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:
