[Peace-discuss] A letter, a response

[msimon at uiuc.edu]

Dear Carl, Mort, other AWAREites,

I appreciate your responses to the articles I gave out during the meeting and online.  In regards to Mort's request that I explain my interpretations of the articles during next week's meeting, I apologize that I won't be able to attend meetings for a while (not because I don't want to deal with this, but because I'm going home to be with my family) as I mentioned last Sunday.  I'll be back, though.  If it is selfish to start something like this and not see it through with the group, I apologize, but as I also explained, not knowing exactly when/if Muata would send a letter, I felt it more important for AWARE to continue its racism dialogue without me than to break the momentum we developed during the past few meetings.  Why are we so insistent that such dialogues only occur in a working group?  Why are we more willing to talk about the Farmer's Market EVERY WEEK than to address a core issue like racism?  It can't possibly be for lack of opinions within the group!

Regarding the articles, I didn't intend them to be read as one compelling, solid argument.  I apologize that I didn't make that clear.  They contradict each other, overlap and sometimes go into totally different areas.  I hoped they would represent different opinions about and approaches to anti-racist work, particularly work done by predominately "white" groups.  

The criticism of the Wong article ("Half-assed...") is deserved to an extent.  It is confusingly written and may be too "out there" to help us focus on the race issue.  What I liked about Wong's writing was the insistence on cross-cultural exchange, the importance of fun and creativity in our "work," and the need to always "increase alternatives" and get outside the box of simple definitions.  The article IS extremist and I think that's good too, not because I believe it does or doesn't offer the answer for AWARE, but because it presents a different option.  It made me question the extent of my current commitments to social justice.  Are they enough?  Do they reinforce the same systems I'm fighting against?

My re-reading of the Nopper article, however, only makes me more convinced of its importance.  Personally I don't like the idea that anti-racist work can only be done by people of color.  As Wong states, like it or not we are all currently mixed up in a multi-cultural society.  Yet, Nopper's article is powerful and I certainly can't see how it is "false," as one letter claimed.  Much of the article talks about the author's feelings about and reactions to the presence of white, anti-racist efforts that most often try to change the lives of minorities/poor without taking on the privledged directly (as pointed out by the author's criticism of activism without genuine sacrifices) or at least acknowledging that such privledge exists within the ranks of the group itself.  I like the article because it heightened my sensitivity to the feelings a white body MAY conjure up in the minds of others, what baggage the image or the word "white" may carry.  If that seems neurotic so some folk!
s, I'm perfectly willing to allow some neurosis so long as I can see it as a transition phase to a healthier society where people are treated equally, justly.   

Honestly though, before I've rarely defined myself as a white person.  Perhaps this is so because my race generally doesn't restrict my ability to act.  This article DOES attempt to restrict my efforts in such ways I've rarely felt before.  Maybe it is similar on a smaller scale to what black people face daily.  I've also rarely defined myself as a Jewish person, save rare instances of stumbling upon anti-semitic remarks.  But believe me when I say that I DO NOT make this statement "nefariously."  Such instances of anti-semitism that I've experienced have hurt me very much and it would be wrong and insensitive of anybody to say that they didn't or that I'm being overly emotional.  The author believes that such instances of casual hatred are unavoidable for black people.  To the author, my white presence is a reminder of a system that dehumanizes her and elevates me.  While I may or may not choose to follow her suggestions ("don't call us, we'll call you"), I DO choose to be se!
nsitive to her pain, anger and criticisms.  

Also, I think her critiques go a bit beyond what had been mentioned in another response about whether or not AWARE has an expectation of gratitude.  I think Nopper attempts to expose a whole system which congratulates, values and needs the Power Elite's participation more than the participation of those for whom the effort is actually intended.  I felt this with the last CIMIC seminar speaker who a few times mentioned that he wished non-Muslim activists were in the crowd.  I can see how that may have been hurtful to at least some of the 50+ interested Muslims in the audience.  It seems valid enough that the author, working on community empowerment issues, might feel pain at having to ask for and accept support from those outside of the community, fearing that this may be counterproductive to her aims.  These are her feelings and I think we can be sensitive to them and keep them in mind if we choose to do anti-racist work.  I don't see what's "false" about them.

These are just my opinions.  Again, my intent was only to provide a starting point for renewed dialogue on racism.  If it is decided that these articles are in fact bad, that they contribute little to the discussion, by all means don't allow them to stand in the way of a constructive dialogue.  I only hope that such a dialogue may try harder to find what is constructive and positive about another's POV or may attempt to offer alternatives to a disagreeable POV, rather than CONSTANTLY tearing it down when it makes you feel uncomfortable or when it is unsmoothly communicated.

Respectfully,
Mike Simon