[Choir] my comment this morning

[Paula A.Gills]

I think it would be helpful to settle on very clear and generally accepted definitions of the terms "white privilege", "white supremacy", "white supremacist", "racism", "racist" (both noun and adjective), "class", "class privilege", and so on. These all mean too many things to too many people. There may need to be a generally accepted meaning of each before real dialogue can take place. As well, we have to acknowledge the power of words--I have experienced many who bristle at the word supremacy but agree with the word privilege in this context. One could argue that the former is more an acquired belief, and the latter more an intrinsic quality of being born with a certain skin color ( which many are finding is more complicated to determine than they thought with the arrival of internet DNA sites!). That we are being honest in talking about our experiences is important. It is the beginning of understanding, and understanding is the beginning of change. I hope more of us will be willing to offer our thoughts. 

----- Original Message -----

From: "Steve Finner via Choir" <choir at unitarianchurchofmontpelier.org> 
To: "Richard Riley" <rcrileymusic at gmail.com>, "Choir UCM" <choir at unitarianchurchofmontpelier.org> 
Sent: Sunday, February 18, 2018 12:33:08 PM 
Subject: Re: [Choir] my comment this morning 

These are very difficult issues and I value your comments. Having lived in a romantic relationship with a black woman for a few years and parented her son, and doing so while being one of the very few white people living in a black neighborhood, I have some feeling similar to yours and some different. That woman is now my closest friend and you have met her. At the same time I am also aware of having white privilege, surely not of my own making, but something I can recognize and try to act in the most loving way possible towards all. That last sentence is clumsy but I hope my meeting is conveyed. 


Steve Finner 
8024795571 


-------- Original Message -------- 
Subject: [Choir] my comment this morning 
From: Richard Riley via Choir 
To: Choir UCM 
CC: 





I could tell that my comment about how "white supremacy" does NOT resonate with me made some of you uneasy. I'd like to explain why. I object to labels that are supposed to apply to all. 

I went to a Friends (Quaker) School in Baltimore from kindergarten through 12th grade. Three black girls were in my class for most of those years; I don't remember exactly which year they started, but it was somewhere in the 1st-6th grades. 

As fate would have it, all three were extremely intelligent and high achievers both academically and in a bunch of extra-curricular activities. I had quite a lot of contact with them, though it wasn't on the level of academic achievemnet. With that regular interaction I grew up thinking, narrow- mindedly , that blacks were 1) way smarter than I was, and 2) had a level discernment of what was worth spending time on that I really admired. 

Not all whites are as fortunate as I was, but I really object to labeling the entire white race as white supremacists. I was lucky to know three blacks (three blacks especially - I had contact with others) who were actually "supreme" to me in all things academic and in social refinement in the adolescent sense. 

But if all whites were not as fortunate as I was, there are some who are, and the self-flagellation "white supremacist" label really annoys me, as it RESTRICTS the possibility of the authentic relationships that could exist between blacks and whites based on frequent contact. 

The truth is that something on the order of 95% of Unitarians are white. That's a fact. But it's not a fact that all are white supremacists, and I don't find that applying and assigning labels, whether negative or positive, is much help in understanding others. 

Dick 






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