"You can fix racism!"

By Deborah Eid

Having "blame-free conversations about racism" is a key tool used by the organizations recognized on March 22 2013 at the annual Grand Rapids "Partners for a Racism-Free Community“ forum.

Bruce Roller, executive director of UCOM, one of the 4 groups to achieve 5 of the 6 standards for full partner recognition, says the goal of their work is to move us to "a place where racism is more uncomfortable than we are confronting it." Leaders related how the "Partners" movement decided to focus on a community goal of racism-FREE instead of framing the work as just what we are against or "anti".

Dr. Gail Christopher, VP for Program Strategy with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, opened the day with a discussion of how the roots of racism are embedded in our conscious and unconscious minds and began in the 1700's with the categorization of people. The consequences of our being in denial about the far-reaching effects of racism, among them the fact that the U.S. has poorer health outcomes than all other developed countries make this a matter of life and death. Dr. Christopher challenges us to make racial healing a "national priority" and shared the tragic statistics of 506 African-American children killed in the city of Chicago in 2012 by gun violence.  She contrasted the low profile of this information in the media with the national attention to the terrible Newtown, CT massacre of 22 young white children. Dr. Christopher stated that “This is about Three plus centuries of lovelessness, it's about love".  

Representing CNA and the North Quarter CID, staff and board members Amanda St. Amour, Mac Brown, Deborah Eid and Laurie Williams attended morning and afternoon break-out sessions on "Bias, Assumptions and Stereotypes", "Best Practices" of full partners United Way, Goodwill, UCOM and Madison Square Church, "Assessment 101; Assessing your organization on six standards for creating a racism-free environment","Little Things Mean a lot: Managing Micro-Aggressions", and "Working Towards an Inclusive Culture" presented by Cascade Engineering, honored at the event for their new status as the first "credentialed" partner in this local movement. Cascade Engineering shared their video inspired by the work of Michele Norris, former All Things Considered co-host. In "The Race Card Project", people give six words to summarize their experiences of racism. Here’s a sample of some of these powerful 6 word phrases; I am black with no arrests, Privilege: Why do I have it?, A box I check on all forms, A false Darwinian construct that promotes discrimination.

Artists, comedian and racism activist and educator Damali Ayo has published two books, the tongue-in-cheek "Obamistan; Land without Racism: Your Guide to the New America and her 2005 "How to Rent a Negro". She gave a 90 minute keynote that had participants laughing and learning about her experiences as a woman of color and a kid growing up in a black household in Washington, D.C. with a white mom who did not share her Italian ancestry with her daughters until recently.  "We're still at a third grade level of race relations" says Ms. Ayo, using the primary color spectrum we were learning at the age of eight as a metaphor. Damali shared her "trickle-up theory of system change from interpersonal relationships". That is the inspiration for her interactive art project which includes the results from interviews with 2000 people. She gives us 10 solutions to improve relationships and build a better world. The resulting presentation from "You can Fix Racism! Here's How” includes 5 things White and 5 Things Blacks can do. Go to Youcanfixracism.com for more information.