Talking Piece Special Edition
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Partners in Restorative Initiatives talking piece Special Edition February 2020 Dear Allies, As we celebrate this year’s Black History Month, please join us in honoring some of our finest Americans, past and present. We continue to feel the positive effects of their contributions to our country. Whether it was the invention of a three-light traffic signal by Garrett Augustus Morgan, or the invention of a wagon- mounted fire escape ladder by Joseph Winters, these Americans have made contributions that benefit us all. We honor them this Black History Month—and every day of the year. Crispus Attucks Joseph Winters Dorie Miller Benjamin Banneker Ernest Everett Just Daniel "Chappie" James Jr. Prince Hall Alain Locke Charlie “Bird” Parker James Forten Ethel Hedgeman Lyle Leon Sullivan David Walker Eubie Blake James Baldwin Sojourner Truth A. Philip Randolph Shirley Chisholm Nat Turner Zora Neal Hurston Benjamin Hooks Ira Aldridge Benjamin E. Mays John Coltrane Benjamin "Pap" Singleton Charles Hamilton Houston Maya Angelou Martin R. Delany Marian Anderson Lorraine Hansberry Henry Highland Garnet Paul Robeson Toni Morrison Frederick Douglass Duke Ellington Colin Powell Alexander Crummell Percy Julian James Weldon Johnson Harriet Tubman Roy Wilkins Maxine Waters Hiram Revels Langston Hughes Julian Bond Henry McNeal Turner Charles Drew Wilma Rudolph Mary Eliza Mahoney Ralph Bunche Jesse Jackson Lewis Latimer Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Maulana Karenga Samuel Robert Cassius Thurgood Marshall Muhammad Ali Booker T. Washington Richard Wright Reginald F. Lewis Granville T. Woods Katherine Dunham August Wilson Daniel Hale Williams Dorothy Height Kweisi Mfume Ida B. Wells-Barnett Benjamin O. Davis Jr. Ruby Bridges Mary Church Terrell Rosa Parks Mae Jemison George Washington Carver Jesse Owens Oprah Winfrey Matthew Henson Billie Holiday Kamala Harris Madam C. J. Walker Cecil Moore Michelle Obama W.E.B. Du Bois John Hope Franklin Shonda Rhimes Paul Laurence Dunbar Gwendolyn Brooks Tiger Woods William Monroe Trotter Fannie Lou Hamer Malcolm X Mary McLeod Bethune John H. Johnson Martin Luther King Jr. Carter G. Woodson Jackie Robinson Barack Obama Peaceful and courageous living to you, Robin Warren “Black History is American History” Operations Manager 1 Addressing Structural Racism in our Lives Daniel Redic “It takes more courage to examine the dark corners of your own soul and the back alleys of your society than it does for a soldier to fight on a battlefield” ― William Butler Yeats The attempt to address structural racism precipi- few of the events that reminded us that there was tates the realization of a singular truth—that a sys- still a profound disgust for the black face in Ameri- tem of racism is maintained and upheld by all who ca. But many people of color, myself included, were are in it. This is a delicate concept to propose be- not surprised that hatred and discrimination were still cause it allows for denial: those who do not wish to thriving. be considered complicit in the continuation of op- While the Obama presidency may have paved the pression can consider themselves bystanders or vic- way for the blatant resurgence of overt racism tims, rather than perpetrators and the guardians of and discrimination during the advent of the Trump oppression. This goes for white people and people of administration, the truth is that these historical color alike, for as long as we are not engaged in events are just markers in the American racial strug- active anti-racism, we are contributing to the continu- gle. Everything in the last 450 years of this country’s ation of systemic oppression. This requires courage, history has culminated in a nation of profoundly trau- “...for as long as we are not engaged in active anti-racism, we are contributing to the continuation of systemic oppression.” the courage to look for the truth within oneself and matized people who fall all along the racial spectrum evaluate one’s own part in the inequity that continues from Black to White. This suggests that no one is to thrive in our society. Race is not about skin color safe from the trauma of America's “original sin,” but relationship, and we cannot be in relation if we nor are we exempt from our complicity in it. So, the are in denial about who we truly are. question becomes this: how can we tend to the In 2009 many people saw, for the first time in their wounds that we are still inflicting on ourselves and lives, a shift in the social climate that was unprece- our neighbors and loved ones with our subtle com- dented and foreign—the election of Barack Obama plicity? What even is this complicity? as president of the United States. It seemed to por- For the person of color, the trauma of a hyper- tend the culmination and maturation of a nation racialized society creates internalized oppression mired in centuries of oppression and degradation. that bleeds into everything that they do. For the white The nation seemed to outgrow its history of hating person it becomes a moral trauma where the black faces. However, Obama’s election into office thought of contributing to the degradation and contin- did not simply usher us into a post-racial America, ued oppression of the disenfranchised is abhorrent this was evident throughout much of his presidency. and appalling. The reality is, it’s all pain. It is a pain On the one hand, prominent black leaders chided his that places the blame on anyone but oneself. But it is decisions, claiming that he did not do enough for his our pain, and it does not matter where it comes own people. On the other hand, a majority congress from. We come to terms with this by taking responsi- sought to stifle many of his attempts at efficacy in bility for our own healing. This is a difficult concept to office. It was clear that we had not progressed as far present. It can seem as if I as we had thought. am exempting progressive white people The racial divide that had defined our nation for cen- from responsibility for the privilege-blindness associ- turies was reinvigorated in poignant instances of ated with white supremacy culture. It may also seem hate and discrimination during those eight years. that I am blaming people of color for not getting over The wrongful arrest of Harvard Professor Henry Lou- the injustices that have been visited upon us. How- is Gates Jr. in his own home, the slaying of Treyvon ever, this is furthest from the truth of what I propose. Martin, and the Charleston Church shooting were a The trauma associated with systemic oppression has 2 distinctive effects on those on either side of the racial- of oppression, both through inaction and by being ized spectrum. blind to the harm that their own privilege can cause to On one end there is whiteness that is afforded privi- people of color. It requires resolve to experience em- lege and advantage, while on the other end there is pathy for another’s suffering and do something blackness that is viewed as the analogue for the sins to relieve it, rather than protecting their own comfort. of the nation: laziness, violence, lawlessness, etc. In What are people of color responsible for? They are between there are the many shades of other races, responsible for taking on the task of their own heal- socialized in their proximity to whiteness or black- ing. They are responsible for managing their fear, the ness; the closeness to either end of the spectrum de- fear of using their voices when indignity is visited up- termines the level of privilege afforded. on them, the fear of disrupting the equilibrium Your proximity on the spectrum of racial socialization of their white colleagues when faced with inequity, the determines how you have been traumatized by the fear of retaliation and death. This means that society that we live in, be it moral or historical, con- there needs to be a strict evaluation of the ways in science or opportunity. Bearing this in mind, I propose which they participate in the systems of oppression that the road to healing is one of personal responsibil- that dominate their consciousness. People of color ity. We must ask ourselves, ‘what am I responsible need to examine the ways in which they silence for?’ We are responsible for identifying our personal themselves, the ways in which they criticize them- complicity in the systems of oppression that exist and selves and the ways in which they protect the sys- resolving to adjust our behavior through self- tems of oppression that plague them. It takes courage knowledge and courage. to look inside and realize how they believe the nega- For the white person this means that they need to tive ideas that pervade the public consciousness strictly evaluate the de facto privilege that they have. about themselves. It takes courage to heal and to use This includes looking at their personal identity and, the pain associated with hundreds of years of trauma more importantly, the ways in which their privilege to act against the instilled instinct of silence and com- might harm those around them, placency. It takes courage to realize albeit inadvertently. This usually the juxtaposed complexities of being a happens through micro-aggressions person of color in a white- such as color blindness (I don’t see dominated culture. This complexity is color), minimizing the racial experi- W.E.B. Dubois’s double conscious- ences of others by equating personal ness of the Negro, the pressure of as- suffering (I experience discrimination similation, and maintenance of a in these ways…), equating the inten- unique identity.