In general the goals of RER Anti-Racism training workshops are:
Raise awareness about racism and how it affects our interactions with each other.
Deepen understanding about why and how racism is perpetuated by institutions.
Learn about action steps that can be taken to help eliminate racism.
Please see below for examples of reflections of people who participated in a Lafayette RER Community Training.
Definition of Some Commonly Used Terms
Prejudice: When
someone is being pre-judged or discriminated against based on
incomplete or inaccurate knowledge. Prejudice thinking is frequently
based on stereotypes.
Race/Ethnicity: People who can be grouped on the basis of distinctive cultural traits or ancestry.
Racism: Any
attitude, action or institutional structure that systematically treats
people or a group of people as though they were lesser because of their
race/ethnicity. For example, a sales person or waitress who ignores a
person of color waiting to be served and a policeman who is more brutal
to people of color than to white people.
Institutions: Relatively
stable social and economic arrangements and practices through which
collective actions are taken. Examples of institutions are government,
business, unions, schools, churches, courts, police, restaurants,
recreation centers, stores, churches, restaurants, etc.
Institutional Racism: When
practices of an institution benefit the people in power and withhold
rights from others based on their race or ethnicity. Examples of
institutional racism would be when businesses are allowed to dump toxic
waste in neighborhoods of color, judges sentence people of color more
harshly than white people, and schools do not accept qualified student
of color.
Lafayette Reading to End Racism Training October 16, 2004
Participant Reflections
I would love to see this training at the schools: Parent Teacher Association, School Improvement Team, Parent Volunteers, and Teachers. I would be happy to help out.
The workshop has served as a vital continuation of the awareness work that I began earlier this year. Since my work has been almost exclusively limited to the classroom setting, I am glad to have had this chance to share my story with and hear stories from a much more diverse group, and a more inclusive sample of the greater population outside of my university setting. As a new member of student government, and a new member of the group, Allies in Action, I’ll be able to share what I’ve gleaned from this workshop with the student community. Thanks for all of your time and energy guys!
Thank You! It takes time, energy, compassion etc. to put on these kinds of trainings and I appreciate your efforts. I would like to be much more involved and help integrate this in and throughout the education system in all schools K-12! As a reader and a teacher are there readings not during the school day? I would like to provide my services as an “educator” to help improve/expand the RER program. Let me know what I can do!
Thank you for your courage to engage in this wok on a regular basis. There was great balance between introduction of terminology and group process/discussion. Also, a good balance between small and large group work. I would have like to focus more on what an ally is and how to be one.
I enjoyed the training. It made me realize that there are many people who are part of the struggle. I also felt anger towards some of the comments and realized how that is the only way we can know what needs to be changed. Thank you for all your work. I want to make a change and now know how to approach things differently.
I really appreciated taking time out of a busy schedule to stop and think about something so important. Time to be more intentional about moving forward. You three did a beautiful job. I feel like there should be a part two and part three to this training. Be Well!
Praise to you for your effort and all your time, for your open heart and your willingness to reach out. Maybe it would be a good idea to offer some informal circles/discussion groups here in Lafayette – maybe even here at the library – to build more community around these issues.
Very powerful day. Extremely thought provoking. You created a safe environment and did what you could to hear all voices and checked to be sure everyone was okay. The style and order of the day was good and I liked the way you dealt with the issue of the reporter. I leave with the ability to think about things differently. I learned so much from everyone. What really shocked me was I learned something from someone whom I thought I would get the least from. This opened my thinking. Thank you.
It was interesting to hear different stories and viewpoints!
Thank you very much for the training. It was very educating. Probably the most interesting part for me was the panel and hearing people’s personal stories.
I think it was very well organized and I can really feel the work and care behind this day. Thank you. I wanted to extend a little bit the discussion that focused only on Chicanos, Mexicanos, Latinos and Hispaniccs. I was interested in discussing internalized oppression and stereotypes and others. I remember the quote Daniel Read about changing systems of oppression to evoke a different behavior in people and I think change depends on systems as much as in personal responsibility, work with education for example. It is necessary to address individual and collective consciousness as well as the internal and external aspects of racism. This is an idea that comes from trying to solve problems as a whole rather than from only specific angles. It is called integral theory and you can find it in Ken Wilber’s books, if you interested. Finally, I learned A LOT. Thank you for all your work!
For more information contact Daniel Escalante, co-founder, Reading to End Racism 720-987-8148 phone ifnot@mac.com daniel-escalante.com
