<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">Thanks very much to Dara.<br><div><br></div><div>I think this is a critical question. I wrote along similar lines during the Jeremiah Wright frenzy. My words to white progressives are on my old-school website at <a href="http://www.user.shentel.net/llyates/jeremiad.htm">http://www.user.shentel.net/llyates/jeremiad.htm</a></div><div><br></div><div>I ended with these words "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-weight: 800; ">African-Americans have been speaking out for themselves, but also for your basic values, for centuries. Let's hear some loud white voices -- right away -- against the next smear campaign of an African-American leader for social justice. You don't have to like him or her; you just have to understand Niemoller's lesson. By the time you find someone nice enough for you to feel comfortable defending, the battle will be over. The next time they come for a Rev. Wright, don't wait to speak out."</span></div><div><br></div><div>The whole Van Jones event went by too fast for me to participate -- I was on vacation for a week, and nobody sent me an email about it. (I did see emails and Facebook comments from whites when Rep. McKinney was jailed in Israel.) </div><div><br></div><div>I have seen more openness in the last month, among liberals, to the idea that racist fears play a central role in the whole teabag/townhall effort.</div><div><br></div><div>My main anti-racist organizational effort for the past several years has been with CURE, whites supporting reparations, which I think sends a powerful message to other whites, even as a tiny organization. </div><div><br></div><div>Perhaps. somewhat along parallel lines, we need a small but focussed effort to urge white liberals to see their critical need for anti-racist action. "Support the Black Leaders Who Have Supported You" is too long and goofy, but might express the idea. </div><div><br></div><div>I was confused, by the way, and others may be. Dara, did you write the whole piece below, or were you introducing someone else's piece? Just for attribution if I pass it on...</div><div><br></div><div>In solidarity</div><div><br></div><div>Larry</div><div><br></div><div><br><div><div><div>On Sep 6, 2009, at 11:16 AM, Dara Silverman wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite">Hey All,<br><br>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. <br><br>I haven't worked with Van closely, but I've heard about him for years, and we travel in similar circles.  <br> <br>This website highlights ways to support him individually- <a href="http://standwithvan.com/">http://standwithvan.com/</a><br><br>I'm more interested in the systemic questions, especially what it raises for white people highlighted by my colleague Ludovic Blain below.  <br> <br>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?<br><br>Percolating,<br><br>dara silverman<br><br><br><div class="note_header"> <div class="note_title_share clearfix"> <div class="note_title"><span>Can white liberals keep their eye on the prize when racism comes a knockin?</span></div><div class="byline"> 9/6/09 at 2:42am<br><br></div></div></div> <div class="note_content text_align_ltr direction_ltr clearfix"> <div>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.'<br> <br> 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.<br> <br> 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.<br> <br> 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.<br> <br> 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.<br> <br> 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?<br> <br> 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.<br> <br> 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.<br> <br> 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.<br> <br> And the world and it's humans of all races can't take too many more failures.<br> <br> 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."</div></div><br> _______________________________________________<br>WAsummit mailing list<br><a href="mailto:WAsummit@lists.wacan.org">WAsummit@lists.wacan.org</a><br>http://lists.wacan.org/listinfo/wasummit<br></blockquote></div><br></div></div><br><br><div> <div><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Larry Yates</font></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Maurertown<span class="Apple-converted-space">  </span>VA</font></p> </div> </div><br></body></html>