HomeMy WebLinkAbout092122 FW_ Race Amity
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From: Julia Cochrane
Sent: Wednesday, September 21, 2022 10:19:05 AM (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)
To: Heidi Eisenhour
Cc: Julia Cochrane
Subject: Race Amity
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Dear Heidi,
Locally there are people promoting a 1920s idea called Race Amity. I have done a little research into what they are about, and am pretty clear that this may have been forward thinking
in the early 20th century but has nothing to offer us today but a step back away from accountability and reconciliation.
The National Center for Race Amity is at https://raceamity.org/ <https://raceamity.org/> They have a Resources page here <https://raceamity.org/resources/> . In “Be The Change We
Seek In Race Relations” Discussion/Study Statement IX seems to make clear the center's perspective. And this ultimate statement is the one from the Bahai Advent of Divine Justice.
...for racial healing and unity among Blacks and Whites to advance, that whites “…make a supreme effort in their resolve to contribute their share in the solution to this problem, to
abandon once for all their usually inherent and at times subconscious sense of superiority, to correct their tendency towards a patronizing attitude to the members of the other race”
and that Blacks “… show by every means in their power, the warmth of their response, their readiness to forget the past, and their ability to wipe out every trace of suspicion that
may linger in their hearts and their minds.”
Paraphrased: "whites" should stop acting superior and patronizing, and "blacks" should be nice, forget the past (don't make white people feel guilty), and stop being suspicious.
I oppose any effort to have Jefferson County or the City of Port Townsend support an Amity Day Resolution. This is at best a naive and ineffective way of addressing inequality and racism,
and at worst a cynical attempt at shielding white people from any responsibility to address the systemic barriers that have been placed in front of people of color and other marginalized
groups.
Thank you, Julia
Julia Cochrane
willowtree@olypen.com <mailto:willowtree@olypen.com>
PO Box 1654
Port Townsend, WA 98368
(360) 821-1926 cell
“It is a particular academic arrogance to assume any discussion of feminist theory without examining our many differences, and without a significant input from poor women, Black and
Third World women, and lesbians… for the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house. They may allow us temporarily to beat him at his own game, but they will never enable
us to bring about genuine change. And this fact is only threatening to those women who still define the master's house as their only source of support.
Audre Lorde
The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House (pg. 110).