[WAsummit] Statement regarding the White Anti-racist Summit

[Sharon Martinas]

Hey Jeff,

	I have been able to attend only one WPC conference and summit (in  
2008) and enjoyed it very much -- both how its was organized and the  
wonderful people who participated in it.  I thank you for all the  
perseverance and hard work you have put into this effort over all  
these years.
	I wish you and your organization all the best for your future  
endeavors.

	with respect, sharon martinas

On Sep 11, 2009, at 6:54 AM, Contact wrote:

> WACAN and the White Anti-racist Summit
>
> The White Anti-racist Summit (Summit) is an event that has occurred  
> annually
> at the White Privilege Conference (WPC) over the past five years.  
> Over those
> years the event has had 8 co-sponsors, seen representatives from  
> several
> dozen groups, and been attended by 250 people. Recently the White
> Anti-racist Community Action Network (WACAN) has set up a listserv  
> drawing
> upon past Summit participants, giving the Summit process an online  
> component
> as well. A cyber subgroup of the listserv formed and is engaged in an
> organized interactive dialog.
>
> WACAN has supported and sustained the Summit process - by taking  
> seats on
> the coordinating committee, providing outreach and registration  
> through our
> website, and co-facilitating at the Summit itself - for all of those  
> five
> years. Over that time we have worked with several co-sponsors, and the
> yearly event always spoke well of our collaborations. Yet no single
> co-sponsor other than WACAN has remained with the event all five  
> years, and
> in that five year span no organization other than WACAN has signed  
> up for
> more than a single year at a time. Each year the final event  
> represented
> collaboration, the uplifting of the idea of "summitry," and the
> foregrounding of the White Anti-racist Summit as an umbrella  
> identity. Yet,
> almost always, the impetus to begin planning for the new year and next
> Summit came from WACAN alone.
>
> In March of this year, WACAN placed a call for organizations to join  
> us as
> Summit co-planners over a three year period. We have heard repeated  
> voices
> telling us they are facing cutbacks and have to make hard decisions  
> about
> the life and vitality of core programs. Many of these decisions have  
> been
> made by multiracial bodies of decision makers. In this climate,  
> outreach is
> becoming a luxury that fewer are willing to afford. Concerns have  
> turned
> inward toward survival in a time of scarcity. Although at least one
> organization gave serious consideration to our call for joint  
> participation,
> none have been able to make a commitment.
>
> We have come to quietly wonder if what we were doing with the Summit  
> has
> actually held back discussion and furtherance of large scale  
> collaborations.
> As a result, WACAN has decided, through our oversight body, the  
> Center for
> the Study of White American Culture (CSWAC), to suspend our direct  
> role in
> organizing on behalf of the Summit.
>
> WACAN will continue to maintain its online listserv, formed from
> participants in past Summit activity, past CSWAC and WACAN lists and  
> people
> involved in white anti-racist organizing who have been recommended by
> current list members. The cyber subgroup that formed from the  
> listserv is
> continuing as well. We will continue to support future spinoffs of  
> this
> list, as well as the emergence of collective gatherings and umbrella
> structures among groups.
>
> WACAN also intends to support the White Privilege Conference under  
> our own
> name. At this time we are in the planning stage, but circumstances
> permitting, we hope to do a workshop and/or institute for WPC 11. We  
> thank
> WPC for the help and support it provided to the White Anti-racist  
> Summit
> during its five years of operation.
>
> Jeff Hitchcock
> Executive Director
> Center for the Study of White American Culture, Inc.
>
> Charley Flint
> President, Board of Trustees
> Center for the Study of White American Culture, Inc.
>
>
>
>
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