[WAsummit] white anti-racist response to the van jones attacks
Mary Capps
marycapps at earthlink.net
Tue Sep 8 18:18:04 CST 2009
Hi Nancy
Of course you may forward this to anyone who might be interested.
Mary Capps
On Sep 8, 2009, at 6:13 PM, Nancy wrote:
> Mary - your view from the heart of the Reps is very powerful. I'd
> like to forward it to another listserve i'm on - a group of
> diversity trainers who are very progressive and who are engaged in
> a similar dialogue - let me know. nancy
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Mary Capps
> To: White Anti-racist Summit
> Sent: Tuesday, September 08, 2009 7:00 AM
> Subject: Re: [WAsummit] white anti-racist response to the van jones
> attacks
>
> Thanks to everyone who has written on this topic. I'm learning a lot.
>
> Here in Mississippi and, it appears, around the country, white
> supremacists are using threats and intimidation to dominate or
> disrupt political debate & discussion.
> That part (white supremacists) does feel like the 60s.
> I am very concerned that the white supremacists are seizing control
> by defining people in & proposals from the Obama administration.
> The right wing media, national & local, plays a huge part in
> generating & disseminating lies & paranoia among whites. It is
> getting scarier. Killings would not surprise me.
> I don't see much difference between Glen Beck & David Duke. Nor is
> there much difference in their white followers. (Remember Duke got
> two-thirds of the white vote when he ran for governor of Louisiana.)
>
> I believe we need to directly organize a counterattack to show,
> first, the right wing attacks are rooted in white supremacy and
> racism; second, that there are whites who reject (and struggle
> against) racism, white supremacy, white threats & racist violence;
> and, third, we need to quickly and specifically counter attacks,
> lies and smears such as those used against Van Jones. I believe we
> need to act in specific cases and on the ongoing, larger issue of a
> resurgent virulent & violent manifestation of white supremacy.
>
> Mary Capps
>
> On Sep 8, 2009, at 2:31 AM, Nancy wrote:
>
>> Dara - thanks - it looks like this whole thing has become a tidal
>> wave - hopefully will lead to some mobilized action on the larger
>> issue - Van Jones is one of many - but this sure looks like the
>> 1960's - they haven't killed the leaders - yet - but that threat
>> certainly seems to loom over us. I will acknowledge Ludovic - I
>> want to distribute the article at the next Saturday Dialogue
>> meeting - an open meeting for white folx in Oakland, CA - Sept 26
>> Sat if any of you locals would like to come. We have been coached
>> by Cameron and his group from AWARE, and have just celebrated our
>> first year in existence. nancy
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: Dara Silverman
>> To: White Anti-racist Summit
>> Sent: Monday, September 07, 2009 3:51 PM
>> Subject: Re: [WAsummit] white anti-racist response to the van
>> jones attacks
>>
>> FYI- the piece I sent was written by Ludovic Blain. Please
>> acknowledge that if you forward it out. Here's an updated version
>> with a few new links:
>>
>> UPDATED: Can white liberals keep their eye on the prize when
>> racism comes a knockin?
>> Share
>> Yesterday at 2:42am
>> UPDATED: Can white liberals keep their eye on the prize when
>> racism comes a knockin? at firedoglake- http://bit.ly/1iHYWh
>>
>> Please also read Taj's excellent piece 'Wake up call. The attack
>> on Van is an attack on all of us.' http://bit.ly/NXIib Also read
>> Michel Gelobter's "First they came for Willie Horton..." http://
>> bit.ly/4s8Lt3 and Jeff Chang's Time To Knuckle Up :: On Van Jones’
>> Resignation http://bit.ly/xYlSO. (yes, i know these are 3 guys.
>> Eva Paterson of Equal Justice Society also wrote a piece, but she
>> did so organizationally, and is therefore covered below)
>>
>> I've been disappointed by white liberals and progressives'
>> unwillingness and incompetence combating racism for 20 years. The
>> inaction of large green groups on Van Jones resignation is yet
>> another example.
>>
>> The NAACP, Equal Justice Society and Color of Change explicitely
>> supported Van Jones before his resignation. On the white side,
>> Treehugger, Grist and a few other small white organizations did.
>> But the Sierra Club, Environmental Defense Fund, Greenpeace, and
>> NRDC, who together must represent more than $100 million of mostly
>> liberal and progressive foundations, big donors, and individual
>> contributors money, were MIA. These groups either took a dive
>> because the attacks on Van were racist, or they incompetently let
>> the right set the terms of debate before entering. Either way
>> America deserves better greens.
>>
>> UPDATE: On Sunday, Carl Pope of the Sierra Club, Justin Rubin of
>> Moveon, Andy Stern of SEIU, and John Podesta gave mea culpa
>> responses, with Carl and Justin actually mentioning the racism of
>> Van's political lynching. I must say that Caucasian time makes bad
>> politics.
>>
>> Here's today's Color Line Question: are there organized white
>> liberals that can be trusted to maintain their commitment to their
>> issue when the right attacks with racist wedges? I appreciate
>> white fellow travelers, like Tim Wise, and small white anti-racist
>> organizations like Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, on the
>> racial justice path. But they seem to have no influence on larger
>> white groups like the Sierra Club, NOW, Common Cause, Moveon, and
>> other staples of the white left. To be clear, I'm not discussing
>> whether white groups will take on issues of people of color, as
>> I'm setting the bar much lower--can organized white liberals keep
>> their eye on THEIR prize when the right's racism comes a calling?
>>
>> It's been easy for progressives to attack President Obama for not
>> defending Van--but do they really expect Obama to be out in front
>> of the white left? It seem hypocritical to attack the White House
>> for being spineless without attacking NRDC, Sierra Club, EDF and
>> Greeenpeace for being spineless as well.
>>
>> Lets remember--the most radical thing said by any national figure
>> about racism in the recent past was Obama saying the white cop
>> acted stupidly. The left certainly didn't counter the right's
>> racist framing of Obama's articulation of a racist incident.
>>
>> In addition to this situation, in my political lifetime people of
>> color have been let down by white national liberal organizations
>> on mid-1990s welfare deform by white feminist groups, on prop 8 by
>> white gay groups who blamed black voters for it's passage, by
>> white communications organizations on any number of issues
>> including California propositions 187 (anti-affirmative action)
>> and 209 (anti--immigrant), and many other times. Although some
>> examples are from a decade ago, I see no indication that white
>> liberals are any better on racism now.
>>
>> Although whites will be a minority by around 2050, America has to
>> survive that long. If white progressives either can't or won't
>> oppose racism, then we'll need a new set of white progressive
>> funders and leaders to do something better. And if white liberals
>> continue to be unable or unwilling to challenge the right's racist
>> attacks then we are truly on the path to fascism.
>>
>> If white liberals ultimately fail to oppose racism we have a
>> bigger disaster on our hands than climate change, because
>> America's commitment to white supremacy, if left unchallenged,
>> will prevent us from dealing with the other important issues of
>> the day, like climate change. As long as white liberals think
>> these are parallel, rather than continuous tracks, they will
>> continue to fail miserably.
>>
>> And the world and its humans of all races can't take too many more
>> failures. Or, more accurately, the world and all its races can't
>> take many more white failures.
>>
>> And now that the SEIU, Moveon, the Sierra Club, and CAP have given
>> mea culpas, maybe they can gather their white beltway org peers to
>> make plans to never again be silent during a political lynching.
>> And their funders should pay attention-if white groups can't
>> combat rightwingnut racist attacks, they certainly aren't good
>> investments because they'll lose every time.
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Sep 7, 2009 at 3:28 PM, Sharon Martinas <cws at igc.org> wrote:
>> Hey Nancy,
>> I appreciate your comments about Van and some background on his
>> work. I've known and admired him since he first came to the Bay
>> Area in 1992. For those who don't know him, I just heard a short
>> program interviewing Van about his work connecting low income
>> youth of color to the movement for a cleaner planet, and the
>> formation of the organization he headed up recently 'Green Jobs
>> for All.' (If you want to hear the interview, it might be
>> accessible through www.thepromisedland.org. Ask for audio of
>> 'Visionaries in the world of work.' It was aired today, labor day
>> on KALW in SF.)
>>
>> I also appreciate the dialogue about what anti-racist white
>> activists can and ought to do to address the race-baiting of Van,
>> and the vicious attacks of the progressive work has has always
>> done. As always, I learn so much from all of you on this list
>> serve. And I hope the dialogue leads to some forms of appropriate
>> anti-racist action.
>>
>> I also want to agree with Nancy's praise of the Catalyst Project.
>> Catalyst does extraordinary work and its Anne Braden program to
>> train white social justice activists as anti-racist organizers for
>> collective liberation is a model I hope other organizations take
>> inspiration and lessons from.
>>
>> However, Nancy's comment in parentheses "thanks Sharon Martinas"
>> is incorrect. While I know and have worked with many of the
>> visionary members of The Catalyst Project for several
>> years, I am not a member of their collective, and their decisions
>> and the programs are what deserve the 'thanx,' not me. What is
>> historically correct is that many, not all, of the Catalyst
>> Project collective members participated at one time or another in
>> the Challenging White Supremacy workshop which I coordinated and
>> which ended in 2005. It is also true that many of us had and
>> continue to have wonderful multi-generational dialogues about anti-
>> racist organizing strategies in this era. I learn so much from
>> their wisdom.
>>
>> But I am not responsible, nor should I be praised, for the
>> powerful and path-breaking work they do. That praise goes to
>> Catalyst Project collective members, not to me.
>>
>> Just wanted to set the record straight.
>>
>> much love and respect to all, sharon
>>
>>
>>
>> On Sep 6, 2009, at 1:21 PM, Nancy wrote:
>>
>>> Dara - I think Labor Day weekend is a perfect time for your
>>> communication. I think you are dead on. As a white woman I
>>> resonate with what you are saying, for sure. Organizing white
>>> folks for racial justice has never been more important. The right
>>> wing forces seem to be just warming up with the hate mongering.
>>> It is easy for us whiteys to just go "tsk tsk" and think our
>>> individual actions are enough.
>>>
>>> I've followed Van Jones for years, sent students to Cop Watch who
>>> had been assaulted by police, heard him and was inspired by his
>>> "cross-over" to connecting race and ecological issues - and was
>>> thrilled he was on the national team. I had hoped he was one
>>> voice from the progressive community who would have the ear of
>>> Obama. When he began to be attacked, I wrote letters of protest -
>>> probably on Color Lines and Truthout. This is the first I've
>>> heard of his resignation. I'll follow up with the standwithvan site.
>>>
>>> His treatment by the popular media and his resignation is one
>>> more indication of how skewed politics and stands for justice in
>>> this country remain. Loud statement about who runs this country.
>>> How and when do we collectively throw down the gauntlet? What
>>> would it be to launch a large inclusive movement or series of
>>> actions? Lakoff states that the progressive voice can't be heard
>>> because it uses intellect rather than appealing to the public's
>>> emotional responses.
>>>
>>> AWARE has been trying to organize white folks for some years, and
>>> they have supported the beginning of a similar organization in
>>> Oakland we call Saturday Dialogues which has public meetings
>>> every 6 weeks. And Catalyst has been doing great work for years
>>> (thanks Sharon Martinas). And the UNtraining provides extensive
>>> personal work with white people. But we are small groups, and
>>> outreach is limited. Our UNtraining/Saturday Dialogue group
>>> attended The White Anti-racist Summit for that reason, and this
>>> continuing group is the best connection I have which includes
>>> activist white folks, and here we are. Doesn't justify any of it.
>>>
>>> Predominantly white liberal organizations and institutions seem
>>> to be key - the "white field" is hard to penetrate. Sierra Club
>>> is struggling with a newly elected Asian female president who
>>> wants to "reach out to People of Color." Progressive single-issue
>>> groups from old lesbians, Marxists, Buddhist meditation groups,
>>> universities, non-profits and governmental orgs I've been
>>> associated with are generally unconscious about their racism and
>>> it is hard to pin down. White privilege and white racism is
>>> slipperty. Effective action in those orgs is challenging without
>>> getting scapegoated and losing all influence. Diversity trainers
>>> shake their heads in corporations trying to deal with the white
>>> folx.
>>>
>>> I'm not currently active in any of those orgs, but the whites I
>>> know who are (Greenpeace, Zen Centers) are working hard to wake
>>> up their colleagues - with sometimes sparce results, even if they
>>> are the designated diversity director. I am newly active in a
>>> group within the American Psychological Association that is
>>> struggling to get the APA to take a stand against psychologists
>>> involvement in torture. Clearly an ethical issue with race at the
>>> base of it, and folx are refusing to pay dues, resigning, writing
>>> articles in professional journals, holding symposiums at APA
>>> conventions, etc. Yet the power base refuses to move on it -
>>> there is lots of money and prestige involved, and there you go.
>>> (It isn't all white psychologists who are involved with the
>>> military around torture, of course, but we are primarily
>>> torturing People of Color).
>>>
>>> On a personal level, a friend of mine recently reminded me that
>>> when I sign petitions or write letters, to make sure I am
>>> identified as a 66 year old white woman, or my comments just go
>>> into the hopper, and doesn't say - here is one white woman who
>>> doesn't support any of the BS. That is a small thing, but now I
>>> make sure I identify myself.
>>>
>>> I will continue to write, sign petitions, encourage colleagues to
>>> take action on all of this and work within organizations I'm part
>>> of for the broader anti-racist agenda. But as far as effective
>>> organized action among whites - and solidarity with groups of
>>> Color to counter the power we are seeing from the right, I don't
>>> have a clue. Anyone in our list-serve have a really good sense of
>>> it? Isn't this why Sharon Martinas was trying to get us to read
>>> and discuss "Reluctant Reformers"? The record of white folx in
>>> movements has been pretty clear.
>>>
>>> Effective intervention still seems unclear. And we do not yet
>>> have a "movement" in the sense of the Civil Rights era, etc. the
>>> Rightwing DOES have an effective movement afoot. I too am
>>> terrified about the rise of Fascism. Even worse, as one academic
>>> pointed out, at least the Fascist movements were committed to
>>> full employment for the population. That isn't part of the
>>> current agenda.
>>>
>>> Dara, I would like to use your colleague Blain's article with
>>> some of the white groups I'm connected with. (As well as a
>>> connection to Taj whom he mentions). I don't want to simply
>>> forward this message, which I will do, but use it as a powerful
>>> statement about what it takes to step up as white folx, and to
>>> challenge us. I know when I read it, I have an initial knee jerk
>>> defensive reaction - "I'm not like that, I'm one of the good
>>> white progressives" but then I have to see he is talking about my
>>> people and I am one of them, so what have I done, and am I gonna
>>> do beyond what I am doing? I want to have my white colleagues to
>>> examine that as well.
>>>
>>> Can you send the source?
>>>
>>> Thank you for your provocative communication. I look forward to
>>> hearing from others.
>>> In solidarity, nancy arvold
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: Dara Silverman
>>> To: White Anti-racist Summit
>>> Sent: Sunday, September 06, 2009 8:16 AM
>>> Subject: [WAsummit] white anti-racist response to the van jones
>>> attacks
>>>
>>> Hey All,
>>>
>>> I know it's a holiday weekend and all, but I would love to hear
>>> some perspective from others on the whole Van Jones scape-goating
>>> and and his resignation.
>>>
>>> I haven't worked with Van closely, but I've heard about him for
>>> years, and we travel in similar circles.
>>>
>>> This website highlights ways to support him individually-http://
>>> standwithvan.com/
>>>
>>> I'm more interested in the systemic questions, especially what it
>>> raises for white people highlighted by my colleague Ludovic Blain
>>> below.
>>>
>>> Any thoughts about action to take that could be useful? Not just
>>> in this situation, but for future situations because this won't
>>> be the last?
>>>
>>> Percolating,
>>>
>>> dara silverman
>>>
>>>
>>> Can white liberals keep their eye on the prize when racism comes
>>> a knockin?
>>> 9/6/09 at 2:42am
>>>
>>> If you want a more collective approach go read Taj's excellent
>>> piece about 'Wake up call. The attack on Van is an attack on all
>>> of us.'
>>>
>>> I've been disappointed by white liberals and progressives'
>>> unwillingness and incompetence combating racism for 20 years.
>>> This Van Jones resignation is yet another example.
>>>
>>> As i can see, the NAACP, Equal Justice Society and Color of
>>> Change explicitely supported him. On the white side, treehugger
>>> and Grist did. Where's Sierra Club, Environmental Defense Fund,
>>> Greenpeace, and NRDC, who together must represent more than $100
>>> million of mostly white liberals money. They either took a dive
>>> because Van is black, or they incompetently let the right set the
>>> terms of debate before entering. Either way America deserves
>>> better greens.
>>>
>>> For those who attack Obama for not defending Van--do you really
>>> expect Obama to be out in front of $100 million of white lefty
>>> heft? How are we gunna complain about him not doing what our
>>> white lefties won't even do? In other words, don't attack the WH
>>> for being spineless without attacking NRDC, Sierra Club, EDF and
>>> Greeenpeace for being spineless as well.
>>>
>>> Lets remember--the most radical thing said by any national figure
>>> about racism (not race) in the recent past was Obama saying the
>>> white cop acted stupidly. That didn't go so well.
>>>
>>> In my political lifetime POC have been let down by white national
>>> liberal organizations on this by white greens, on welfare deform
>>> by white feminist groups, on prop 8 by white gay groups, by white
>>> communications organizations on any number of issues including
>>> cali props 187 and 209, and i feel like the list can go on and
>>> on. and although some examples are froma decade ago, are white
>>> liberals any better on racism now?
>>>
>>> Are there organized white liberals that can be trusted to commit
>>> to their issue when the right attacks with racist wedges? Note
>>> here i am NOT saying are there white fellow travelers on the
>>> racial justice path. i am setting the bar much lower--can
>>> organized white liberals keep their eye on THEIR prize when the
>>> right's racism comes a calling? And do note, i'm saying
>>> 'organized'--tim wise is great (and cc'd here), but there's no
>>> national white groups listening to him.
>>>
>>> If the answer is no then we are truly on the path to fascism.
>>> Although whites will be a minority in most of our lifetimes,
>>> that'll only be true if we make it that far. And if white
>>> progressives won't and can't oppose racism, then we'll have to do
>>> something better in order to make it that far.
>>>
>>> If white liberals can't oppose racism we have a bigger disaster
>>> on our hands than climate change, because America's commitment to
>>> white supremacy, if left unchallenged, will prevent us from
>>> dealing with the other important issues of the day, like climate
>>> change. As long as white liberals think these are parallel,
>>> rather than continuous tracks, they will continue to fail miserably.
>>>
>>> And the world and it's humans of all races can't take too many
>>> more failures.
>>>
>>> yes, that was a kumbaya ending because i really wanted to write
>>> "and the world and all it's races can't take many more white
>>> failures."
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
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>>
>>
>> --
>> ----
>> Dara Silverman
>> RISE Consulting
>> dara at riseup.net
>> 917-327-6528
>>
>> http://www.infovisions.org/rise/
>>
>>
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