‘It’s good to know who’s on the way and who’s in the way,’ Call to Action speaker says

By DENNIS CODAY
Milwaukee, Wis.

Speaking about Call to Action’s efforts to become an antiracist organization, to which this year’s national convention was dedicated, co-president Patty Hawk told delegates that “this weekend will be another step on a healing, loving, energizing, thought-provoking, transformational journey.”

Co-president Paul Scarbrough said, “This weekend is a tangible sign of the efforts of Call to Action’s Anti-Racism Team,” which along with the reform group’s executive officers and board had recently completed extensive antiracism training.

But there was some question about whether the membership was fully behind this initiative. Attendance at this year’s convention was down by about a third from previous years. Many attributed this to the convention theme, “From Racism to Reconciliation: Church Beyond Power and Privilege.”

Call to Action met in Milwaukee, Nov. 2-4. About 2,000 people attended and most of its 52 chapters were represented.

People look forward to coming to the Call to Action conference to meet people of like mind, to let down their hair and to celebrate, said Tom Honore, leader of Call to Action’s Anti-Racism Team. When they talk about their experiences in church, there is some pain involved, “but not the kind of personal pain that is required to deal with racism,” he said.

“People intuitively know that if you invite them to come and deal with racism, that is not going to be a totally good feeling session,” Honore said, and that could be a factor in the lower attendance figures.

Lower attendance might be a good thing, said plenary speaker Eddie Moore, Jr., director of diversity for the Bush School in Seattle, Wash., and founder of the White Privilege Conferences. “It’s OK because it will allow us to find out who is in the way and who is on the way,” Moore told the convention Saturday morning.

He also said his job was to challenge the group further. “You’re going to end racism?” he asked. “This system that is such a huge engine of benefits, that benefits you so much – your going to end it?”

“I don’t believe you,” said Moore, who was born and raised in Florida. “I came out of a segregated environment. … I was taught that you would never ever fight for anything that would benefit me. You are going to have to demonstrate that you have done something,” Moore said.

“I’m not convinced that you’re saying so will make it so,” Moore said.

He urged the group to take daily actions to end racism. He used a baking analogy to describe the type of actions he was proposing. He said people who have never baked before shouldn’t try making a seven layer wedding cake as a first project. He suggested people start baking with frozen cookie dough.

Then he made these suggestions:

• Read some stuff and watch some videos. Education he said was a first step. To understand racism as structural, as inherent in American institutions, requires understanding that the founding fathers intended it this way, he said. They excluded black people from the Constitution; they planned the elimination of Native Americans to get their land; they confiscated the property of Asian-Americans and locked them into camps.
  “The founding fathers said, ‘This is world we want to create,’” Moore said. To understand this and the implications of this, he said requires education.
• Be a part of something, join a group, seek out a community. “Be with folks who are serious about getting business done,” he said.
• Do something. Participate. Moore advised people to join marches, sign petitions and attend meetings. Get out there and let others known how you feel, he said. “The best friend of hatred is silence.”

Moore confessed that he is not sure whether racism can really be eradicated. In fact, he said, we have “to do this work with the understanding that these [racist structures] may never go away.”

But that does not absolve us from working to end it, he said.

People often ask him if he is optimistic or pessimistic about ending racism, Moore said. “I tell people I am ‘pisstimistic.’ My optimism is supported by action.”