racism – Page 3 – Confluence Daily

Reading Time: 5 minutes

My first reaction to seeing the horrifying photos of desperate immigrants detained in McAllen, Texas, as they were “visited” by Vice President Mike Pence and a posse of GOP senators Friday, was disbelief: Surely the powers that be could have created a Potemkin Pueblo on the border—kids with bunk beds and toys, maybe; adults in a no-frills barracks-style setting, but with cots and clean bedding and toiletries—to create reassuring photo ops for the media traveling along with Pence.

Informed

July 15, 2019 Confluence

Vox: Donald Trump’s long history of racism, from the 1970s to 2019

Reading Time: 12 minutes Meanwhile, white supremacist groups have openly embraced Trump. As Sarah Posner and David Neiwert reported at Mother Jones, what the media largely treated as gaffes — Trump retweeting white nationalists, Trump describing Mexican immigrants as “rapists” and criminals — were to white supremacists real signals approving of their racist causes. One white supremacist wrote, “Our Glorious Leader and ULTIMATE SAVIOR has gone full-wink-wink-wink to his most aggressive supporters.”

Informed

June 25, 2019 Confluence

Atlantic: A Resolution Condemning White Supremacy Causes Chaos at the Southern Baptist Convention

Reading Time: 8 minutes The Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting turned chaotic in Phoenix this week over a resolution that condemned white supremacy and the alt-right. On Tuesday, leaders initially declined to consider the proposal submitted by a prominent black pastor in Texas, Dwight McKissic, and only changed course after a significant backlash. On Wednesday afternoon, the body passed a revised statement against the alt-right. But the drama over the resolution revealed deep tension lines within a denomination that was explicitly foundedto support slavery.

Engage

May 20, 2019 Confluence

Letter to a White Student Who Doesn’t Want to be Call “White” in a Class on Race

Reading Time: 8 minutes Racism happens because white people are white; not because people have color. And I am not saying this because I am trying to hurt white individuals. I want us to understand why race exists, so we can decide if we want to keep a system that is the opposite of the values we claim to hold as U.S. citizens. And I want to give my students the knowledge to make an informed decision about what perspectives they decide to use as they look at the world. I want you all to understand how race functions in the world so that you can make informed decisions about your own actions. This is the purpose of this class.

Informed

October 2, 2018 Confluence

Why “I’m not racist” is only half the story | Robin DiAngelo

Reading Time: 3 minutes While we who are white tend to be fragile in that it doesn’t take much to upset us around race, the impact of our response is not fragile at all. It’s a kind of weaponized defensiveness, weaponized hurt feelings. And it functions really, really effectively to repel the challenge. As a white person I move through the world racially comfortable virtually 24/7. It is exceptional for me to be outside of my racial comfort zone, and most of my life I’ve been warned not to go outside my racial comfort zone.

Informed

August 17, 2018 Confluence

A White Person’s Guide to the 5 Fables that Hold White Fragility Together At the Seams

Reading Time: 7 minutes I’ve been called a racist flat out and I didn’t like it at all. The problem with that word is racism is murky. If someone called me a serial killer, that would be pretty cut and dry. Nope. There are no bodies to be uncovered. I’m not a serial killer, plain and simple. However, if someone calls me a racist, I have to sit with that and sort through my shadow places to try make sure I’m not missing something someone else sees.

In order to work our way through this, as white people, we need to let go of the myths we cling to in an effort to distance ourselves from the discomfort of an uncomfortable conversation so that we can do that sorting – preferably before someone calls you a racist.

Engage

August 8, 2018 Confluence

Stacey Abrams: The Patriarchy, Power, and Politics

Reading Time: 9 minutes You must become aware of how patriarchy has shaped each of us, even women, in order to unravel and remove it from your consciousness. You also have to know that options that are more liberating and not based on oppression, exist and you, and everyone, can thrive and flourish with the alternative. Leadership models exist that are based on collaboration and resourcefulness and continuously regenerate infinite power. We just have to learn them and practice them in the various contexts of our lives.

Informed

July 30, 2018 Confluence

Learning to Bridge Human Differences Lesson 4: Lesson on Privilege

Reading Time: 8 minutes Two people decide to go cycling. They decide to cycle for the same distance but take different routes. One takes a route that is a bit bumpy but pretty much downhill. It is hot, but the path is a little shady. For this person, the path was challenging and was definitely a vigorous workout, but this person feels good for meeting the challenge of the workout. When the two people meet up, the other person says that the ride was awful for her. Her path was also bumpy but the road she took was at an incline the entire time. She was even more sunburnt than the first person because she had no sunscreen. At one point, a strong gust of wind blew her over and she hurt her foot. She ran out of water halfway through. When she hears about the first person’s route, she remarks that her own experience seemed so much more difficult. Yet it was the same distance, and both rode their bikes. This is what privilege looks like.

Informed

July 19, 2018 Confluence

Learning to Bridge Human Difference Lesson 3: Privilege

Reading Time: 6 minutes One thing I often tell folks in my workshop: Please do not apologize for your privilege. Now you know you have it, what do you do? You become uber-aware of it and begin to look for who is disadvantaged by your privilege. If you get a job and you know that the brown skin woman who applied for it was more qualified, get in there and ask why you were hired and not her. Stand up for your values and call folk out on their racism, on how they are biased and using their power to promote their biases. Let them get totally uncomfortable with all that don’t let them off the hook.

Informed

July 18, 2018 Confluence

Those Feel-good Cop Videos You’re Sharing on Social Media are PR Through Gaslighting

Reading Time: 5 minutes In a perfect world, or even a better world, these videos would be representative of the relationships law enforcement has with the communities they serve – and in some communities, it might be true. However, in other communities, communities of color, these videos portray a fantasy served up to entertain white folk who like to support the men and women in blue.

Gaslighting for PR is not ok.
Sharing the videos might delight your white friends who get joy from watching them. However, those feel-good moments are staged or even extorted at the expense of people who don’t want to play along. Please at least take a moment to reconsider before you hit that share button.