Reflections on the Facing Race Conference and Action Items for the Reform Jewish Community Paili Bachrach, Jake Lewis, and Sophie Richardson - NFTY Chicago Rachel Davis - NFTY SAR Robert Feder - NFTY STR Adam Griff - NFTY SAR Regional Director Logan Zinman - NFTY Chicago Senior Regional Director Facing Race was a very diverse gathering of over 2,000 passionate individuals who want to bring racial justice to their communities or workplaces. Every single person at Facing Race was combating “isms.” Luckily for us, they decided to combat ageism that weekend too. We felt like our voices were heard, but even more importantly, like we heard other people’s voices. That was one of the most important takeaways: we have a space where we can actively listen without fear of not getting a chance to respond. We had some important takeaways individually: Everyone at Facing Race so genuinely wanted to be there. After a session on building intersectional coalitions had ended, I continued the conversation with an older black woman named Mandy about the immense amount of potential that exists in partnerships between Jewish youth movements and historically black congregations. She was so energized by the conversation that she said she would come down to Florida during her vacation just to educate NFTY teens about racial justice and offer up her unique life experience. It was so inspiring to see that as much hate as there is in our world, there is so much more love. At a workshop I attended about educational equity, I heard a story that deeply impacted me. A Chicago mayor decided to shut down 49 schools, which were mostly in black neighborhoods, so in protest of the mayor’s racism, all of the parents of the school went on a hunger strike. The parents vowed to not surrender until the Chicago Board of Education agreed to revitalize the schools. The hunger strike went on for a gruelling 34 days and some parents had to continue the strike in the hospital while starving and connected to IVs. The fact that the parents were willing to risk their lives for a fair and just school system for their children inspires me to not be afraid to take and be a part of drastic measures in the face of discrimination, racism, and any other “ism.” During one meal at the conference, I sat with three complete strangers. At the table there was a 60 year old white woman, a 35 year old African American woman, a 50 year old Latino, and me, a 17 year old Filipino Jew. As we sat there together, we told our life stories, talked about our opinions on the current and future government of our country, and most importantly, our passion for social justice. To me, this lunch table is the perfect symbol of and the best way to describe the magic of the conference; people of all different races, religions, and ages coming together in harmony, respecting each other, learning from each other, and loving each others company and passion for social justice. We all got to hear the Keynote Speaker, Roxane Gay. Her presentation was amazing. Hearing such a funny person speak about such a stressful election was amazing. She didn’t joke as much as she shared to tactics to stay anti-racist in a funny, light-hearted way. As someone who expresses themselves through comedy it was great to hear such an impactful, funny person speak about something that had been weighing on all of us when we walked into the room. We left with many suggestions of how to become an anti-racist youth movement, and how NFTYites, youth professionals, clergy, parents and communities can get involved in making change. What can high schoolers can do to make our youth groups, schools, synagogues and communities anti-racist? Educate yourself! Check out this (Non-Exhaustive) List of Racial Justice Articles, or this Syllabus for White People to Educate Themselves, listen to podcasts about race, and grab a copy of one of these books that deal with race and justice: ❏ Ta Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me ❏ Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow ❏ Assata Shakur, Assata: An Autobiography ❏ Bell Hooks, Ain’t I A Woman: Black Women and Feminism ❏ Natasha Bowens, The Color of Food: Stories of Race, Resilience and Farming ❏ Beverly Daniel Tatum, Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? ❏ Baratunde Thurston, How to Be Black ❏ Bryan Stevenson, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption ❏ Edited by Cherrie Moraga and Gloria Anzaldúa, This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color Appeal to high schoolers and middle schoolers especially through more diverse means than just writings, pictures, and videos. For example comic books can be much more engaging for some, and there is a new wave of comic books with social justice themes. Great examples include: ❏ Ta Nehisi Coates, Black Panther ❏ Roxane Gay, World of Wakanda ❏ John Lewis, March (Books I, II, III) ❏ Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis ❏ Art Spiegelman, Maus (I, II) ❏ Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, Brooke A. Allen and Noelle Stevenson, Lumberjanes Understand your implicit bias and teach others how to understand theirs, too. ● It is natural to unconsciously have bias toward people - our brain has over 11 million subconscious thoughts per second, and our brains are judging before we realize it. ● Because it’s natural, we need to have active strategies for overcoming what our society has taught us: recognize a situation where you might be biased and prime yourself with intention, create a human connection with people instead of quickly judging, etc. ● We must understand that biases are malleable and we can change the way our brain associates things! Once your brain starts to recognize certain thoughts as bias, you can start to unwind them. When white people mobilize against racism, we must call in white people who act ignorant or racist or say ignorant or racist things rather than call out their behavior in an embarrassing way. ● This involves acknowledging people’s good intentions and possible lack of education. ● Studies have shown that when white people feel accused of being racist, their brains quite literally shut down - even when you’re not directly saying, “you’re racist.” ● Do not insult these people. If you do they will just shut down and not change their behavior or views. Instead, teach people to help them understand the problem with their words/actions. For example, when your bubbe or zayde uses the yiddish word schvartzer, which literally translates to the color black but is used as a derogatory word for African American people, you shouldn’t say, “Bubbe, that’s super racist.” Instead you can say, “Bubbe, I have African American friends, and that’s how they prefer to be referred to. Could you use African Americans when you speak about my friends, instead of that word?” ● Try to find people’s stake in racial justice issues. If you can tell people why they should care, they will be more likely to wrap their heads around other people’s injustice. ● NOTE: People of Color do not need to call in, and can choose how to respond to racism pointed toward them. We are fighting for racial equity, not equality. Racial equity is the systematic fair treatment of people of all races that results in equitable opportunities and outcomes for everyone. This addresses racism at an institutional level, not just personal prejudices. ● Racism’s root is in our institutions, so these need to be changed to promote equity. For example, when entrance to colleges are based on test scores like the ACT, it puts people at poorer schools (in terms of funding and the quality of education) at a disadvantage. Students with the same capacity to be successful end up in very different places because standardized tests value a certain type of education over another. Institutions can be changed through lobbying for fairer laws, diversity training, etc. ● People will only give up racial privilege when their surrounding environment makes their privilege impossible to exist - this is where change must be made. Expose yourselves to the viewpoints of those in marginalized communities and form relationships with those communities. ● Legislation can change policy but it can’t change culture. Learning how to engage in healthy dialogue with your peers can help mold one’s worldview and preserve democracy’s intended ability to use different perspectives to formulate the best agreed-upon solution. ○ When you discuss race and racism with your peers, do not feel that you need to compromise your values in order to have a civilized discussion. ○ Do not just expect everyone else to conform to your view. You must be willing to move toward a more middle-ground as well. As mentioned before, do not compromise your values but do indeed offer up some compromise on how you feel those ideas should be implemented. ○ Don’t feel that you need to have ‘the last word’ in every discussion. ● Exposing ourselves to uncomfortable and unfamiliar perspectives allows us to educate ourselves about racial justice in a more holistic manner. See the good, see the bad; see what you agree with, see what you disagree with. Some perspectives that were suggested to us are: Deray McKesson, Roxane Gay, Shaun King, Baratunde Thurston, Raquel Cepeda, Rebecca Cohen, Xeni Jardin, Sara Yasin, Kumail Nanjiani, Anil Dash, Jamelle Bouie, Rembert Browne, Heidi Heilig, and Ta-Nehisi Coates. ● Build coalitions with people in marginalized communities — an intersectional movement for racial justice is far more powerful than a homogenous group of individuals. ● When you use your own privilege to support marginalized communities, don’t present yourself as the “white hero” in the movement.