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

[Mary Capps]

Larry

This is very good; both realistic and pushing forward.
I especially want to see white anti-racists push back against the New  
Klan (thank you for the term).
I need more time to think how I can participate - but I definitely  
support your ideas and suggested strategies.
Thanks for your leadership.

Mary Capps

On Sep 9, 2009, at 7:45 PM, Larry Yates wrote:

>
>> 	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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