[WAsummit] a limited and realistic strategy for collective action?

[Larry Yates]

> 	My own personal opinion in terms of any forms of 'national action'  
> as in 'out of the computers and into the streets,' is that sad to  
> say, it's premature for a national group white anti-racist activists  
> to take this on.  Personally, I believe that carefully built local  
> organizations, with anti-racist political education, carefully done  
> base building and leadership development;  and most important, a  
> priority of building accountable relationships with local  
> organizations of color, needs to proceed alliance building on a  
> national level.
>
> 	We do have some anti-racist white organizations like that in  
> specific places, but I think that we on this list serve are doing  
> 'networking' which is really valuable, but not yet organization  
> building.  Maybe this latest racist horror will speed up our work?
>
> 	much love, sharon


I take these words from Sharon Martinas as wise advice, but also as a  
challenge.

I think that there is a middle ground between going into the streets  
and continuing to talk. Sharon's phrase, 'organization building,'  
describes it, but I want to go into more detail.  I don't think  
organizations are ever built in theory, only by taking the risk of  
practice. I think we should take some collective action of some kind  
that we feel jointly accountable for, but we should think through what  
we can and can't do -- and then push that boundary.

I am not assuming that we will create a full-fledged organization. It  
may be that some existing organization with a solid commitment to anti- 
racism can take this on. It may be that we just create a limited sort  
of task force.

I suggest we try -collectively -- to reach just a little farther than  
we feel safe in doing. Let's try to come up with a plan to push back  
in a limited but effective way against the increasingly frenzied  
forces of overt and unleashed racism.

Here are my thoughts about where we stand and where we might go:

1) The attack on Van Jones is only one of many more such racist  
attacks we can expect, probably escalating in shamelessness, violence  
and viciousness, with the ultimate personal target being the  
President, and the ultimate political target being restoring overt  
racism as fully respectable. (Even as I write this, Fox News has  
targeted Valerie Jarrett, the AFrican-American woman who is one of the  
President's closest advisors.)

We need to respond strategically to this process as well as tactically  
to individual incidents.

2) These attacks are supported and guided by corporate elites with  
specific interests, but they gain their intensity and mass base from  
racist panic, especially among whites who were raised with the Jim  
Crow ideology for whom a Black President violates deeply held concepts  
of this nation as a white enterprise. (This includes many young people  
in certain white communities, but mainly people who came to adulthood  
before the Freedom Movement's victories.)

3) An explicitly anti-racist agenda should be visibly part of the  
process of beating back/undermining/isolating these attacks and to  
return the white majority back to its position of not supporting overt  
racism. A liberal agenda of civility or rationality will not be enough  
against these attacks, and will do nothing to move a longterm anti- 
racist agenda.

4) To do what we can, we white anti-racists should take on a  
particular arena or arenas of action where we have a chance of winning  
and of learning to do better, even given our relative weakness.

5) Examples of such arenas (to my mind) are
	-- Campaigning to get specific organizations where we have some power  
or authority, such as white religious organizations, national  
progressive groups, professional organizations, etc., to take a stand  
on this issue, or to take specific actions to oppose what I call (in  
shorthand) the New Klan.
	-- Developing an innovative media/internet product that could have a  
substantial impact on this struggle
	-- Doing substantial work in a campaign that holds a specific  
organization, such as a major health insurance company, accountable to  
dissociate itself from the New Klan, with an explicit focus on racism  
as the issue at hand, rather than "hatred" or "incivility" or  
"irrationality"

6) Examples of arenas I don't think we have the capacity to take on:
	-- Organizing marches, rallies, vigils that actually have an impact
	-- Holding a large-scale national meeting that would have action of  
this kind as its main focus (as opposed to a smaller planning meeting  
or series of calls)
	-- Attempting a campaign of general public education directed at the  
majority of whites on this issue

7) Whatever we do, we should do it in close consultation with groups  
of people of color working along these lines, such as Color of Change  
and the Ella Baker Center. We might not even have our "own" project,  
but rather agree to take on certain responsibilities we are especially  
situated to do well.

8) We should set ourselves a deadline for a decision on how we will  
begin and generally what we are going to do. Deadlines are artificial,  
but the need for urgency is not.


One of our greatest privileges as whites is the privilege of more  
easily surviving our mistakes. As with all our privileges, we can use  
this one as a strategic strength. We have the privilege of creating a  
process and taking collective action and learning from it to do better  
next time. If we take no risks, i think we abuse that privilege.

I also want to add, not to claim rank, but to make sure this proposal  
is seen as real, that I have both significant relevant personal  
experience and a background of studying and writing on effective  
movements.

(In the late 1980s and early 1990s, I brought together the tenant  
organizations that became the National Alliance of HUD Tenants, and  
helped them to achieve their first policy victories, which went far  
beyond anyone's expectations. I also have substantial local and  
statewide organizing experience. You can see my relevant writing on  
and linked to my website (below).)

I am not unique in these qualifications. For example, white anti- 
racists who have been key leaders in the National Organizers Alliance  
are on this list or accessible to us. CURE and WACAN, the groups I am  
most  familiar with, both reflect many years of national  
organizational work.

I know that this list is a mixed group, with other folks who see  
themselves as trainers, teachers, advocates, concerned individuals,  
etc.. This would ask folks to take some steps into new territory. But  
I believe we have more than enough solid organizing skill and  
experience among us, and more importantly, enough determination and  
understanding of the issue, to do the kind of limited and focussed  
work I suggest here.

Please let me know what you think.

Larry


Larry Yates
PO Box 245
Maurertown VA
540 436 3432
llyates at shentel.net
www.user.shentel.net/llyates
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