FW: [Peace-discuss] AWARE and racism

[LAURIE SOLOMON]

First of all, I want to clarify some things that may have been misconstrued
in my original post.  1) I never asserted that AWARE was a racist
organization and 2) I do not believe it is.  Having clarified that, I would
also note AWARE has made no explicit claims that it was an umbrella
organization or a tent that all kinds of causes can and should gather under
to the best of my knowledge; it has claimed explicitly - even in its very
name - that its focus is on two causes with the implication that they are of
equal concern to the organization and its members.   Given this latter
point, I want to note several further things:

1) By bringing in additional tangential issues that are not directly
connected to anti-war and anti-racism issues (i.e., abortion issues, issues
over the existence of universal first principles, libertarian questions),
none not only dilutes the forcefulness and effectiveness of AWARE's ability
to advocate on its core causes; but one introduces unnecessary internal
conflict which has a possibility of alienating some of the small group of
active members and driving them off and one also opens up the possibility of
alienating outsiders that one might seek to recruit and mobilize for the
core issues due to their disagreements pertaining to the debate on these
tangential issues.  I do not think that AWARE, as an organization, is big
enough and strong enough to be able to afford to alienate its own membership
or outsiders whose support they are seeking.

2) AWARE, as an organization, appears to be struggling not only to grow in
membership as it is but appears to be having difficulty advocating and
promoting effectively in and to the community on its two core causes without
introducing dissention or the dilution of efforts by involving itself with
debates over tangential issues.  If those issues are important to those who
keep bringing them up on the list and elsewhere, then I would think that
they ought to start an organization which focuses on those concerns rather
than undermine an existing group whose identity is directly connected with
other causes.

3) I raised the fact that AWARE has tended to be an all white group that has
been unable to attract as active members anyone of color from the local
community or the University not to say it is a racist organization but to
suggest that it has been ineffective and unable to promote that aspect of
the organization to those most affected by the issue.  I do not know if this
inability is by design or by ineptitude; but I do know that affiliating with
minority groups with respect to a set of issues is not the same as have
minority groups as part of one's membership where they can help set policy
and direction of AWARE. 

Bob has made an instructive point when he notes that CUCPJ said, " that
although they are anti-war, they see racism as the more serious problem."
It indicates that they fully understand that by taking on tangential side
issues and causes, they would be diluting their efforts with respect to
their core issue.  I would think that AWARE might learn from them.  

Although I have respect for CUCPJ and believe that I may have even belonged
to it or a predecessor in the 1960's when I was a grad student at the U of
I, I also recognize that they represent a constituency within the Black
community but do not represent the entire Black Community or all the Black
organizations and activists in that community. Thus, any AWARE working group
that affiliates with them or engages in a joint course of action with CUCPJ
may very well be playing a supporting role rather than a integral role in
the course of action and might be viewed by others in t he Black community
as sort of usable fair weather friends who really do not know or understand
the issues from the black perspective or from any minority perspective. I
point this out only to suggest that if AWARE did have a significant minority
membership among its active membership; it might have greater credibility as
an anti-racist organization within the local and university black
communities as well as within other minority communities in the local area
than it now has as a result of merely working with minority organizations in
a supporting role.

4) Standing working groups dedicated to different issues and causes within a
larger umbrella group can work and be effective; but to be so and to have
any influence, they need to consist of more member workers than I think that
AWARE can muster.  It hardly has a large enough membership to sustain one
cause and is pressed to sustain two causes on an equal footing; I doubt if
it can sustain more than two standing working groups dedicated to different
issues and causes.




-----Original Message-----
From: peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net
[mailto:peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net] On Behalf Of Bob Illyes
Sent: Friday, June 05, 2009 10:19 AM
To: peace-discuss at anti-war.net
Subject: [Peace-discuss] AWARE and racism

I see the "is AWARE a racist organization" debate is going on again. It is 
brought forward, generally, by people who are not adequately familiar with 
the workings of AWARE. I want to make 3 points:

1) Some of our members prefer that we not dilute our anti-war efforts by 
addressing other issues. Carl Estabrook, for example, is strongly of this 
opinion. This is a perfectly legitimate position, although it is one that I 
don't agree with. The solution is working groups, which can specialize as 
they like.

2) AWARE has an active anti-racism working group that is strongly linked to 
CUCPJ. Bob Wahlfeld, Durl Kruse and I were heavily involved in this at its 
founding. Randall is now taking an active role, as are others in AWARE.

3) I've asked some of the activists in CUCPJ why they don't work with AWARE 
more closely, and the answer is consistently that although they are 
anti-war, they see racism as the more serious problem. This also a 
completely reasonable position, with me once more in the middle on this.

There is no rule that every activist or organization be concerned with 
every good cause. Stop the stone throwing, you stone throwers out there. Or 
even better, look at yourself and ask if you are really in a position the 
cast the first stone.

Bob

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