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Last Revised: Dec. 1993

GRANMA NUDGE

FACE RACE-A Column for White Folks

by MARY MOORE

A remarkable thing happened on the Phil Donahue show recently when Reginald Denny and Keith Watson met publicly out of the courtroom for the first time, shook hands and faced a predominantly white audience. I say remarkable, not because this show brought them together but because of Mr. Denny's enlightened statements about racism and the audiences reaction to them.

Reginald Denny is a rare white person because he is dwelling less on his beating and more on the reasons and background leading up to it, including the Simi Valley verdict which acquited the police in the beating of Rodney King. He placed the blame squarely on the history of white racism in this country and expressed his desire to be part of the badly needed healing that can happen ONLY after white racism is acknowledged, understood and overcome. (Same thing that the Kerner report--remember that--said back in 1968). And for this obvious, but little understood, viewpoint he was verbally crucified by most of the white audience who wanted apologies and groveling from Keith Watson instead of an understanding of their own attitudes that continue to perpetuate the problem. When Denny wouldn't budge from his position of understanding and forgiveness one white woman actually rationalized that he held these sentiments because he is brain damaged from the beating!! (I am not making ! this up!!!)

So this is what happens to white folks who speak out strongly against racism. I should know. I lost my three children in a child custody suit in 1966 in San Luis Obispo for that very reason. But the marginalization of white people who speak out against white racism is nothing compared to what people of color put up with on a daily basis. Why is it so difficult for white folks to understand that it is ONLY an attitude adjustment on their part that will lead us down the path to healing? This indifference is not a new phenomenon--any person of color can attest to the ignorance, guilt and reluctance to face race that continues to this day with the majority of white people, including the "progressive" movement in Sonoma County and elsewhere. There are incidents within our local activist community too numerous to mention without taking up the entire newspaper but just one illustration is the recent report from a new coalition, Carrying Capacity Network, made up of environmentalis! ts and population control advoca tes (including Paul Ehrlich and members of the Wilderness Society and Sierra Club) that is calling for less (legal or illegal) immigration. They don't seem to have a clue as to the racism in their position.

In a recent article in the Press Democrat Lani Guinier talked about this white reluctance to understand racial dynamics and called for forums on race to convene in every community in this country. To its immense credit, the lesbian community in Sonoma county has already taken a leadership role by putting on a series of workshops on "Unlearning Racism" for white women. We need to follow their lead and see similar workshops in the peace, womens, "new age" and environmental communities also. People accuse me sometimes of "preaching to the choir"! Well, it seems to me that the choir is far from united on alot of issues including race. Just imagine how strong and effective we could be in our work if we could unite in solidarity around this issue in a real way in our own small world of Sonoma county. We need to make reaching out across racial lines a top priority because we're not going to see either peace or justice until that happens. That's a fact!! Until the peace, "new ag! e" and environmental communities in Sonoma County examine and change their own attitudes and priorities around race we will continue to live in a segregated situation and if you don't think that's what it is then you're not paying attention.

This column, as well as the "Manifesto of the New Abolitionism" also in this issue of the FREE PRESS will no doubt land me in deep doo-doo with some of my fellow white activists but I'm tired of living in two worlds where the one with white skin privilege doesn't have a clue about the other one. We may not have been here when this all began but we're here now and we have control over ending the vicious and never ending cycle of exploitation and hatred that is racism. It's time for white folks to FACE RACE and to begin getting on with some solutions. Return to Granma Nudge Return to Columns Page Return to Sonoma CountyFree Press Home Page