BUILDING THE WORLD WE DREAM ABOUT
A Tapestry of Faith Program for Adults
WORKSHOP 1: TELLING OUR STORY: MULTIPLE TRUTHS AND MULTIPLE REALITIES, PART ONE
BY MARK HICKS. GAIL FORSYTH-VAIL, DEVELOPMENTAL EDITOR.
© Copyright 2010 Unitarian Universalist Association.
Published to the Web on 9/29/2014 10:24:14 PM PST.
This program and additional resources are available on the UUA.org web site at
www.uua.org/religiouseducation/curricula/tapestryfaith.
WORKSHOP OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION
What is true is that for Unitarian Universalism to move into a vibrant future, we will need to mine our past for stories of resistance to oppression, stories of openness to new ways of being religious, stories of transformation that have built new understandings into our narrative of who we are. — Rev. William G. Sinkford
This workshop introduces many of the key elements that characterize Building the World We Dream About: stories, dialogue, personal reflection, sharing with others in small and large groups, and reflective exercises to help bring learning into participants' lives within and beyond the congregation.
Participants consider questions of confidentiality and emotional and spiritual safety as the group begins its journey together. The workshop invites them to engage with their own experiences and those of others as they explore Dr. Lee Knefelkamp's work that defines experiences of "mattering" and "marginality."
Before leading this workshop, review the accessibility guidelines in the program Introduction under Integrating All Participants.
GOALS
This workshop will:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will:
WORKSHOP-AT-A-GLANCE
Activity | Minutes |
Welcoming and Entering | 0 |
Opening | 2 |
Activity 1: Welcome and Introductions | 20 |
Activity 2: Why Is This Important? | 10 |
Activity 3: Making a Covenant | 10 |
Activity 4: Outsider Experiences | 15 |
Activity 5: Learning from the Other Within — Theater of Voices | 30 |
Activity 6: Paired and Large Group Discussion | 25 |
Closing | 8 |
Alternate Activity 1: Community Practices - Gift Basket | 15 |
SPIRITUAL PREPARATION
As you prepare to lead the first workshop, reflect on what in your life's journey has led you to this moment. Why is Building the World We Dream About important to you? Share your experiences and reasons with your co-leader.
Read carefully all the stories in Leader Resource 2, Affirming Experiences and Marginalizing Experiences, pausing for a time after each one to reflect on your own experiences of inclusion and exclusion. When have you felt as though you mattered? When have you felt marginalized or excluded? Can you recall times in your congregation when you mattered and times when you were marginalized?
WORKSHOP PLAN
WELCOMING AND ENTERING
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Greet and introduce yourself to participants as they arrive.
OPENING (2 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Light the chalice or invite a participant to light it while you read Leader Resource 1 aloud.
ACTIVITY 1: WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS (20 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Description of Activity
Invite participants to share a story that is often told about them by family or friends. For example, "My partner always says I never order food without asking 20 questions of the wait staff." Explain that each person has one minute to tell their story and that you will gently enforce that time limit in order to keep the workshop moving. Model this one-minute story telling, and then encourage participants to speak as they are ready and comfortable. You may wish to use an object such as a stone or talking stick to pass to each person as they speak.
ACTIVITY 2: WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Invite participants to generate a list of why they think it is important to talk about antiracism/multiculturalism in their congregation. Write each response on newsprint.
Read the responses aloud and invite participants to help identify themes and patterns. Add significant ideas that the group has not named, such as:
Including All Participants
To accommodate different learning styles (for example, aural versus visual learners) and to be inclusive of people who are visually impaired, read written responses aloud.
ACTIVITY 3: MAKING A COVENANT (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Distribute Handout 1. Invite participants to review it briefly, noting that most will have already read the guidelines before this workshop.
Write on newsprint participants' suggestions, concerns, or additions to the list. Decide together if you will make changes to the guidelines presented in the handout. Invite the group to covenant together to honor and uphold the guidelines. Ask each person to signal assent by saying "yes" or nodding. Explain that this is a living document that can and should be changed as the group evolves.
ACTIVITY 4: OUTSIDER EXPERIENCES (15 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Explain that the journals have two purposes: To record ideas, quotes, and concepts from workshops, and to record participants' reflections, thoughts, and feelings. Invite participants to use any form they wish, such as poetry, bulleted points, idea webs, symbols, or narrative/story.
Introduce the activity with these or similar words:
I invite you to begin your journal work with an exercise called "Insider/Outsider." Record in your journal a powerful experience in which you felt like an outsider. Use the questions posted on newsprint to help guide your remembering. This is a private journal exercise, so you will not be sharing this story in the workshop. Instead, you are asked to hold the story in your heart and use it as a point of reference during later discussions.
Allow ten minutes for writing.
Including All Participants
For people with physical disabilities who may not be able to write, find a private area where the person can dictate or record their story confidentially to a facilitator.
ACTIVITY 5: LEARNING FROM THE OTHER WITHIN — THEATER OF VOICES (30 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Remind participants that the experience of being either an insider or outsider in a group is a universal human experience. Share the two affirming readings you have selected to begin this activity, with a different facilitator reading each one.
Say:
Those were two voices of Unitarian Universalists describing their experiences in their own words. You are now invited to take part in and witness a Theater of Voices that will present real life experiences of contemporary Unitarian Universalists—some affirming and some marginalizing. If you are part of the audience, make yourself comfortable as you prepare to listen to stories from Unitarian Universalist persons who identify as People of Color and others marginalized by race or ethnicity and Unitarian Universalists who identify as White or of European ancestry. If you are one of the reader/actors, come on up!
Arrange the reader/actors according to your plan and make sure they know the order in which they will read. Tell them that you, as director, will assure each voice is respected by pausing the reading for seven to ten seconds between voices and starting the next actor/reader with a nonverbal cue. Invite reader/actors to read the name and ethnic or racial identity of the person before reading each narrative.
Open the theater with the music you have selected. Enact your Theater of Voices! After the last statement/voice, close your theater with the music you have selected.
If you choose not to do the Theater of Voices, co-facilitators can alternate reading the short narratives. Again, arrange them to enhance their impact and pause seven to ten seconds after each reading.
Including All Participants
Have large-print copies of the narratives on hand to offer anyone who is visually impaired.
ACTIVITY 6: PAIRED AND LARGE GROUP DISCUSSION (25 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Point out the posted questions and read them aloud. Invite participants to turn to a partner and respond to the questions, telling them they have about 12 minutes for sharing. Let them know when six minutes have passed so both individuals have time to speak.
After 12 minutes, have the large group reconvene and lead a discussion with these suggested questions:
CLOSING (8 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Invite participants to spend five minutes writing feedback in response to the questions you have posted on newsprint.
Distribute Taking It Home and invite participants to do the suggested activities before the next meeting. Read the definitions and instructions aloud and invite for participants to ask questions.
Offer Reading 701 in Singing the Living Tradition as a closing and extinguish the chalice.
Gather participants' written feedback.
Including All Participants
Prepare a large-print version of Taking It Home.
LEADER REFLECTION AND PLANNING
Take a few moments right after the workshop to ask each other:
TAKING IT HOME
What is true is that for Unitarian Universalism to move into a vibrant future, we will need to mine our past for stories of resistance to oppression, stories of openness to new ways of being religious, stories of transformation that have built new understandings into our narrative of who we are. — Rev. William G. Sinkford
This activity, adapted from an exercise developed by Dr. L. Lee Knefelkamp, is described in "Integrating Jewish Issues Into the Teaching of Psychology," by Evelyn Torton Beck, Julie L. Goldberg, and L. Lee Knefelkamp. It is Chapter 17 in Teaching Gender and Multicultural Awareness, Phyllis Bronstein and Kathryn Quina, editors (Washington, DC: APA Press, 2003).
Consider the following, one by one. Take a full ten minutes or more to write or draw in your journal in response to each prompt:
Be prepared to talk about your responses at the next workshop.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 1: COMMUNITY PRACTICES - GIFT BASKET (15 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Because this program often provides a new opportunity for participants to consider and articulate their individual needs and those of the larger community, Janice Marie Johnson, UUA Multicultural Ministries and Leadership Director has developed this alternate way of creating a community covenant.
Ask participants how they would like to be in community with each other. Point out the gift basket drawing you have posted on the wall and say, “What are the gifts that we choose to give each other?” Model an answer by offering “the gift of listening” and write that gift in the basket, perhaps drawing an ear or other symbol. Elicit responses such as being on time for breaks, one person speaking at a time, trying to practice speaking from one’s own authority, and so forth. As responses come in, draw and note them on the newsprint as gifts for the community.
BUILDING THE WORLD WE DREAM ABOUT: WORKSHOP 1:
HANDOUT 1: GUIDELINES THAT PROMOTE MULTICULTURAL DIALOGUE
These suggestions are intended to slow down the flurry of assumptions that can come into play when we talk about the stories and truths that shape our lives. Following these guidelines together can help every participant fully engage with others and grow from our interactions. These elements can be incorporated into our group covenant.
BUILDING THE WORLD WE DREAM ABOUT: WORKSHOP 1:
LEADER RESOURCE 1: TELLING
"Telling" is used with the permission of Laura Hershey. For more information about Laura's poetry and other writing, go to her website.
What you risk telling your story:
You will bore them.
Your voice will break, your ink will
spill and stain your coat.
No one will understand, their eyes
become fences.
You will park yourself forever
on the outside, your differentness once
and for all revealed, dangerous,
the names you give to yourself
will become epithets.
Your happiness will be called
bravery, denial.
Your sadness will justify their pity.
Your fear will magnify their fears.
Everything you say will prove something about
their god, or their economic system.
Your feelings, that change day
to day, kaleidoscopic,
will freeze in place,
brand you forever,
justify anything they decide to do
with you.
Those with power can afford
to tell their story
or not.
Those without power
risk everything to tell their story
and must.
Someone, somewhere
will hear your story and decide to fight,
to live and refuse compromise.
Someone else will tell
her own story,
risking everything.
BUILDING THE WORLD WE DREAM ABOUT: WORKSHOP 1:
LEADER RESOURCE 2: AFFIRMING EXPERIENCES AND MARGINALIZING EXPERIENCES
This resource includes several first-person narratives from Unitarian Universalists describing experiences with race in their congregations. Introduce these voices and experiences using a Theater of Voices technique. Facilitators act as directors of the theater, selecting narratives and choosing how to stage this reading in multiple voices. Begin by selecting four or five statements from the "Affirming Experiences" section and a similar number from the "Marginalizing Experiences" section. Pick and choose voices that speak best to your context. Choose about the same number of statements from People of Color and other people marginalized by race or ethnicity as you do from people who identify as White or of European ancestry. For example, if your congregation has mainly White and Latino/a/Hispanic members, or if the congregation's surrounding community has a large Latino population, you may select more statements that reflect the experiences of Unitarian Universalists of those racial/ethnic or cultural identities. Or if your congregation has been singled out as welcoming of multiracial families, or has received negative feedback about welcoming people of diverse races and cultures, select statements that speak to those experiences. After you have selected your material, consider the order of the voices and how to arrange participants visually "on stage" for the most impact. Let your imagination lead you. For example, you might intersperse or alternate affirming experiences and marginalizing experiences, or you might put two readers side by side and invite them to read two different narratives from a single person. As you prepare your production, note that each narrative is about 250 words and will take two to three minutes to present.
AFFIRMING EXPERIENCES
Frances, African American woman
To be African American in this country is to face racism throughout life, however subtle. The love of one's family is paramount in reducing the damage of racism on one's wholeness. Unitarian Universalism is splendid as an affirming church family. Its primary commitment to justice seeking, its deep belief that every soul has irreducible value, and its belief that there is the spark of the divine in every one of us are powerful antidotes to the insistent racist voices among us. I find Unitarian Universalism not only soothing, but healing. It is a perfect medicine for the soul made sick by racism.
Paul, White man
As a White man, I almost always feel included in UU circles. Most of the time it feels as if in the eyes of other White UUs, there is nothing remarkable about my "race." It's as if I'm just the kind of person (also given my professional status) that people expect to see at UU churches. How well I fit in seems to be about my individual views, beliefs, and personality. The one special case is when I participate in antiracism trainings or organizing. Then I feel my White maleness is definitely noticed by everyone—and that I'm actually appreciated for being there.
Claire, White woman
Race was something to be spoken about only in hushed tones in the nearly all-white town where I grew up. What a different experience my own kids have had! Thanks to the intentional work of the Unitarian Universalist youth movement, they have engaged with issues of race, class, and privilege. I treasure the conversations about how those issues impact their lives and mine. One of my greatest joys and challenges was to serve with my then-teenage daughter on a District antiracism team. We grew side by side in understanding and commitment. For a parent, it doesn't get any better than that.
Phyllis, African American woman
During the late 1960s and early 1970s my husband and I were members of the Black Unitarian Universalist Caucus (BUUC). The denomination's willingness to fund this organization was a signal of serious commitment to supporting African American members in articulating our issues with the expectation that they would be addressed. Traditionally, the UU community is peopled by well-intentioned White liberals who assume they have explored all aspects of social issues and have developed solutions that should work for everyone.
As a BUUC member, for the first time I sat with African American members of my congregation to discuss some of the more painful aspects of what it's like to be a part of a group that may be your political/intellectual community, but whose members are often clueless regarding your cultural values and needs. This is a common experience for people from culturally marginalized groups, who often must choose between a worship environment that is culturally and spiritually nourishing or one that is stimulating, challenging, and encouraging of personal growth.
BUUC allowed us to explore this dilemma through discussions that were spirited, demanding and ultimately productive. While most of us were already active in the civil rights arena, the BUUC experience allowed us to formulate and implement strategies designed to enrich our own spiritual community. Not only were we strengthened by the experience, but the church and the denomination were strengthened also. Unfortunately, the BUUC initiative did not solve all of our problems. But for many in my congregation, it was enough to make us feel that the church and the denomination were committed to finding solutions.
Cathy, African American woman
After the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, the Muslim students at my daughter's very diverse high school began to segregate themselves because of their sense of fear and isolation. My daughter, who has spent her whole life attending a Unitarian Universalist congregation, reached out to these students. She actually made the long walk across the high school cafeteria to sit with the Muslim students and talk to them about how they were feeling. When I asked her why she had done this, my daughter told me that her faith called her to do this. As a parent, I was so proud that my daughter had learned the lessons of non-discrimination and respect for all peoples within our Unitarian Universalist community. As an African American parent, I was equally proud that my daughter understood the connection between her struggles as a young Black woman in America and the struggles of other often-marginalized groups. This affirmed for me that Unitarian Universalism has helped me raise a wonderful young woman.
Supriya, Asian woman elder
Perhaps one of the most positive and affirming experiences within Unitarian Universalism for me was when I offered to my minister to co-lead with another lay leader a "People of Colour" worship service. Another friend of South Asian ethnicity and I had just returned from a Young Adults of Colour Leadership Development Conference. After meeting young adults from across North America, we returned to Canada inspired and full of energy and courage to have our voices heard. We led a beautiful service that included music from our South Asian heritage, special readings, and meditations. We also introduced Indian classical dance into our worship service. Our title was about the Unitarian Universalist covenant to "promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person". We spoke about how we felt when congregants spoke as if we were sisters (we were not related in any way) or asked where we really came from when giving the city of our birth was an unsatisfactory answer. We spoke of wanting to be accepted as individuals for what we were, not based on the colour of our skin. We spoke of how we felt when the colour of our skin stood in the way of accepting us as individuals. Reaction was positive, and many congregants thanked us for sharing our views. We closed with the song "Woyaya"—"... We are going / Heaven knows how we will get there / But we know we will... " That day we felt affirmed as "People of Colour"—our voices were heard.
Peter, White man
Here and now, I don't feel affirmed living out issues of race. This is a dirty business willed to us by people who looked like me. However, what doesn't kill me makes me stronger, and I can do nothing without doing some harm. I am moving from being an etherized White man ignorant of race to being a European American man discomforted everywhere; from living in the world as oyster to a world without many places to belong. My participation at a self-consciously diverse Unitarian Universalist church dismantling racism in fits and starts has offered consolation. Despite my being and my action, my brothers and sisters remain authentically engaged with me in things that I get right and things that I get wrong. Like an unreformed drunk (since my culture will not yet allow me to live one hour, much less one day at a time, privilege-free), I must lean on the good will of my fellow travelers in this religious community I have chosen to join. It's their good will and its reflection of their perception of my good will that offers affirmation.
Alicia, African American woman
The only time I've ever felt affirmed as a Person of Color in my congregation was when I was growing up in the church. When I looked around the room at my friends in Sunday School, we were a diverse group. We were African American, White, Hispanic, Biracial, and Multiethnic. The same was true in morning worship. Never did I look around the sanctuary and feel small or outnumbered. When I was sixteen, I went to the GA that was held in Indianapolis, Indiana. Most of the other Black kids there were so envious of my being raised in a church that was so diverse. It's what they expected in a major city, they being from small towns for the most part, so I felt very proud.
Chanda, White woman
Living in a city where your job defines your identity, you quickly learn that the first question you get asked in almost any gathering is, "What do you do?" Yet, in my congregation, not a person asked me the "Job Question." Instead, they asked things like, "Could you help us out on this project?" and "Would you like to join us for lunch?" Just like that...free acceptance. I was stunned. These people didn't care about my credentials, about my background, about my appearance. If I said I was good at something, they invited me to help out there. When I volunteered to start a new member orientation program, people just assumed I'd do well. When, as a board member, I declined to make follow-up pledge calls, nobody gave me a hard time. Other than from my mother, I've never had such unquestioning acceptance. It feels wildly luxurious to not have to present any persona other than who I really am. And yet, this is not a place where "whatever" rules. We have many expectations of each other: shared values, civility with each other, showing the courage of our convictions, giving generously of time and money, taking action for social justice. In my congregation, we seem to care about what you do in community, not what you do in your day job.
MARGINALIZING EXPERIENCES
Supriya, Asian woman
What I find challenging within Unitarian Universalism is that, although we claim that our living tradition draws on many sources, including "wisdom from the world's religions which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life," this is something that I see very rarely in the many UU congregations I have visited in North America. As a first-generation Canadian, I struggle every Sunday with the fact that worship and the teachings from the pulpit provide me with little connection to the wisdom of my ancestors who were Hindus. Although I find strength in my Unitarian Universalist faith, I miss affirmation that my religious background is as important as the Judeo-Christian tradition. This makes me feel somewhat of an outsider, even within my own religious community. Being the child of immigrants, being an outsider has always been a fact of life and has presented many challenges over time. One place where this challenge should not have to present itself is within a religious community. Although I chose Unitarian Universalism because it held more meaning to me than the religion of my ancestors, I also chose it based on the promise that we would be inspired by the wisdom of the world's religions. I have faith that that day will come.
Paul, White man
There have been times during antiracism trainings when I had to work really hard with my own feelings that I didn't belong. When there is a heightened awareness and intensive dialogue about White privilege and habitual behaviors White people tend to exhibit, I sometimes forget how grateful I am for the learning opportunity. With my personal vulnerabilities to shame and depression, I have found myself forgetting my inherent goodness, and believing I can only be welcomed in the circle of humanity after I have ended racism. Ironically, People of Color in these workshops often get upset when they see me getting mired in my "bad White person" story—and their frustration triggers me to be even more critical toward myself. I'm learning to cultivate compassion and appreciation for myself, and this is helping me stay present to my inherent goodness and the learning. It has been a difficult journey, often painful and disorienting. But it's a journey home, I can feel myself arriving, and there are many wonderful people there!
Claire, White woman
When I was sixteen, I wrote a term paper about why the Supreme Court reversed its 1896 "separate but equal" decision in the 1954 Brown ruling. I was a White teenager trying to sort out confusing messages about People of Color, about my own racial identity, and about justice. I learned much about myself and my country as I wrote the paper, concluding that as the "average American" got to know Black people better, racism would go away. My paper was returned with but a single comment: "You are a hopeless optimist!" I was a kid who needed adult help with the burden of sorting out huge questions about race in the United States. What I received from my teacher was not an invitation to further reflection, but a condescending dismissal. I've never forgotten the shame I felt that day.
Alicia, African American woman
I came back to my congregation after I graduated from college. The racial and ethnic makeup of the congregation mirrored that of the now-gentrified neighborhood surrounding the church. I was not expecting to feel uncomfortable, but I did, instantly. I think it was the looks I received from the new White congregants. They were "What are you doing here?" kind of looks. I wasn't sure if it was my hair, clothes, shoes, or what. But I understood those looks to mean I didn't belong. I'm a Black woman in my twenties who attends a church where I'm free to dress as I want. I've always loved that about my congregation! But Black urban styles of dress, I guess, made me look like a video girl to them—or at least that's what their eyes said. I felt like they probably thought I was uneducated and ill-mannered.
Phyllis, African American woman
I am sure I had marginalizing experiences in my congregation. However, you may find that for long-time members like me, the experiences were few enough and managed in such a way as to allow us to feel comfortable about our continued attendance. Most Unitarians are not shy about speaking out.
Cathy, African American woman
Throughout all my years as a parent and teacher in the religious education program at my home congregation, I felt the need for inclusion of materials that were culturally and racially relevant for my children. All the curriculum materials are from a dominant culture point of view. I felt that people got tired of my asking for alternative points of view to be represented by someone other than myself. I felt that some White adults were uncomfortable around my children. A number of times I felt that the religious education volunteers were afraid of my African American son. There were unconscious racist remarks made. Over the years my children were often the only Children of Color in their RE classes. One Sunday, in the Youth Group, an adult advisor said to my child, "When you wear those glasses you don't look Black." I had to make an extra effort to explain to my children that although the theology of Unitarian Universalism [is] wonderful—as with all faiths—the practice falls short. I had to explain that they could not indulge in some of the more experimental activities of the Youth Group, because the authorities looked at African American youth differently than White youth. I did connect my children to the wider UU community so that they could have an experience of more diversity, but I still worry about the effects of being isolated from a larger African American community of faith has had on my children.
Carlos, Latino man
I am a Latino-looking UU minister, and when I am on vacation I like to visit other congregations. I generally don't identify myself as a minister in those situations. I visited one congregation dressed in clean, pressed designer jeans and a clean, pressed shirt. After the service, while parishioners were filing downstairs for coffee hour, I was politely but unquestionably shown the door. I never get the "bum's rush" when I come in a three-piece suit or when I make it known that I am a minister.
Peter, White man
Confronting race is almost always a source of some pain—a sense of guilt and shame, sometimes inchoate, connected to being accountable. Before bed, I read out loud to my wife, who is African American, and some texts have evoked this pain. Reading Dubois' description of the death of his child in Souls of Black Folk, I wonder how I can read such a painful narrative describing experiences whose source is America's peculiar institution and its wretched aftermath. Watching news coverage with my wife and my step-daughter of New Orleans in Katrina's aftermath evoked the same guilt and the same shame. I never felt Whiter than I did those days, and never more dissociated from my family. My race threatens to alienate me from people whom I love on a daily basis.
Sojourner, African American woman
While experiencing racism with Unitarian Universalism has been painful, the reaction of UUs when I tell them my story has been even more disturbing to me. Usually most White listeners will want to hear the particulars of what happened to judge for themselves whether they would have named the incident as racism, instead of trusting me. I have to repeat time and time and again the what, where, and how, and relive the pain. It feels like I am being judged as to whether our first Principle should be applied to me. Rarely does this trial occur when I share other stories of oppression around the multiple identities I carry. Thank goodness for listeners of Color and White allies. They hear with their hearts and believe me without the nitty-gritty. When I receive this affirmation it helps me heal and move on. My pain is transformed. I have learned to share my experiences of racism with those in power who have the ability to make a change in the UU institution; and with others who hear me without the need to justify the experience within their own unique world.
Chanda, White woman
As a child attending segregated schools in Louisiana, I was less aware of race as a dividing line than I was of ethnicity, class, and religion. My father's family spoke Cajun French and broken English. They lived in an unpainted wooden house on the sugarcane plantation where my gran'papa worked. Back in those days, "Cajun" was a derogatory term, and my Georgia-born mother was humiliated that we were related to such poor and uneducated people.
My own family lived on the wrong side of the bayou. We were Baptists in a sea of Catholics. Daddy only had an eighth-grade education, and we learned never to tell that secret to anybody. We struggled to maintain a veneer of gentility in our neighborhood of oyster-shell roads and ditches that overflowed every time it rained. I was a voracious reader, and books told me there was another world out there. I couldn't wait to escape Louisiana; adulthood found me living and working in Washington, DC. Only then did I discover that, despite my perceived differences from the middle class we'd desperately wanted to emulate, I'd had benefits and advantages conferred on me because I was White. I'd lost the south Louisiana accent, gone to college, gotten a high-profile job. I am now able both to understand my privileges in the context of racism and oppression of others and to embrace the gifts of my exuberant "low-class" family.
FIND OUT MORE
The UUA Multicultural Growth & Witness staff group offers resources, curricula, trainings, and tools to help Unitarian Universalist congregations and leaders engage in the work of antiracism, antioppression, and multiculturalism. Visit www.uua.org/multicultural (at www.uua.org/multicultural) or email multicultural @ uua.org (at mailto:multicultural@uua.org) to learn more.