Lots of people get lost in how to help minorities. Particularly if your not a minority. Sympathy and emphatic gestures make someone feel better, rarely the minority though.
I will speak about LGBT prisoners as an example. When there was a history making moment that LGBT organizations could put their face on, they did. Then, they all left. They arrived, shook our hands and warmly told us they would not forget us anymore. Then they couldn't get out fast enough.
This same pattern holds for other minorities. Blacks get a few sympathetic that's to bad's, whenever another person of color gets murdered. Then rarely its the murderer who gets outraged attention, no, all that is reserved for those that are minorities and affected. Sad how the victims get villainized.
This same pattern holds for all of us. So for those of you who do want to help, what can you do?
Educate yourselves. If you want to know how racism is spread these days and what guise it operates in, read "Citizen: An American Lyric" by Claudia Rankine, or you can read about Trans struggles by reading "Redefining Realness" by Janet Mock. You can find out why so many LGBT people struggle with religion in "Does Jesus Really Love Me?" by Jeffrey Chu.
Get an actual understanding from those who have the talent of articulation. They are the PA systems for their communities, shouting and alerting, hoping that people like you will listen, finally. So listen. Once you have a real understanding that injustice IS happening, then you will have a much better idea how your gifts fit into the picture.
With Love
Jeff
I will speak about LGBT prisoners as an example. When there was a history making moment that LGBT organizations could put their face on, they did. Then, they all left. They arrived, shook our hands and warmly told us they would not forget us anymore. Then they couldn't get out fast enough.
This same pattern holds for other minorities. Blacks get a few sympathetic that's to bad's, whenever another person of color gets murdered. Then rarely its the murderer who gets outraged attention, no, all that is reserved for those that are minorities and affected. Sad how the victims get villainized.
This same pattern holds for all of us. So for those of you who do want to help, what can you do?
Educate yourselves. If you want to know how racism is spread these days and what guise it operates in, read "Citizen: An American Lyric" by Claudia Rankine, or you can read about Trans struggles by reading "Redefining Realness" by Janet Mock. You can find out why so many LGBT people struggle with religion in "Does Jesus Really Love Me?" by Jeffrey Chu.
Get an actual understanding from those who have the talent of articulation. They are the PA systems for their communities, shouting and alerting, hoping that people like you will listen, finally. So listen. Once you have a real understanding that injustice IS happening, then you will have a much better idea how your gifts fit into the picture.
With Love
Jeff
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