[permaculture] racism 101 for white american permies
LINDARAY at att.net
LINDARAY at att.net
Tue Feb 26 17:43:13 EST 2008
Wow. Sounds like a prejudiced writer there.
I also think it has nothing whatsoever to do with permaculture.
-------------- Original message from "rafter at liberationecology.org" <rafter at liberationecology.org>: --------------
> Thanks to Ben for calling that one.
>
> Briefly:
>
> Y'all know how there is a cutting edge, a sort of global best-
> practices conversation, about ecological design? And we are all
> pretty excited about it, and how it's called permaculture? And how
> it's not homogenous at all, but how even with all the differences of
> opinion that run though it, it's still identifiable and coherent and
> more-or-less the best thing going in terms of ecological design?
>
> Well, that sort of conversation exists for issues besides ecological
> design. There is also, for example, a conversation just like that,
> but about racial and ethnic relationships. This one is called anti-
> racism (though you might hear it called critical race theory, in
> certain circles, or some other variant.)
>
> In this conversation, racism is defined as "power plus prejudice." So
> it's not just about your attitudes, conscious or not, or even your
> actions - it's also defined by social context of those attitudes and
> actions.
>
> If this seems like an exciting, or confusing, or infuriating, idea, a
> great entry point to understand it better is the short,
> conversational, funny book by Tim Wise called "White Like Me."
>
> So, just a few short principles that come out of the anti-racism
> conversation:
>
> * No one is "colorblind," even if that were an appropriate response
> to a racially divided caste society - which it ain't.
> * Unconscious prejudice affects our experience of the world, all of
> us - and it is measurable:
> see for yourself at https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/
> * Explaining one's racially charged remarks as reason, logic, or
> common sense doesn't make you not racist.
> * Having non-white genes in your heritage doesn't make you not racist
> - particularly if you are "read" as white in your public life.
> * Having non-white friends *definitely* doesn't make you not racist.
> * If you think you are racist, you're almost certainly right.
> * If you are white, and think you aren't racist, you are almost
> certainly wrong.
> * None of these things make white people not racist, or disprove the
> existence of white supremacy:
> * Listening to music by non-white artists
> * Getting pulled over by a non-white cop
> * Making white-people jokes
> * Seeking out spiritual guidance from non-white people
> * Claiming "logical self-interest" or variations on that theme
> * Being progressive, bohemian, radical, green, anti-authoritarian, etc.
> * Being poor, being a woman, being LGBTQ, being disabled, etc.
>
> Permaculture, as a movement, as a community that is trying hard to
> help save this big complex world we live in, will grow more effective
> and more powerful as we learn to learn from this other best-practices
> community.
>
> rafter t. sass
> The Liberation Ecology Project
> liberationecology.org
> 518-567-7407
> skype: raughter
>
>
>
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