abnormality of white people to have to interact with Black/brown people on any level – personal, community, work – let alone white people having to interact conscious of the racism we wield, contributes to this ‘walking on egg shells’ sensation. We know it is our privilege to choose not just when but IF we want to be aware of and accountable for racism. W

e reframed this “walking on eggshells” to walking with white awareness of racism.

Pat Parker’s edict for white womyn: “Never remember I am Black while you never forget I am Black”.

How white people need to feel the discomfort, we need to never ‘forget’ we are white but must always be on guard for the tiny and huge ways in which racism has/is infiltrating our every being while holding ourselves accountable for minimizing racism at the least, smashing it at most.

3) We talked about the terror of “Indian schools” and the horror of murder of children whose graves were recently uncovered. How this genocidal racial-cleansing practice of stealing children from their mothers and communities neither began nor ended here, from the very beginning of our country (and Canada and every country around the world where white people colonized and destroyed the original peoples of that land).

How can we not feel shame, guilt, anger? Maybe “Indian schools” and the legal enslavement of Black people are no longer here but they’ve not ended just morphed into other, often more camouflaged practices.

So the historical shame only underlies the present shame. One such practice, with the closure of “Indian schools”, was then to then adopt babies out of Native families and communities and place them into white homes. But what if you were one of those white families who didn’t realize you were being used by this institutional racist practice, who thought and believed you were doing the right, moral, helpful, just thing?

To this day, white families go into countries if not communities devastated by u.s.ofa. economic practices and take the babies, believing they are doing right, moral, helpful, providing the especially white u.s.ofa. benefits of our lifestyle.

This led into a broader discussion of our individual, personal responsibility as whites to individuals we have often unknowingly and with the best ‘intentions’, participated in hurting them, through our unexamined if not buried deeply racism.

How do we make amends? How or do we say “I made a mistake”, “I didn’t know” or merely “I hear you, I’m sooooo sorry”. How to re/build connections after engaging in un/known racism that not just damages another person but undermines at best your relationship.

More for next week!

4) Police: we know that white people have a very ‘special’ relationship with the police and not ‘just’ that we can and do call them, and not ‘just’ for minor complaints that we would never call in on white people.

We talked about the young girl who put up a lemonade stand in the park and police were called. How white children have the “police are your friend” relationship, “police will help you”; and she had the “I might be killed” terror inflicted upon her.

We talked about using our white privilege to confront police, challenge their actions, whip out our phones and record (or pretend to record) them; but first of all to ask the detained person if they are alright, if they need help.

Another aspect of white privilege is the mere ‘friendly’ talking with police because of our white skin – a divide and conquer tactic that is used especially in protests. How we can refuse to ‘friendly’ engage until they have laid down their weapons or hold “disarm police” signs – or paint on t-shirt!

Recommended reading: "Black Women's History of the United States" by Daina Ramey Berry and Kali Nicole Gross