The Central Phoenix • Inez Casiano NOW participated in the YWCA national Stand Against Racism on Saturday, May 19 with a facilitated discussion at Changing Hands, Phoenix. The 15 participants ranged from their 20s to their 70s in age, one-third were men, and nearly half were people of color. We learned about each other and shared our personal experiences with racism. In one exercise, we were asked to write a 6 word definition of racism. The quality of the responses was striking:

  • Blacks and women work twice as hard
  • we all must recognize, to change
  • racism- destructive blight on our planet
  • relearn history to understand the present
  • change guilt to action for justice
  • “race” is racism
  • racism is taught, we can unlearn
  • money and status measure human value
  • chicano literature students called me Heidi
  • not accepting someone who is different
  • racism – hatred, skin color or religion
  • the problem is racism, it’s not rocket science
  • restrain my life by others thoughts
  • fear of the other

Jana Granillo, facilitator 

We finished with a discussion of what specific actions we could take from volunteering to be on local boards and commissions to working on a campaign, running for an office, voting, joining a local group working for change, and educating ourselves and others.

For more information and links to the presentation: