Looking Through the Neighbor's Window

"Love was the first motion, and thence a concern arose to spend some time with the Indians, that I might feel and understand their life and the spirit they live in, if haply I might receive some instruction from them, or they might be in any degree helped forward by my following the leadings of truth among them; and as it pleased the Lord to make way for my going at a time when the troubles of war were increasing, and when, by reason of much wet weather, travelling was more difficult than usual at that season, I looked upon is as a more favourable opportunity to season my mind, and to bring me into a nearer sympathy with them." -- John Woolman

"Broken Window" by Brad Smith

We know our families are not perfect. We do our best. Sometimes we try in earnest to solve some of the problems that weigh on our joy. Sometimes we just keep pushing through without looking at our problems. But looking at the problems our neighbors face, the solutions come into focus. And sometimes, if we pay attention, the window glass reflects back on our own world. And if the window glass does reflect back on our world, and if we do pay attention, it seasons our minds.

Maybe that's why, when people who have the same problems come together for support, they make more progress in solving their own problems. Perspective comes more easily when we connect with others. Negative self judgements become less harsh.

Day 6 of my personal #Woolmans14DayJusticeChallenge looks through our neighbor's window, as Joseph Harker, an African British editor for the Guardian, challenges his British readers to learn about how racism takes root. In the article, Harker is not looking directly at racism against people of African ancestry in Britain. The cases he cites do not involve people of African ancestry. He's looking through a neighbor's window.  Read "This is how racism takes root". The article is from July 2012.

Harker focuses on the process of racism taking root, and in doing so, he hits on three key tendencies of people who drew privilege in their birth lottery:

• Blame the Culture/Religion of the Criminal -- Harker notes the different reactions from native British to the arrests of  British men who preyed on vulnerable girls. People were much more interested in discussing the crimes of British men with other than British ancestry. When the predators were of non-British ancestry, many attempted to find the seeds of the crimes in culture and religion that are not traditionally British. When the predators were of British ancestry, that method of examination was a non-starter. And so the story of the arrests of the native British men went silent.
• Blame the Culture/Religion of the Victim -- Harker also talks about the importance of the ancestry of the victims. If the victims are of native British ancestry, they are simply victims.  If the victims are of other ancestry, then the problem may be found in the culture or religion of the victim.
• Look for spokespeople to explain/defend the other culture/religion -- Ask people who share ancestry with either the criminal or the victim to either face the fact of the flaws in their culture/religion or defend their culture/religion.

On the third point, Harker writes: "Imagine if, after Anders Breivik's carnage in Norway last year, which he claimed to be in defence of the Christian world, British people were repeatedly asked whether they supported him? Lumped together in the same white religious group as the killer and constantly told they must renounce him, or explain why we should believe that their type of Christianity – even if they were non-believers – is different from his. "It's nothing to do with me", most people would say. But somehow that answer was never good enough when given by Muslims over al-Qaida. And this hectoring was self-defeating because it caused only greater alienation and resentment towards the west and, in particular, its foreign policies."

Harker's piece is about racism in Britain. But it all applies to racism in the US. In the case of Michael Brown, an eighteen-year-old African American, unarmed man, who was shot and killed, his hands in the air, surrendering to the European American police officer who was shooting at him, many European Americans laid blame squarely on Michael Brown. Many European Americans sympathized with the "poor cop" who killed Michael Brown. People who believed the killing to be a senseless, racially motivated execution by a cop who was frustrated by his own lot in life needed to defend African American culture in the US. This is what people in other countries see when they look through our window.

Drawing Parallels

"By the breaking in of enraged merciless armies, flourishing countries have been laid waste, great numbers of people have perished in a short time, and many more have been pressed with poverty and grief." --John Woolman

I'm on Day 5 of my personal #Woolman14DayJusticeChallenge. My first four posts have been on Facebook, where I shared and commented on these articles:

• Day 1: Commentary: Time for a shift in state’s Department of Juvenile Justice
• Day 2: Three Years Old, Black and Suspended
• Day 3: Moving The Race Conversation Forward
• Day 4: Navajo Kindergartner Sent Home from School, Ordered to Cut His Hair

Day 5 is on the blog because I have a lot to say! Here is the article: Flying Out of Our Cages. As I planned my comments on Day 5, I was conscious of conflicts that were coming up for me. First, this article is about injustice in Palestine, and I'm not well educated about injustice in Palestine. But from what I do know, the dynamics feel very familiar. Next, because the conflict is so polarized, I feel an awareness that if I express sympathy for the plight of the Palestinians, I may offend some -- not just Israelis, but some of my Jewish American friends. I don't really know! We never talk about it! Sound familiar?  It's like, when I talk about the tragic killing of Michael Brown, some privileged folks jump to the defense of the European American police officer who shot and killed him. I never really know who will take a particular position, and I am frequently surprised. I don't know who I might offend with this post. But on Day 5, I'm drawing parallels.

So, do I risk offending people by speaking out on a topic on which I am not well educated? My answer is yes. I may say some uneducated things, and I may offend some people, but I will learn in the process, others may learn along with me, and that is progress. I want progress.

As I read this article, Flying Out of Our Cages by Palestinian psychiatrist Samah Jabr, the information felt familiar. The Palestinian men who she writes about are responding to their oppression in the same ways some African American men respond to oppression in the US. Of course! We're all humans. If our draw in life is oppression, we respond to that oppression in similar ways. If our draw in life is privilege, we respond to that privilege in similar ways. Similar dynamics are set up between the privileged and the oppressed. Similar arguments are made by individuals in the groups. The privileged dictate the dominant framing of the story. (Read "Who's afraid of a map? Palestine bus ads spark debate in Vancouver" for more on this topic. The article is the source for the map, above.) The oppressed dictate the fringe framing of the story. Privileged people who want to live with as little psychic pain as possible will stay within the confines of the dominant frame. Life is just easier there. Oppressed people can only live within the privileged frame through extreme contortions of their identities. So it doesn't happen very often.

In Israel and Palestine, Israelis are the privileged, and Palestinians are the oppressed. Israelis dictate the dominate framing of the discussion. Palestinians dictate the fringe framing of the discussion. Life is easier for Israelis who stay within the dominant framing of the discussion just as life is easier for European Americans who stay within the dominant framing of race issues in the US. Dominant framing of the issues in Palestine blames the Palestinians just as dominant framing of race issues in the US blames African Americans. You can't count on finding the truth in the dominant framing of issues because it is framed to benefit the privileged.

Drawing parallels can help people of privilege find the truth. It's not easy to do.

Remember Them: A Monument by Mario Chiodo in Fox Square, Oakland

I find that to be a fool as to worldly wisdom, and to commit my cause to God, not fearing to offend men, who take offence at the simplicity of truth, is the only way to remain unmoved at the sentiments of others. --John Woolman

Welcome to our new breakfast hangout! Leaving Palo Alto meant leaving our old favorite breakfast hangout, 3G's Cafe. Now we bring our breakfast with us and enjoy it at Fox Square. I've been experiencing the powerful monument, Remember Them, by Mario Chiodo. This morning, as I photographed the sculpture, a man approached me to ask me which was my favorite. We got talking, and then he came over to sit with Greg and me, and we talked about great leaders for justice throughout history. How perfect.

I've been in a heated exchange recently with someone who worries that I may be raising my daughter to have a "victim mentality". When I hear people express thoughts like that, it's like a hard, painful pinch. "Victim mentality" is stored in my brain as coded language to express the belief that the problems African Americans face in this country is largely due to poor attitudes. If they weren't so angry, if they weren't so resentful, if they just tried a little bit harder, the problem of racism would go away. A friend, just yesterday, frustrated by the "victim mentality" comment that I told her about, said to me, (I'm paraphrasing) "I wish white people could spend just one day with brown skin. Just one day." Then this morning I noted Abraham Lincoln's quote: "Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to have it tried on him personally." If you don't personally experience the struggles of racial injustice, you can't ever fully understand. But you can move toward understanding. That's the main point of the Woolman 14 Day Justice Challenge: Read about injustice and share about it with others to move toward understanding. Then commit to speaking out against racial injustice without fearing to offend.

I expect the Woolman 14 Day Justice Challenge to remain always at the heart of A Woolman's Journey. Those courageous folks who complete the challenge will get permanent recognition here on the blog. (Of course you can remain anonymous if you choose.)

Remember the challenge: For fourteen days, read an article about injustice and post it to social media with an honest comment. Tag your post with #Woolman14DayJusticeChallenge.

If you are interested in my journey to speak my truth about racial injustice, please become a follower of the blog, A Woolman's Journey.

Visit www.remember-them.org to learn more about the monument and the artist.

Inaugural Post: The Woolman Fourteen Day Justice Challenge

"I had fresh confirmation that acting contrary to present outward interest, from a motive of Divine love and in regard to truth and righteousness, and thereby incurring the resentments of people, opens the way to a treasure better than silver, and to a friendship exceeding the friendship of men." John Woolman, 1774

John Woolman is my hero. At a time when Quaker slave ownership was common in the soon-to-be United States, he traveled all over the colonies to Quaker homes and Quaker meetings to preach his passionate truth: Slave ownership is wrong, and it is in conflict with the core Quaker belief in human equality. His work was the the kindling for the Quaker abolitionist movement. He died of small pox before he saw the fruits of his labor.

He was also against animal cruelty and economic oppression. He lived his life according to his beliefs. He told people not what they wanted to hear, but what he believed to be true. It was not easy for him. But he spoke his mind during the day, and he writhed with psychic pain at night.

Asher Woolman, a Quaker who once posted a notice in hopes of finding his runaway slave, was my 5th great grandfather. John Woolman was Asher's older brother. John Woolman is my hero.

That was all a long time ago. Today, Quakers still hold equality as a core value, and so do most people. Back then, it was hard for Quaker slave owners to take a hard look at themselves and say, "Slave ownership goes against my core principles, and therefore I will stop owning slaves." Today, it is hard for privileged European Americans to take a hard look at themselves and say, "Fostering an unjust system in the US goes against my core principles, and therefore I will stop fostering an unjust system."

The system in the US is mostly just for European Americans, but it is not just for African Americans. Too many European Americans fail to take a hard look at that fact. Too many European Americans gain a sense of superiority from their superior position in society, and instead of acknowledging the injustice in their superior status, they justify their superior status. They trick themselves. That, right there, is why injustice thrives in the US.

And so, a challenge! The Woolman Fourteen Day Justice Challenge. Your challenge is to learn about injustice over the next fourteen days. Each day for fourteen days, read an article about injustice and post it to social media with an honest comment. Tag your post with #Woolman14DayJusticeChallenge. You may incur resentments of people, but you will open "the way to a treasure better than silver."

Where to find the articles? Here are some suggestions:

• The Root
• Southern Poverty Law Center
• The Center for Racial Justice Innovation
• Color of Change

One article every day for fourteen days. Post the article to social media. Make an honest comment. Tag your post with #Woolman14DayJusticeChallenge. You can do this! <3