Page 12 - RACE HEALER Mag Volume 1
P. 12

Why Focus on Racism?



                                                                 By:  Rita Starr


          Of all the institutionalized prejudices, racism, though complex, is   Exploring why we do what we do is part of rendering justice. In my
          relatively simple to take apart in and easy to assist individuals in   forty years of educating others to overcome racism, helping people
          recognizing its institutional nature. Once understood, people are    understand why they participate in racism, either as a member of the
          empowered  to  strategically  work  for  personal  and  institutional   dominate group or its target, opens a lot of doors for change.
          change.

          Examining the racism aimed at darker skin people, such as those      The Impact of Triggers




          of  African  heritage,  is  an  excellent  template  for  understanding
          other forms of oppression not only in the United States but other    One of the fascinating things about taking a stand for justice is that
          nations as well. And as an individual gains understanding of the     it  helps  people  identify  blocks  to  their  own  personal  liberation.
          institutional nature of racism, they are prepared to generalize their   When people explore what interferes with their ability to stand for
          new knowledge and actions to other forms of oppression.              justice, they often identify specific fears.

                                                                               On further exploration, they discover that what they fear most has
                                                                               al-  ready  happened  in  actuality  or  symbolically.  Such  fears  are
                                                                               embedded in the individual’s emotional triggers. Educating people
                                                                               to address such triggers is helpful in creating allies who become
                                                                               more effective in working for long-term change.


                                                                               A  trigger  describes  the  process  in  which  an  individual  finds  the
                                                                               current situation similar enough to a past distressing situation that it
                                                                               brings back the feelings, the thought patterns, and sometimes the
                                                                               actions connected to a painful incident. These triggers can interfere
                                                                               with how we respond to situations that arise in our lives.

                                                                               When  we  have  triggers  around  authority  figures,  we  may  re-
                                                                               experience strong feelings of powerlessness as we try to stand for
                                                                               justice, especially when the trigger is connected to real or perceived
                                                                               injustices experienced  as  a  child.  A  trigger  can  block  flexible
          My name is Rita Starr. I’m a founder of Healing Our Nation, which
          is dedicated to creating a national network for overcoming racism.   thinking and impede objectivity when addressing racism and other
          The past four decades of my life have been devoted to discovering    forms of discrimination. Triggers impact people from all walks of
          what it will take to help others understand racism and to motivated   life,  including  members  of  a  dominant  group  that  promote
          them  to  strategically  work  for  change.  As  a  result,  I  have   oppression toward the targeted group.
          developed  educational  pro-  grams that can transform the office
          bigot into a proponent of diversity in the work place. They provide
          the training and leadership needed to reach across our nation and
          move people from describing racism to strategical- ly working for
          change.

          Discovering how prejudices are acquired, how some prejudices
          become  institutionalized  to  foster  societal  and  economic
          oppression, and how targeted groups can internalize their group’s
          oppression  are  major  steps  to  empowering  others.  Placing
          emphasis on how people are conditioned to participate in racism
          was crucial to creating allies for lasting change. And as Mahatma
          Gandhi said so well:


             “My experience has shown me that we win justice quickest
                      by rendering justice to the other party.”
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