National Conference on Whiteness and White American Culture - November 1996
Return to Main Page
Participant Feedback
Date: Fri, 15 Nov 1996
From: Chrisanne Garrett
Subject: Thoughts on the Conference
Two days after returning from the conference, I was facilitating a
"lunch and learn" session on gender issues at an office of a major
utility here in the DC area. One of the activities I used was to divide
the group into four "teams," one all women, one all men, and two mixed.
I asked the teams to move to four flipcharts in the room and complete
four stems with ten ideas each. The stems were: Affirmative Action is
....., A Feminist is ....., White men are ....., and Sexual Harassment
is .... . As usually happens for me with audiences in corporations and
businesses, I was very disappointed and disturbed at the responses. For
example, the most positive thing the men could think of for one stem
was, "A Feminist is ugly." The responses about Affirmative Action were
truly depressing.
I came from the conference feeling very hopeful (as distinguished from
optimistic, thanks to the enlightenment on these terms from Don), but my
hope was quickly compromised as I returned to the real world. It occurs
to me that the wonderful ad campaign that Lowell has created is very
important. People are incredibly misinformed, miseducated, and misled.
At the conference, I met wonderful people who prove to me that it is
possible for people to be informed and educated. For a rare two days I
felt that I was HOME. For once, I did not feel like the wierd one --
the lone voice. I did not feel like I had to explain to anyone why I am
passionate about these issues and why I devote my life to the
eradication of injustice. I could "exhale" and just be me.
I also learned that it is possible for people to lead. I met 52
leaders, and am proud to now know white male leaders like Jeff, Todd,
and Daniel; white female leaders like Patti, Angela, and Arlene, black
male leaders like Lowell and Don, and black female leaders like Sharon
and Charley. I mention these because they are the ones with whom I had
the most contact -- not in any way to distinguish them from all the
other leaders.
I was tremendously moved by the group from U. Mass, Amherst. I crave
for that level of dialogue, and am highly impressed with the level of
skill and sophistication with which the students challenge each other,
support each other, agree and disagree with each other, and listen to
each other as they jointly explore very challenging and difficult
issues.
I look forward to the next conference -- I trust that it will become an
annual event. My thanks to all.
Chris Garrett
Date: Thu, 14 Nov 1996
To: whiteness@euroamerican.org
From: Sharon Elise
Subject: HATE CRIMES
I had a wonderful, stimulating experience at the conference last week. It
was particularly heartening to meet so many people who are committed to justice.
I returned to my campus, California State University at San Marcos (in
Northern San Diego County) on Monday. There, I found out from "hall talk"
that I had become the lastest victim of hate crimes on campus. Apparently,
the previous Monday (the fourth of NOv.), a police officer discovered my
name wrapped up in a swastika on a bathroom wall--along with a threat.
However, neither I nor my family members were notified by University
officials.
As you may recall from things I said at our conference, these are not new
events on my campus. And the late, inept responses of our administration
are not new either. I feel like a moving target, and I feel terrorized. I
wish they had told me while I was with you all--while I am getting a lot of
sympathy here, there are few warriors ready for action, few posed for
proactive agendas. And among our students, what we see is a major back lash
going on. The students are "tired of hearing about race" and "tired of
having race shoved down [their] throats." They are angry about the
teach-in we held late last month on "Institutional Racism and Hate Crimes."
They feel attacked when people of color tell them what we are experiencing.
To speak about racism is to attack whites, they think.
I am at a loss for strategies beyond daily survival. I get up, go out, and
look over my shoulder. I have had to change the way I am, but I see no
institutional changes. What the hell strategies/tactics are we going to
come up with to combat what appears to be a major, rapid return to the past?
From Jeff Hitchcock:
There is no "official" version of what happened at the conference. Just individual
stories and experiences. The conference took responsibility for itself, and allowed
me to attend as one of the 52 participants. That was my greatest joy. In the
forthcoming weeks, the Center for Study will make this site available to participants
as a means for bringing their stories, however they may please, to a broader public.
Conference participants, thank you. It was only a theory, and some thought it a
dubious one, that a mostly white but multiracial group of fifty people could assemble
and remain focused on a discussion of whiteness over two days. For those whose
beliefs rested on the feeling this could never have happened, it's time to reconsider.
Because it has.
Jeff Hitchcock
1996 conference participant
Date: 1/11/97 9:15 AM
To: 1996 conference participants
From: Center for Study
Re: Feedback on conference
Dear Conference Participant:
We are looking for feedback on our (yours and ours) recent whiteness conference.
Below is a set of questions we'd like you to answer. If you prefer, simply send us
your impressions in free form.
The conference still continues to generate interest among people who did not attend.
We would like to bring the experience of participants before a larger public. We'll
list your replies verbatim (no editing) on the www.euroamerican.org web site
beginning in February.
Also, those people who respond in the next week (by Friday, Jan. 17 or
thereabouts) will help us by giving us material upon which to draw for a story on the
conference in the Winter Quarterly Newsletter (much appreciated).
Finally, we will use your responses to help in the planning of the 1997 conference.
Please do not send responses to this message that you don't want us to publish in
the newsletter or on the web site. If you have any private concerns, a separate
message is fine.
So..... please help us keep the process moving forward, hit the reply button,
and send us your impressions.
Respectfully yours,
Jeff Hitchcock & Charley Flint
=======================================================================
Q U E S T I O N S *** Q U E S T I O N S *** Q U E S T I O N S
=======================================================================
Why did you come?
What did you expect?
What were some positive things that happened? Some negative things?
Did you learn or experience anything new?
Did the conference meet your expectations?
Which workshops and discussions did you attend, and how did you feel about them?
How did you feel about other participants you met?
Were the organizational and logistical features of the conference site and program
managed in a satisfactory way?
How did it feel to return home after the conference experience?
Was the conference worthwhile? Should another one be held in 1997?
Date: Fri, 24 Jan 1997
To: Center for Study
From: John Bilal
Subject: Re: Feedback on conference
>Why did you come?
To see what white people had planned to help berid the world of White Supremacy.
>
>What did you expect?
Nothing at all.
>
>What were some positive things that happened? Some negative things?
I saw people talking about the system of White Supremacy. I saw some people
who appeared sincere, and some people who didn't. I saw students who were
being allowed to express themselves vigorously on the topic of racism/white
supremacy, I fear for them, especially the white students.
>
>Did you learn or experience anything new?
Yes. I learned that White Supremacy still is the baddest thing on the block
and that some White people are expressing a fear of going up against that
Juggernaut.
>
>Did the conference meet your expectations?
Yes, because I had none.
>
>Which workshops and discussions did you attend, and how did you feel about
them?
Harry Brod's conference, it was very confusing and didn't teach me much.
Harry was very very vague. My time would have been better spent elsewhere.
I found the late night, informal talk to be the most revealing. That should
be a part of the conference this year too. The session with the students
was by far the best thing I witnessed. My conversations with them were
constructive too.
>
>How did you feel about other participants you met?
Whoa! There were quite a few weren't there. Well, I thought the sexual
preference of the participants was very obvious. Many spoke openly about
being gay. Several of the white participants were involved/married with
non-white people. I thought that this was interesting. Is this the impetus
to end racism? Because of conflict within so-called relationships between
black people and white people? I don't know. The conference would say,
sexual activity between white people and black people has a lot to do with
motivating white people to DO something about racism/white supremacy. The
problem is ARE THEY DOING ANYTHING AT ALL? I don't think so. I suspect its
about another TRICK. I also thought that it was interesting that the
representation was ACADEMIA. I guess its to be expected for we all met over
the internet! I guess some people don't either have the resources for the
internet or the resources to travel to NJ.
>
>Were the organizational and logistical features of the conference site and
>program managed in a satisfactory way?
Yes.
>
>How did it feel to return home after the conference experience?
Typical. No different than usual, like coming home from work.
>
>Was the conference worthwhile? Should another one be held in 1997?
Yes, I think it was worth the effort. I would come again.
>
>
>
John S. Bilal II VOR 1/0 Mechanical Supervisor
TQM + TQR = Peace and Productivity in the Workplace!
GFSC Phone: 301-286-6440
Pager: 301-454-2851
Fax: 301-286-0231
E-Mail Hm: talkpeac@pop.erols.com
E-Mail Wk: jbilal@pop200.gsfc.nasa.gov
Date: Fri, 21 Mar 1997
From: Daniel Hall
(Reprinted by permission from the whitness listserv)
"Before the conference, which for me was one anti-racist event of three events I
attended on an east coast trip, I was intenetting like crazy. I had been reading
for years, talking with friends, and internetting, all about what I would like to
do. At the conference and afterwards I was tremendously energized, but not in the
direction of internetting, reading and academia. I realized yet again that I
should shut up talking *about* what I wanted to do, and go ahead and do it.
"I left academia 14 years ago because I finally learned that argument is not a means
of discovering truth. It can be a means of testing it. But what I want to do, and
have talked of wanting to do, is reveal my experience of oppression from the
oppressor's position (white, male, upper-class, wealthy, Protestant Christian).
This revealing isn't most easily done through argument (defining terms, etc.,
etc.), but perhaps better through fiction or poetry. I find telling stories and
then hearing the responses to those stories (which may not at first, on the
surface, appear to hang together logically) is the fastest and most powerful means
of revealing the truth of the existence and processes of white supremacy. Once
they are revealed, then argument becomes good and necessary.
"I went to the conference to meet like-minded people, and it was successful in that
far beyond what I had hoped. I had in fact prepared for disappointment, precisely
because this listserv had made me believe there were insurmountable disagreements
among us. What was and is not revealed on this listserv are the tremendous
commonalities, which seem to focus around our motivations for this work and the
craziness we feel in believing we're the only ones who see white supremacy all
around us. The stories. What I fed on at the conference were the stories.
"Consequently, I can no longer get so excited about the intellectualizing that I so
poured myself into previously. I have been spending the weeks since the conference
completing essays and monologues and fictional pieces, centered once again not only
on my need to tell white supremacist stories, but on the need to widen the
publication of those stories into the public eye, which for me means searching out
publication in other media than the internet. I now see this listserv as a place
to ask questions, seek out resources, as a place to cry out when things get too
much and as a reminder that I am not alone."
Yours,
Daniel
Return to top of this page
Return to Main Page