Racism as a social construct isn't as old as one might believe. Racism based upon the color of your skin came about as the colonialists in the Americas looked for ways to justify slavery, especially as slaves became almost exclusively of African origin. However, the idea that someone is BETTER and someone is WORSE based upon aspects of their ethnicity, gender, religion, and socioeconomic class is probably as old as civilization itself.
As we become increasingly globalized, cultures and differing populations are finding themselves in conflict over their differences. Workshops like Undoing Racism work hard to find the common humanity we all share. So, I share with you the thoughts, descriptions, and feelings from Simone. I myself have not gone through the workshop, but it does raise important questions about race, differences, acceptance, and humanity. Some questions as you read along could be: what is racism? Do I see racism around me? How can I myself learn to be more accepting? What do people have in common?
Pre-Workshop:
Basically I am doing this workshop
because I am a member of Students Organizing Against Racism and this is one of
our major events of the semester. Personally I am doing this because I believe
that racism can be undone in an individual's mind and that making a difference
with the individual is the first place to start major social change. In the
workshop we will most address the misconceptions and misunderstandings that
institutional racism has caused in the United States specifically. We will
focus some on the New Orleans community as well, but we will not go beyond the
US in terms of racial analysis. SOAR the group was started on campus in
response to blatant racial events in 1999, but we believe that both blatant and
subtle racism are equally as damaging in their ability to dehumanize us all.
Workshop Structure:
The workshop is a
discussion-lecture style with about 20 students involved in SOAR, the two co
conveners of SOAR and 2-3 professionals from The People's Institute (who offer
these workshops) http://www.pisab.org/. The leaders in
this organization have varying years of experience in organizing against racism
and are from different backgrounds. One of ours was a woman who currently lives
in New Orleans and the other was a woman who lives in Seattle. They have some
set curricula, but they like to alter their lesson plans based on the type of
group they are dealing with.
Post Workshop:
The last day was today and I
thought it was the most important day because yesterday we spent a lot of time
deconstructing some really important ideas and I left pretty unsettled and
confused but when I came back today we really got to see those ideas come back
together in a new way which made a lot of sense and I had several "Ah Ha!"
moments during the day. We had breaks for lunch when we got to talk and bond
with the other members and leaders. But most of the time was spent discussing
with our peers and working out some of these really tough social constructions
in our heads. We deviated a lot on the second day spending time going through
some oppressive structures that are present at Tulane and we all had a lot to
contribute to that discussion. In general I thought it was a really worthwhile
experience and we also held it in an off-campus community center which I think
was important because we all felt safe speaking how we felt.
Comments:
Miles* one of our
co-conveners voiced some of his frustration that there weren't enough people of
color and low socio-economic status in the room and it was hindering our
discussion in several ways. But he also admitted that this was one of the
hardest workshops for him (and he has been to quite a few) but they all will
manifest themselves in different ways. I thought the pace of this one was good,
however it is hard to get members to be all present for the long time spans of
the whole three days and it really important that people be there for the whole
time.
Reflections:
For me personally: I had to come to
terms with a lot of realities of being biracial upfront which I have never
really done before. I'm still processing most of it but I left feeling
empowered and relieved.
Both
Simone and I are biracial, which comes with it's unique gifts and problems.
But, even if you are not multiracial or coming from a background that,
historically, did not suffer excessive racism, I think one can learn a lot from
racism/diversity workshops. From my understanding of dealing with diversity, I
think that it's the complex process of both acknowledging/celebrating
differences and at the same time seeing our similarities.
When I
feel like a race, or gender, or religion is so different from mine, they
couldn't possibly understand me, I remember that on Thursday night, I had
cried. And somewhere in the world, someone who on the surface is so different
from me, cried too. Among the winding roads, the towering skyscrapers and dark,
starry sky, the churning oceans, the boundaries of language, we cried together.
It is this common humanity, the fact that we all cry, and we all love, and we
all dance, and we all laugh, and we all are born and we all will die, that ties
us together.
So, to
me, undoing racism is to push through what seems like differences, and see
ourselves as human rather than just White or Black or Asian or Female or Male
or Christian or Muslim.
I want to
thank Simone, my dearest friend. She is a wonderful, thoughtful, and engaged
human being, and I deeply appreciate not only her dedication to service, but
the fact that she took time out of her life to share her story with me. If you
are interested in doing something like this in your own community, check out
the above mentioned website: http://www.pisab.org/
Mucho
Love,
Celinda
*His name
has been changed, since I did not interview him. Saving my butt, and protecting
him, for the WIN :D
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