Anti-Racism Training

Anti-Racism Training in Charlottesville – Today was an interesting day. This group is addressing institutional racism, the negative effect of indifference to social justice and the power of racial memory. Of course, all of us are present because we want to be and so they are (or are they) just preaching to the choir. And they are only promoting change for the perceived power-people. They are not addressing the powers in the minority groups that benefit from the current status of inequality and don’t want to lose their position. Both will have to want the change and it frequently feels like the power people in both groups don’t really want this change. The people who want the change are really the hapless people in the middle, who really have no power. How to express this to the group, without starting an issue, without the minority group feeling blame? It’s the dynamic that is now created. Some people always benefit from groups being oppressed, some of the oppressed actually. If their cause is gone, who would they serve? What would their role be? Do they really want to give up their role as cause fighters and be just like everyone else? Somehow I don’t think so. I think its equal pressure form the powers of both worlds to keep conflict and segregation going. We remain the in-betweens just talking to each other and g. And where do we take this?