Category Archives: Antiracism

April 17, 2014 · 1:02 am

Earthen vessels

photo (63)A rainbow of people,
speaking many languages,
with a multitude of accents,
filled the car on the
uptown 1 Train
as we returned after viewing
All the Way.
And I pondered how far we have come;
and I grieved how far we have to go:
and I remembered how the people portrayed in the show,
Johnson, King, Carmichael, Humphrey:
flawed, earthen vessels all,
helped bend, however slightly,
the long arc of the moral universe towards justice;
and I gave thanks,
and I wondered how I might join that effort.

17 April 2014
Shire near the Hudson

 

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April 6, 2014 · 8:18 pm

Time to change the Cleveland baseball mascot

It is time to change the mascots of a number of teams. Past time.

The Cleveland baseball team is one of them.

A recent story on Indian Country Today Media Network, based on a report in Deadspin, addresses this question:

A Cleveland Indians fan, painted in redface and donned in a faux Native American headdress, justified his brazen actions Friday afternoon by stating his attire was not racist – just “Cleveland Pride.”

The photo with the story says it all. Check it out.

Here are three responses to the Cleveland mascot.

From Indian Country Today Media Network:

A campaign to remove the image of Chief Wahoo, aptly titled “DeChiefing,” has gained momentum again as the 2014 season launched across the nation.

From Deadspin:

There is a lesson here, and that lesson is: For fuck’s sake, don’t do this.

From the National Congress of American Indians:

Change the Mascot.

Eradicating Offensive Native Mascotry has a petition campaign to address the NFL about the Washington football team. Hopefully a similar campaign will address the Cleveland team.

It is time to change. Past time.

See you along the Trail.

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April 3, 2014 · 10:34 pm

Do you Speak English? Racial Discrimination and Being the Other

Grace Ji-Sun Kim reflects on being viewed and treated as the other.

gracejisunkim's avatarGrace Ji-Sun Kim

fsrThis is my latest post for Feminist Studies in Religion, “Do you Speak English? Racial Discrimination and Being the Other”.  I would love to hear your comments or feedback.

I speak fluent English, conversational Korean and textbook French. I am proud to be trilingual and I always encourage my children to speak Korean with me. They never do. I do my best to speak to them in Korean, unless I am disciplining them. Then, only English comes out of my mouth.

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April 2, 2014 · 1:50 am

Understanding and Analyzing Systemic Racism Workshop

One of my friends works for Crossroads Antiracism Organizing & Training and shared about this opportunity to develop and hone skills and to dismantle racism.

The workshop is an excellent opportunity for individuals & institutional leaders responsible for diversity or social justice. Using a variety of interactive tools, it explores the historical development of institutional racism and its continuing impact. Participants will build a common definition of racism and explore the historic development of institutional racism in the US. They will examine ongoing realities of racism including the identity-shaping power racism has on People of Color and White people; explore racism’s individual, institutional and cultural manifestations; and consider the link between racism and other forms of oppression. A strategic methodology to dismantle racism will be introduced, focusing specifically on applying principles of organizing and social/cultural change. 

Crossroads workshops are designed to reveal how systemic racism plays a role in often unseen ways, creating barriers to true multicultural diversity and racial justice. We’ll help you struggle with the tough questions and equip you with the skills to dismantle racism and transform your institution.

When

Thursday April 24, 2014 at 8:30 AM PDT
-to-
Friday April 25, 2014 at 6:00 PM PDT
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Where

First Unitarian Church Oakland
685 14th Street
Oakland, CA 94612

The workshop will begin at 9:00 am and end at 6:00 pm on the 24th and the 25th.

Continental breakfast as well as lunch on the 24th and 25th are included in your registration.

Registration

Early Bird Registration: $250 (single) or $230 (2+ participants from one organization)
Regular Registration (After April 20, 2014): $300 (single) or $280 (2+ participants from one organization)
Student: $185.00

See you along the Trail.

 

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March 29, 2014 · 11:26 pm

The Invisibility of Asian Americans: the Feminist Wire

Thanks to Grace Ji-Sun Kim for this reflection on the invisibility of Asian Americans in the news media. She provides examples of how this happens and reflects on why.

gracejisunkim's avatarGrace Ji-Sun Kim

Headshot4_small-300x225 Kenneth Bae source: http://freekennow.com

There is too much racism within our society.  Here is my latest for the Feminist Wire.  So thankful to everyone at the Feminist Wire but especially to Tamura A. Lomax and Aishah Shahidah Simmons.

As we reflect on racism….let us continue to pray for Kenneth Bae and his family.

Where is the public face of Asian Americans in our society? As we follow the case of Kenneth Bae, the only Asian American faces we see on the television news are those of Kenneth Bae and his family. Relatively few Asian American analysts, commentators or advocates (with the exceptions of Connie Chung, Julie Chen, Ann Curry, Sanjay Gupta, and Kaity Tong) appear on the news media.

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March 29, 2014 · 11:12 pm

Dakota 38

Thanks to my friend and colleague Irv Porter who pointed me to Dakota 38, a video about the Dakota Wokiksuye Memorial Ride remembering the 38 Dakota men hung in Mankato after the U.S.-Dakota War and working for healing and reconciliation. Check it out!

See you along the Trail.

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March 29, 2014 · 10:15 pm

Reconciliation Park, Mankato, MN

Driving from Estherville, Iowa (where I did a presentation for First Presbyterian Church) to Minneapolis-St. Paul (where I will meet with youth at House of Hope Presbyterian Church, meet with a group working to end human trafficking, and attend the NEXT Church Conference), I noticed a sign to Mankato. I decided to follow and see what I might see.

December 26, 1862 – in the largest mass execution in U.S. history, 38 Dakota were hanged in Mankato, Minnesota. The U.S.-Dakota war, as it is named, began in August 1862 fueled by hunger and broken promises. When the fighting ended, the Dakota people were driven from Minnesota.  392 Dakota were tried, 303 were sentenced to death, and 16 were given prison terms. President Lincoln reviewed the transcripts and reduced the number of death sentences to 39. One man received a reprieve at the last minute.

I discovered Reconciliation Park, a simple park near the Minnesota River and across from the Mankato Branch of the Blue Earth County Library. The park features a white limestone buffalo that marks the spot of the executions.

IMG_4242It includes a memorial created to resemble a leather scroll. One side bears the names of the 38 men; the other has a poem and prayer. Benches with the inscription “forgive everyone everything” surround the memorial. The memorial was dedicated in 2012 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the execution. Indian Country Today Media Network reports the dedication came at the end of “a year of lectures, discussions, exhibits, newspaper articles, radio broadcasts, concerts and commemorations in the state of Minnesota acknowledging the history of the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862.”

At the simple memorial, I pondered what I know and what I need to learn of past expressions of racism, oppression, and violence. I pondered contemporary manifestations of racism and oppression and yes, even violence from time to time.

And I added my silent prayer that the day might soon come, and that I might have grace and strength to work for the day, when all our relatives live in community.

See you along the trail.

 

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March 1, 2014 · 2:10 pm

No turning back

A friend’s post on Facebook today reminds me of the power of racism and of my need to respond.

Describing an experience from earlier today, my friend writes:

A bunch of people in a car just tried to run me off the road while calling me racial slurs and pulling their eyelids at me.

Horrifying. Horrible. Scary. Despicable. Stupidity. All the words shared by my friend’s friends apply.

Other words do as well.

Bigotry. Racism. A call to action.

In particular, people, such as me, who are part of the dominant culture, need to act:

  • To speak when bigotry and hatred rear their heads.
  • To challenge stereotypes in print, on video and wherever they appear.
  • To confront our friends, our families, ourselves when we use or accept stereotypes.
  • To learn the histories and current realities of our brothers and sisters. To learn how those histories shape current realities of our brothers and sisters. And how they shape the current reality of the dominant culture.
  • To take the responsibility to name racism for what it is.
  • To study systems of privilege to understand how they work and how they benefit us and how they can be resisted and dismantled and remade.
  • To consider where we live, where we go to school, how we use our money, who are the professionals who provide services to us, who owns the businesses we support.
  • To remain open to new understandings, new commitments, new challenges, new responsibilities.
  • To recognize that the commitment to seek racial justice lasts a lifetime.

That’s a partial list. Put together quickly. At a moment when my heart aches for a friend. I will revisit it. Amend it. Add to it.

The journey goes on. The struggle continues. There is no turning back.

See you along the Trail.

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February 20, 2014 · 12:00 am

Japanese-American Remembrance Day

On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 which set in motion the forced evacuation and incarceration of many thousands of loyal United States citizens solely by reason of their Japanese ancestry.

I have read about the internment of Japanese-Americans. I have seen films and videos. I look forward to Allegiance: A New American Musical.

Yet as Japanese-American Remembrance Day draws to a close, I am reminded that nothing carries the power of speaking with people who experienced internment.

I give thanks for the grace and courage of the Rev. Dan Ogata, Alice Nishi, and Dave Sugiuchi who shared their stories with me. I give thanks for the grace and courage of the people I never met who endured imprisonment in their own land.

I pray my memories will move me to honor the ideals on which the United States is founded and to work for human rights for all people.

See you along the Trail.

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February 2, 2014 · 5:46 pm

Proud to Be – National Congress of American Indians

It is time to change the names and mascots of a number of teams. It is past time.

The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), the oldest, largest, and most representative American Indian and Alaska Native organization serving the broad interests of tribal governments and communities, produced this video.

See you along the Trail.

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