Combating Oppression Inside And Outside

It was then decided to host an open forum where 80 SOAW people came together as a multi-racial, multi-generational group for a wide-open discussion. Participants raised many problems such as arrogant leadership, favoritism toward those who had done SOA jail time, women of color saying they felt marginalized, people of color wanting respect for different communication styles, and frequent disagreement about SOAW's strict nonviolence guidelines. 

The forum had great impact. For the first time, it was not just the working group raising the issues. Suddenly there were way more people calling for support of the group's anti-racist and anti-oppression initiatives. Now called the Anti-Oppression and Accessibility Working Group, it has published educational reading materials bilingually along with programs in Braille, in large print, and sign language (ASL) at all major events. 

Anti-oppression work was a centerpiece and a priority of the November 2004 SOAW gathering, with the usual agenda modified to make time for its various activities. The first day featured training in resisting sexual assault. Emphasis was then placed on whites learning to understand white privilege and other aspects of white supremacy, no matter how uncomfortable it might be. 

With that goal, the program included showing the documentary The Color of Fear and then a discussion led by Darren Parker, a Black activist and intellectual from Philadelphia. At least 350 mostly white participants attended. 

Near the end of the discussion, an important and universal message came from Rev. Graylan Hagler, senior black minister at two Washington, DC churches, who gave a fiery speech blasting the failure of many churches to educate their congregations about horrors like the SOA and take a stand against the repressive forces that prevail today (including "Christian Supremacy"). Given the strong religious presence in the SOAW, why aren't church leaders doing more and what should be done to get them going? His message needs to be heard by churches everywhere.

Later came a paired presentation by this writer and Chris Crass, again to a primarily white audience., but smaller in number. After emphasizing that our goals were not what the "diversity industry" of corporate origin promotes, I offered a historical, systemic review of white supremacy and the militarism it has sustained as seen at the SOA. Then Chris Crass, a longtime white anti-racist trainer and Catalyst Project coordinator, stood on a chair and demonstrated vividly how white supremacy upholds white privilege. He placed his experience growing up with white privilege in a historical and institutional analysis and explained that while white people are structurally positioned to maintain their privilege, they also have a responsibility to end supremacy and join multi-racial movements to build a just society.  

None of the presentations drew signs of defensiveness from whites and some 20 people expressed appreciation after the second set. The smaller workshop seemed more productive in terms of interaction. 

People Of Color Caucus 

A t the end of the evening until almost midnight, some 40 people of color came together. There were twice as many women as men and participants' backgrounds included China, Korea, India, Kenya, Argentina, Ecuador, three U.S. Blacks, five or six Latinos mostly from Chicago, and a Jewish-Mexican. At least six to eight were undergraduate students. 

Topics they wanted to discuss included internalized racism, identity issues, coalition building, and relations between Puerto Ricans and Mexicans/Chicanos. Individual recommendations to the Working Group included:

• better outreach with more information to people of color about upcoming SOAW events including this gathering 
• better Spanish translation 
• having more grassroots Latin Americans come to speak about conditions in their country rather than U.S. visitors 
• scheduling more times for people of color to get together 
• a policy change that would mean "less of a we are saving them and more of a working together" 

One suggestion was to set up an Anti-Oppression People of Color Working Group to collaborate with organizations of color to close the SOA. 

Later a Latin American urged that the SOAW build closer relations with organizations in Latin America—let's not forget they are the primary victims of the SOA and imperialist oppression. Latinos in the U.S., he said, can be doing much more in that direction. We could, for example, be supporting efforts to pressure Latin American governments to stop sending anyone for training at the SOA, a step that Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez recently took. 

The weekend saw small but important steps forward in the Working Group's activity. You could feel a solid sense of commitment from dedicated white organizers, like Jackie Downing in the Bay Area, to mention only one person whose work sets a great example. 

Future work will move the struggle against internal oppression forward and bigger steps can be predicted. It won't be easy or quick. There are few models or blueprints for this work. There is a lot of commitment and some good analysis out there, but not a lot of tried and proven strategies for transforming organizations. Those advocating it, as in SOAW, remain a minority. More dialogue between groups trying to do this difficult but important work could be a big help. Darren Parker's comments (see box) make clear what are some of the other problems facing us all. But there is a new awareness among white activists in SOAW and other organizations across the country that the job must be done.