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Tangled Threads and Cultural Beliefs that Damage the Quilt of Humanity
Part of the process of repairing the quilt of humanity involves mending the damage caused by such things as racism, sexism, heterosexism and classism, to name just a few. To be effective in this mending process, we need to recognize that the threads of races, gender, sexual orientation, and class in particular are tangled up together in such a way that they can only be untangled and repaired together. In her book, where we stand: Class Matters,bell hooks speaks directly about this:
“To challenge racism or sexism without linking [my italics] these systems to economic structures of exploitation and our collective participation in the upholding and maintenance of such structures, however marginal that engagement may be, is ultimately to betray a vision of justice for all.” (p. 161)
Color Blind?
So often we hear people claiming to be “color blind” as a way to indicate that they hold no prejudices based on race. Their rationale appears to be that if you don’t notice a difference, it can no longer have a negative impact. What they fail to realize is that when we fail to “notice” differences, there are negative consequences at three levels – the individual, the cultural and the systemic.
At the systemic level, when power differences and distribution of resources and equity are systemically based on race, not noticing race contributes to the continuation of these ongoing inequities. It is precisely the invisibility of these systemic differences that make them so invidious and dangerous. In the case of power inequities, therefore, the danger is not in “seeing” and “noticing” differences but in failing to see the inequities that systemically result from them.
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Who Worries About What? – The Impact of Race
My ex-husband is Caribbean-American of African descent (from Barbados) so even though I am white, I know what it is like to raise two children of color. My almost twenty one year old son Read more
Story Telling: A Space for Race
Recently, I did a book reading at Brownstone Books in Brooklyn, NY of my book, Repairing the Quilt of Humanity: A Metaphor for Healing and Reparation. The book uses Read more
The Power of Stories to Build Connections and Create Change
In the book, The Lemon Tree: An Arab, A Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East, Sandy Tolan artfully tells the story of two individuals who grew up with dramatically different cultural “stories.”
Bashir Khairi, a Palestinian man, was six years old in 1948, when his family was expelled from the home his father built by Jewish Zionists trying to create a “national the Jewish people.” When the Israeli soldiers approached al-Ramla, the Khairi family’s village, the Arab civilian defenders were no match for the Israeli army. Read more
Alice Walker’s Powerful Story
Last month, Alice Walker published an open letter, Lest We Forget: An Open Letter to My Sisters Who Are Brave, about why she is supporting Barack Obama for president. It is a perfect example of the power of stories to influence in ways that “facts” and “logic” cannot. Stories provide the context that is crucial to understanding another’s perspective. Read more
Sarah Palin and the Hypocrisy of the Republican Party
I am deeply troubled by the blatant hypocrisy of the Republican Party. Shortly after Sarah Palin was selected as the Republican Party’s vice presidential candidate, it turns out that her 17-year old daughter is pregnant out of wedlock. As soon as Palin announces that her daughter will be keeping the child and marrying the father (clearly a shot-gun wedding), Palin is held up as a prime example of “family values” in action.
Ironically, none of the Republicans appear to notice that Palin’s staunch stance against sex education doesn’t appear to have kept her own daughter from engaging in premarital sex. Read more
Interconnections: Injuries at the Systemic Level
Table of contents for Injury, Reparation, and Realignment Series
- Interconnections: Injuries and Healing at the Micro Level
- Interconnections: Injuries at the National and Global Level
- Interconnections: Injuries at the Systemic Level
In Part 1 of the Interconnections: Injury, Reparation, and Realignment Series, I wrote about the way physical injury to one part of the body can result in misalignment and injury to other parts of the body resulting in the need to repair more than simply the original injury.
Looking at the national level, we as a nation have a great deal of damage that continues to need to be repaired despite the amelioration of the original problem. A prime example is the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow laws and the damage that Read more
The Inauguration: A Day of Pride
I can’t say enough about yesterday’s inauguration. Ever since the election, I have felt proud to be white in America for the first time ever. I have been amazed and overjoyed at how many Americans who are white came out to support and elect President Obama. It’s as if white people in this country came to our senses. Read more
Is There a Doctor in the House?
I just saw Michael Moore’s film, Sicko. Talk about a depressing film. But, there was a silver lining. For those of you who haven’t seen the film, it explores the failure of the U.S. HMO medical system. Moore demonstrates that those of us who are fortunate enough to have health care can end up in the same boat as those who have none. Read more
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For information about Deb's book, The Quilt of Humanity: A Metaphor for Healing and Reparation, click here