THOUGHTS ON "DISMANTLING RACISM" in 2018

A colleague, whom I consider a front-line soldier in the fight for racial justice, asked a question on Facebook and tagged me. I needed a minute to contemplate her important question. Here it is:

"Looking for helpful, compelling descriptions of what it means to "do the work" of dismantling racism. Who's got one?"

Dear Barbara,

This may be neither helpful nor compelling! 

  I live in a very rural, agrarian, poor county in Kentucky. The county seat, however, is almost one-quarter people of color (primarily Black, descendants of the original slaves). What makes this place unusual is that, because of its isolation, virtually every Black family could trace its ancestry (if there were resources to do so) back to slaves owned by almost every White family.

I've written, with the community, a book/project about this, and invite you to read the original draft. It will change considerably over the coming years, as we add more photos, and incorporate more interviews, including audio from those folks we've talked with. www.thespringfieldproject.blogspot.com

(I don't have a space for comments on the blog. If you read the book, you may contact me at cyncain@gmail.com)

The phrase "work" troubles me a bit. I've asked myself why. I know we talk about doing "dreamwork" or "spiritual work" or "working on ourselves." For me, this process of confronting and addressing, of acknowledging racism within ourselves as well as within nearly every system and organization in this society is demanding, yes; it is painful, yes; it can be overwhelming. But is more than work. Calling it "doing the Work" somehow implies that we know the steps, how to do them, what comes, next, what succeeds. I submit that Anti-racism is a life-long calling for which some are summoned, and we may never know why. It is a passion, a heartbreak, an art, and a joy. This has never been more clear to me than when, after being employed to do social justice, including anti-racism, as well as pastoral ministry, I continued to do everything I had before, write, read, pray, listen, speak,  dream, contemplate, and much more with no salary at all after I left the church. 

It may be that when we no longer know what to do, we have come to our real work and when we no longer know which way to go, we have begun our real journey. Wendell Berry, Kentucky Farmer

The word dismantling has some important connotations, and I can see why it has been widely employed by white folks who endeavor to systematically end racism. It implies that something will be taken apart step-by-step, with a methodical coolness. Certainly racism is structural, so there is something to be said for an analysis that acknowledges looking at the deep underlying pillars and beams that uphold it. A thorough understanding of the history of racism, the ways it has been woven into the cultural and institutional as well as the psychological fabric of our society, is crucial. 

But racism, as pernicious and pervasive as it has proven to be, will not last forever. As much as (some) millennial and Gen X folk would like to kick us Boomers to the side (I've experienced this!) and get on with their own wisdom, we may know a thing or two. It was, after all, we who birthed and raised them to be as accepting, open-minded, and in many cases, anti-racist as they are. No, we didn't fix racism (or much of anything else). But we have some good ideas, and some of us have money, connections, and other assets and talents that we could share if you'd welcome us to the work/joy.

I disagree with the gentleman who said you can't do this alone. This spiritual battle for the souls of the world is being fought in many places: the arts, small, isolated communities where a group of liberal white people would be shunned and get nowhere, one-on-one in Bible studies, coffee houses, construction sites, the streets of Baltimore, in Congress, and even in classrooms. It's not likely to be systematic. It can best be understood by reading about chaos theory and also Joanna Macy's Coming Back to Life:   read her rendering of the shambhala warrior prophecy

I also recommend the work (there's that word!) of Michael Eric Dyson, especially Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America, who writes about "individual reparations." This has been a powerful incentive for me of recent years. Dyson on individual reparations

More important, to me, than whether one acts alone or with a group is whether one has a spiritual practice. As in Buddhism it is expected that the adherent have a sangha and a teacher, and in recovery a sponsor, one ought in anti-racist activities, have a church, spiritual director, and/devotional practice.  Especially for white people, to whom I am speaking here, always de-centering one self and one's ego and motivations are extremely important.

What I see most challenging today, Barbara, is that good people are afraid. I learned a long time ago that everything we do comes either from fear or from love.  Once you get straight on that, and you come to know people of color well, and love them, not just the idea of them, you will act from love, and it will require enormous courage. You will make enemies. You will have to do and say things that will shock and offend all sorts of people. You will speak truth to power. 
Some of us will, as Cornell West predicted in that great Ware Lecture, "go down swinging like Muhammad Ali." I count you and me in that bunch.

I think the barn I've been using as an illustration works well. It was once a tobacco barn; we don't need those barns, and we don't need tobacco. Much of the wood, however, is salvageable, and they've withstood the strongest tornadoes. Still, not all are dismantled. Some are brought down by acts of God: wind and weather; some burn; some are demolished. Some rot away slowly, dissolving into earth from which they came. 

Frederick Douglass:

Let me give you a word on the philosophy of reform. The whole history of the progress of human liberty shows that all concessions yet made to her august claims have been born of earnest struggle. The conflict has been exciting, agitating, all absorbing, and for the time being putting all other tumults to silence. It must do this or it does nothing. If there is no struggle there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle. 

Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what people will submit to, and you have found the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.
Frederick Douglass
​in a letter to an abolitionist associate, 1948

WHAT WE MEAN WHEN WE SAY "LOVE"

Sign at the Sisters of Loretto Motherhouse in Nerinx, Kentucky

My first reaction when I saw the sign at the Motherhouse, a sign that has stood for years, well before the current crisis for immigrants and DACA recipients, was to marvel at how it resembled the Black Lives Matter sign my congregation in New Jersey had posted, repaired, and reposted, numerous times, after it was defiled, run over, painted over, and destroyed. Each time, we chose to leave it up for a good while as an uncomfortable witness: this is how far people will go with hate.

In this deeply Catholic community, even the words of Christ can't be protected from vandals when it comes to hate.

Earlier this week, the Sisters of Loretto and the Dominican sisters of St. Catharine held a vigil in solidarity with DACA recipients and other victims of the mass deportations. Pansy and Pupcake and  I were encouraged to come. Then on Saturday night, they organized a dinner, at which the Lantinx community and allies were invited, and spread amongst the tables, where we were able to tell our stories while we were deeply listened to. Above is Sister Elaine des Rosiers, a special friend of mine, whom I met about five years ago at a Buddhist group I attend, chatting with Pupcake.

Pansy tells her story to the Sisters

It was one of the most lovely evenings I've had in quite some time. Have you ever been deeply listened to? If so, you know what it means. The gift of love, acceptance, community, prayers, camaraderie, hope and shared empathy has boosted Pansy's spirits immeasurably. Working together with the Dreamers has helped her feel less isolated.

I think she'd feel more encouraged by 500 gifts of $1 than by one gift of $500. She's well aware that people "love" the Dreamers, but for some reason don't "love" her or Big Daddy (Benjamin.) Why?

Members of the Democratic Women's Club at the Vigil

One of the Dreamers from our community speaks to the Press.

Pansy and Keeland (Pupcake) at the Vigil

Vigil at the St. Catharine Motherhouse.

One of the things we've talked about a great deal is how much the current situation is like the Holocaust, the Internment of the Japanese, or the Trail of Tears and forced imprisonment of Native Americans on reservations. If you think, "No, it's not as bad" ... please examine your thoughts. Just like in slavery, families will be torn apart. Just like in the Holocaust, people will be killed. No, not as dramatically, but in many ways, slowly and sporadically, as they are targeted by the cartels who prey on those who have been in the US for long periods. 

Our country has lured immigrants from Central America (and elsewhere) here with low-paying jobs, and have taken advantage of their work ethic, their desperation to feed their families back home, and their terror of returning to places that are overrun with deadly gangs and cartels. And yet, we turn our backs on them when our government decides to treat them worse than animals. Benjamin has been IN PRISON for seven months, although he has no criminal record. 

So, you are not in favor of this? You love all people the same? Even Black and Brown people?

Nine people have contributed to help Pansy's family in this crisis. It may not be as harsh as the hole in the sign, but it speaks volumes. What do we mean when we say, "love"?

Another way to help is to donate to Dollars for the Dream via United We Dream on Facebook. It will be so deeply appreciated. Even if you can't or won't, pause and think with gratitude on the freedoms you have every day.

Words

by John Keene

When you said people did you mean punish?
         When you said friend did you mean fraud?
When you said thought did you mean terror?
         When you said connection did you mean con?
When you said God did you mean greed?
         When you said faith did you mean fanatic?
When you said hope did you mean hype?
         When you said unity did you mean enmity?
When you said freedom did you mean forfeit?
         When you said law did you mean lie?
When you said truth did you mean treason?
         When you said feeling did you mean fool?
When you said together did you mean token?
         When you said desire did you mean desert?
When you said sex did you mean savagery?
         When you said need did you mean nought?
When you said blood did you mean bought?
         When you said heart did you you hard?
When you said head did you mean hide?
         When you said health did you mean hurt?
When you said love did you mean loss?
         When you said fate did you mean fight?
When you said destiny did you mean decimate?
         When you said honor did you mean hunger?
When you said bread did you mean broke?
         When you said feast did you mean fast?
When you said first did you mean forgotten?
         When you said last did you mean least?
When you said woman did you mean wither?
         When you said man did you mean master?
When you said mother did you mean smother?
         When you said father did you mean fatal?
When you said sister did you mean surrender?
         When you said brother did you mean brutal?
When you said fellow did you mean follow?
         When you said couple did you mean capital?
When you said family did you mean failure?
         When you said mankind did you mean market?
When you said society did you mean sickness?
         When you said democracy did you mean indignity?
When you said equality did you mean empty?
         When you said politics did you mean power?
When you said left did you mean lost?
         When you said right did you mean might?
When you said republic did you mean rich?
         When you said wealthy did you mean wall?
When you said poor did you mean prison?
         When you said justice did you mean just us?
When you said immigrant did you mean enemy?
         When you said refugee did you mean refusal?
When you said earth did you mean ownership?
         When you said soil did you mean oil?
When you said community did you mean conflict?
         When you said safety did you mean suspicion?
When you said security did you mean sabotage?
         When you said army did you mean Armageddon?
When you said white did you mean welcome?
         When you said black did you mean back?
When you said yellow did you mean yield?
         When you said brown did you mean down?
When you said we did you mean war?
         When you said you did you mean useless?
When you said she did you mean suffer?
         When you said he did you mean horror?
When you said they did you mean threat?
         When you said I did you mean island?
When you said tribe did you mean trouble?
         When you said name did you mean nobody?
When you said news did you mean nonsense?
         When you said media did you mean miasma?
When you said success did you mean sucker?
         When you said fame did you mean game?
When you said ideal did you mean idol?
         When you said yesterday did you mean travesty?
When you said today did you mean doomsday?
         When you said tomorrow did you mean never?
When you said hear did you mean hush?
         When you said listen did you mean limit?
When you said write did you mean wound?
         When you said read did you mean retreat?
When you said literacy did you mean apathy?
         When you said fiction did you mean forget?
When you said poetry did you mean passivity?
            When you say art do you mean act?

What You Don't Want to Know....

Seth and Pupcake after his birthday dinner

Keeland, whose nickname is "Pupcake," couldn't come to Seth's party at Chuck-e-Cheese because she's terrified of Chuckie. She's twelve, like Seth was before his birthday, and she's not autistic, but she has lots of learning disabilities and delays.So, she texted him and invited him to dinner a few days later at the Mexican restaurant. He was so excited!

They're alike in so many ways. The biggest one is that they are both "younger" than their numerical age. Some of her favorite Christmas presents, besides baby dolls, were some huge squeaky toys shaped like doughnuts, bagels, and other goodies. They were like anxiety-easing tools for her. She brought them over once, and when I peeked in to see how she and Seth were doing in the study, they were chatting away and both were playing with the giant pastries. 

Seth asked her to marry him, but we've had to explain that it would be much better to have a good friend than to try to have a girlfriend and scare her away! 

She loves school, even though the work is a challenge. I could see, when we stopped by at lunch time, so that Steve, our photographer on our Black History Project (see his work at Photos for Springfield Project ) could get a portrait of her, that she had a group of friends and was having fun.

c. Steve Pavey, Hope in Focu

It is understandable that Pupcake would have fears and anxieties. Her early years, before Pansy and Benjamin took her as a foster child, were chaotic and traumatic. I do not know all of the details, but I know she suffered neglect, abuse, and abandonment. Her biological mother was in and out of jail for drug-related issues and died just a few months ago from a drug overdose. I heard a man testify that he drove the mother to an assignation with a client and sat in the car with Keeland while the mother went in and served as a prostitute. The man who her mother was living with had been charged several times with domestic violence. This is why Pansy and Benjamin fought so desperately to have sole custody of her.

Pizza in Chicago!

When Pupcake, Pansy, Eric and I traveled to Chicago for Benjamin's hearing on asylum, I got to know Pupcake a little better. She'd never really traveled or been to a big city. Even though she understood the situation with her Dad, which is how she thinks of Benjamin, was difficult, she  hoped, as did Pansy, that he would prevail this time and Benjamin would be released. But it was not to be. She dressed up and fixed her hair with a pretty headband and was delighted when she saw him. She sat through the hours long hearing. She sat in the cubbyhole with Pansy where they were permitted to talk face-to-face (through a glass) with him. But I never saw her break down and cry or show despair. Either she didn't understand the impact of the setback, or she just had a numbness to the pain, or some of each.

Later, we were talking, and Pansy shared with me that among other diagnoses, Keeland/Pupcake had been diagnosed with Radical Attachment Disorder (RAD). It made sense that she would have this disorder, given what I knew about her early years. 

Still, she has a strong, albeit anxious, attachment to Pansy. She panics if Pansy is out of sight, and gets very worried about her is she doesn't feel well or if she is upset. 

Benjamin was a strong, steadying influence on Pupcake. He took her swimming and to other activities. She loves to be outdoors and he was out with her, working in his garden and in the yard. He's protective of her. Or, I should say, he was.

Because, by all indications, Benjamin will not be coming back to Pansy and Pupcake.

Like thousands of other immigrants, he's on the verge of being deported.

I know it would be easier for you to think that he must have committed crimes, or that he should have expected this, or that they shouldn't have gotten married. But the reality is that American farmers and companies created work for and hired people like Benjamin for decades because they are good, hard workers. The reality is that they came here and came back because they face danger or kidnapping at home. The reality is that Benjamin has no criminal record. Until this administration gave ICE the current orders, he would never have been deported.Stories Like Benjamin's

Have you ever put yourself in the shoes of a Mexican citizen living in a dangerous state? Have you ever wondered whether you'd try to go north to do better, live more safely, find a better way? The only "crime" Benjamin committed was trying to better himself. He's a great worker, community member, and church-going Christian. And our government, yours and mine, is spending tens of thousands to keep him in prison for months.  What is okay about this?

Another reality is that most Americans (who seems to have empathy for DACA recipients but not for people like Pansy... or as Benjamin told her, "No one cares about us. You're Black and I'm Mexican.") are going about their business without a thought for the inhumane and unjust treatment of families.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE

You can help Pansy, Pupcake and Benjamin. He's been incarcerated for six months. His health is failing. The appeals and legal challenges have cost thousands. Bills have mounted as Benjamin was the sole support for the family.  Even a small donation will help! They want you to know how grateful they are. CLICK HERE TO DONATE.