White anti racist organizing

[Discussion list for COMM-ORG]

[ed: while the focus of this message is on the elections, it is also 
about anti-racist organizing in general so I am sending it out to this 
list rather than the announcement list.]


From: Cameron Levin <struggle at earthlink.net>


Hey everyone-
We wanted to share this with you all. AWARE-LA, (Alliance of White Anti 
Racists Everywhere) is working on a campaign called
The Ballot Box and Beyond: Race, Elections, and the making of history. 
For more info about the campaign please see our blog:
http://doubletakeblog.wordpress.com/
as well as our website
http://awarela.org/

We set up the blog to be participatory and to be shared- so send to 
friends, start conversations, link to our articles, and send us your 
observations of race and racism in the presidential (or state!) 
elections by leaving comments or send emails from where you are: 
awarela at gmail.com

we have a myspace page for the campaign so check it out if it is a 
medium you use:
http://www.myspace.com/awarela

Please feel free to send feedback, questions, thoughts, concerns to the 
email address above as well as to my personal email here. We send this 
out in the spirit of building, sharing, and engaging. Please pass this 
along to whomever you wish
In love and struggle
kevin
--------------------------------------

An Open Letter to White Progressives and Activists


We write this letter to all those white people concerned with social 
justice. Who
are you? You are social workers and teachers, and artists and 
organizers. You work
in multiracial organizations and non-profits, and you work for queer 
rights, with
incarcerated youth, and with women in domestic violence shelters. You 
offer medical
aid to migrants crossing the border, media arts programs to high school 
students, and
legal counsel to housing rights organizations. You're angry about 
climate change and
environmental devastation – with poor and working class communities the 
hardest hit.
You're frustrated about longstanding educational inequities. More than 
this, you are
passionate about change, hopeful for transformation, and open to 
personal growth
in the work you do. We write you because we feel as white people we have 
a major
opportunity to change our relationship to the diverse social justice 
movements to
which we belong.

Barack Obama's candidacy potentially marks a historic turning point for 
racial justice in
this country. Unprecedented numbers of white voters have been moved by 
Obama's
message of hope, unity, moving past old divisions, and the push for 
"change" and
"progress." This outpouring of support and enthusiasm for doing things 
differently
provides an exciting opportunity for progressives to help shape the 
public debate on
what "change" really means. Not surprisingly, conservatives have reacted 
with alarm
and have moved to squash this multi-racial coalition through the Right's 
old stand-by
tactics of fear, racism and division.

As the Right tries desperately to turn back the clock, momentum is 
clearly on our
side. Our voice is needed to reject the racist attacks from the Right, 
and to address
people who wish to gloss-over systemic racism and white privilege in 
their desire to
embrace Obama as a "post-racial" candidate. We have a strategic opening 
to advance
conversations about racism in all of its subtleties to the next level, 
and to capture the
momentum of this time to help build a multiracial grassroots movement 
for justice.
As progressives and activists, we are committed to creating a more 
humane and
just world free from racism and all forms of oppression. We recognize 
that we have
a stake in achieving fairness and equality for all, and as white people 
the continued
existence of racism and white supremacy puts fear and hatred in the way 
of our
humanity. We know that racism is not removed from the other issues that 
we care
deeply about, such as workers rights, the environment, the war in Iraq, 
and queer
rights, and that racism has been a tool used to divide us. It is in our 
interest to step-
up our anti-racist efforts during the '08 elections and beyond.

AWARE-LA (Alliance of White Anti-Racists Everywhere, Los Angeles) 
believes that a
visible anti-racist white presence in social justice movements is key to 
creating long-
term change:

* Many white people in the U.S. are against racial inequity, but in the 
mainstream and even in our social change work we are not speaking up as 
anti-racists. An anti-racist white voice highlights what we can 
represent – active agents of racial justice.

* Historically, people of color have had to shoulder the burden of 
speaking out against racism. But we all have a stake in eliminating 
racism, and it is only fair for us to contribute our share in moving us 
towards our goal.

* As white folks we know that facing racism can be awkward and scary. 
But we are ideally situated to talk with other white people about racism 
and to move our communities to incorporate anti-racist practices into 
our social change work.

AWARE-LA believes this historical presidential election provides a 
unique moment for
building anti-racism among white folks. As a beginning to this and, 
AWARE-LA plans to
take the following actions:

* Document and speak-out out against the Right's racist attacks and 
innuendos. There have been exciting examples of progressives speaking 
out against racism in the '08 elections – most notably ColorOfChange.org 
and MoveOn.org's campaign against Fox News. We plan to join and broaden 
these efforts. We have set-up a blog called "Double Take" and we 
encourage you to use this blog as a place to do a double-take on racism 
in the '08 Presidential Campaign – and to coordinate actions and 
responses: www.doubletakeblog.wordpress.com

* We are organizing a multi-racial Community Event in Los Angeles on 
October 25, 2008 to discuss and expose racism in the '08 elections, and 
to harness the political energy of the elections toward movement 
building beyond November. We are calling for other concerned white folks 
to organize similar anti-racist actions in October in towns across the 
country! Please visit our blog for more details on our event.

Finally, AWARE-LA hopes other white folks will join us in building a 
racial justice movement beyond the '08 elections. The elimination of 
white supremacy and racism in the U.S. will not come about from the 
election of a single individual. We need multi-racial alliances working 
for racial, social, economic and environmental justice and sustained 
commitment from white people towards anti-racist goals and practice.

Throughout the history of the U.S. there are countless examples of white 
folks standing shoulder to shoulder with people of color to fight for 
civil and human rights, from white abolitionists to the Freedom Riders. 
It is important that contemporary white progressives and activists 
follow the example set by our anti-racist ancestors and join with our 
brothers and sisters of color in actively creating a more humane world
for everyone – which ultimately is the change and progress most of us 
are hoping for.

In Struggle,
AWARE-L.A.

Endorsements:

Catalyst Project, www.collectiveliberation.org, San Francisco CA 
Community Coalition, www.cocosouthla.org, Los Angeles CA Jeff Hitchcock, 
white anti-racist activist and author, NJ Paul Kivel, educator, 
activist, writer, Oakland CA Center for the Study of White American 
Culture, Roselle NJ
Labor/Community Strategy Center, www.thestrategycenter.org, Los Angeles CA
Sharon Martinas, Challenging White Supremacy, San Francisco CA
White Anti-Racist Community Action Network, www.wacan.org, on-line project
Tim Wise, author and educator, Nashville TN
Y-Step: Youth Step Towards Addressing Racism, www.ystep.org, Bay Area CA

AWARE-LA is an alliance of white antiracist people working together to 
combat racism
within ourselves, our communities, and the world. To learn more visit: 
www.awarela.org

-- 
__________________________
CAMERON LEVIN

Transformational Solutions
323-660-4563