Maybe a 101 on racism is a misnomer, or even a mistatement of what we meant? Sorry about that. I never want to make you feel threatened, because you are a friend and you are someone I care about. Even if you were a stranger I would not want to make you feel that way!
I think you raise a good point. I think if we want to have intersectional discussions of feminism and racism we need to hope that our non-white members will feel comfortable talking about that issue at some point so we can shut up and listen. The same with trans issues or queer issues. I would never try to lead a discussion on those issues and I sure as hell don't want to put members on the spot because they fit a discussion topic. So we'll have to hope that we create an environment that fosters that kind of discussion. One of the reasons I would love to discuss the Ortega article with the group is that I hope it will eventually bring us to a place in which our members who are less privileged in whatever way will feel OK talking to the rest of us who are not. I know that is not a small thing. I know it won't happen without some hard work and education and conversation and LISTENING.
I think we're mostly here to self educate and hopefully have good discussions. Very few of us are any kind of academics or experts in the fields we want to learn about. Some of us know a lot more than others though either because of personal experience or education. We, as a group, don't really know each other yet.
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2010-10-12 10:55 pm (UTC)I think you raise a good point. I think if we want to have intersectional discussions of feminism and racism we need to hope that our non-white members will feel comfortable talking about that issue at some point so we can shut up and listen. The same with trans issues or queer issues. I would never try to lead a discussion on those issues and I sure as hell don't want to put members on the spot because they fit a discussion topic. So we'll have to hope that we create an environment that fosters that kind of discussion. One of the reasons I would love to discuss the Ortega article with the group is that I hope it will eventually bring us to a place in which our members who are less privileged in whatever way will feel OK talking to the rest of us who are not. I know that is not a small thing. I know it won't happen without some hard work and education and conversation and LISTENING.
I think we're mostly here to self educate and hopefully have good discussions. Very few of us are any kind of academics or experts in the fields we want to learn about. Some of us know a lot more than others though either because of personal experience or education. We, as a group, don't really know each other yet.