Reflections on racial equity work

On April 3, Everyday Democracy, along with 322 other organizations and a total of 29,000 people in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut participated in the YWCA's "Stand Against Racism" event. Following the event, Jon Abercrombie, one of our senior associates, shared his thoughts and reflections on his racial equity work. We're sharing his reflections with you here on DemocracySpace.

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"Below I will summarize some of the thoughts and feelings I have collected about my own work and about our work together on racial equity and white privilege.  These thoughts have been with me for some time, actually, since our last conversations on race.

"First there are gifts that come to mind.

• The strengths of our relationships and our staff.  My life has been touched by all of our staff, and particularly touched and changed by colleagues with whom I have had a chance to work more closely around the country.  I walk away from our work opportunities grateful for unusually gifted people even when they plant bats in my suitcase, almost get me arrested in North Dakota, and try in other devious ways to shorten my aging life.
• The strength of the team members who have worked so hard and so well in developing the racial equity guide and navigating our relationships with funders.  Carolyn and Sue, for example, have produced a guide that will grow with us well over time.
• An organization that gives leadership across the country in deliberation that takes seriously the malicious influence of racial prejudice and racism in a variety of public issues. Martha’s stature in this field of work and her commitment over the years is why this issue has remained central to what we do.

"Secondly, the wishes and the things I hope for. 

• That we will maintain our commitment to the principles that we have learned and effectively employed in this work.  Our power comes from creating safe places for conversations about racial equity, white privilege, improved schools and a range of important civic decisions.  We will have the political right criticize us for advocating too much and we will have the political left criticize us for advocating too little.
• That we will continue to allow communities to go as far as they can given their resources and the particular conditions in their community.  I have worked with several powerful foundations and have watched them move from helping communities set their own goals, to deciding which goals are acceptable.  In time the foundations, with good intentions, decreased local choices and increased their own control.  Oddly an interesting thing happened: as foundations have dictated the acceptable outcomes, creativity decreased and real change decreased.  It is a path that is subtle.  It is driven by foundation goals and foundation deadlines that are often incompatible with community needs and community change.
• That we will continue to push for racial equity while holding onto the overarching goal of human equity.  In our own work I have observed the pressure from some activists to take harder positions.  In Austin, TX, a leader from one community group said, with understandable anger that she did not plan to talk to white people who did not apologize first.  'They need to feel the pain first.'  It is easy to comprehend the feelings that drive this, but in public deliberation we know this is a dead-end street.  Another person wanted us to start the conversation on racial equity by opening with "naming the sins."  Blame and fear increase the possibility that our efforts will not succeed.
• That our own conversations about racial equity and white privilege in Everyday Democracy will build on the principles that have been effective.  Our stories are all different and powerful.  If we each feel that our own stories are important, we will have deeper relationships to each other. We will also have greater commitment to each other and to the work we do.  Then we can better model how these types of conversations will work in the communities we serve.  I wish together we could spend more time using our own race guide.
• That we can find enough time for our own productive conversations.  I look forward to our work in early June.  I know that we are having gifted leaders to help us in the process.  I also know that it is easy to fill our time with important instruction when we need adequate time to bring our conversations to more effective stopping points (the conversation never ends).
• That I can learn how to bring my whole story, without defensiveness or self-blame to the table.  It is not others who keep me from bringing my whole story to the table.  It is my own inner monitor, well educated by many encounters and painful training opportunities. 

"In the end I know what I want for myself.  I want to learn better how to use any advantages I have to change the ways that racial privilege, racial prejudice, racial fear and blame undermine our world, our country and our local communities.  When I lead dialogues on transportation in Atlanta and in Georgia, decisions are made that are based on race.  When I sit with school boards to help them open up their work to the voices of the entire community, their responses are shaped by race and the barriers that have been created for many decades.  I want us to explore the ways that we engage theses issues when communities use our race guide, and I want to find ways to engage these issues even when there are other pressing needs in the community.  

"Finally, I want us to be clear with each other about what we know and feel.  It is the greatest power we have. 

"Thank you for your patience. Life and the powers that be are still trying to improve me."

Abie

Comments

[Ralph]

Wow, what a self-hating white person. I live in the Atlanta area, and if she were to talk to middle-class whites about their "white privilege" she might get socked in the mouth. Most whites down here have had some experience with affirmative action programs that have pushed them aside because of the color of their skin and hurt economically. Democracy is not a concept that should be centered around black victimization. True racial reconciliation comes from the heart, though Christ, not these silly lefty humanist programs like Democracy now. Change must come from within, and it must be a dialog, not a one way finger wagging at stereotyping whites as privileged oppressors.