La’Ron Williams
Fully titled “Safely talking and learning about race and racism,” the series has brought hundreds of people to the library to watch films and hold open, honest conversations in a safe and supportive environment. What began as a short-term partnership between YDL and the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice is now in its third year.
YDL asked facilitator and moderator La’Ron Williams about the intention and impact of these discussions.
YDL: What motivated the start of this series?
La’Ron Williams: In a nutshell, the racial climate about two years ago was one in which there were heightened tensions around race. We were far enough into the Obama presidency, that it was easy to see a growing race-based backlash against him, one that is now clearly evident for having produced the Trump presidency. I wanted to do a film series that would let people, from a broad range of social standings, to safely and thoroughly engage, not just in a discussion about race, but also in an education about race and racism. The intent was to provide a setting in which people could gain information that would allow them to elevate discussions about race to more than a subjective, and purely emotional, level. Right now, our society does little to discourage us from dealing with racial issues in any way other than emotionally — but it’s entirely possible to become much more sophisticated in both our understanding about race as well as our responsibility for the shape of our society. My belief and my hope is that with more facts and understanding, we’ll be able to create a better nation.
YDL: The program has been well received and well attended for almost 3 years now–what do you think contributes to this success?
LW: The nature of the program is to provide a safe space for people to talk about what can be very difficult issues. Places like that aren’t common. I can’t think of any place where people are invited on a regular basis to talk about race and racial issues.
A second thing is that the series is deliberately designed to be inclusive. The advertisement, the word of mouth, the experience in the setting — all help to let people know that they can be here no matter what their views.
It also helps that, even though all ideas are welcome, the discussion is grounded in a film we watch together. So we all have a focus and common base of information from which to work. I’ve chosen films that are intended to be educational rather than merely expository or descriptive. They are intended to be learning experiences. People know when they come in that the discussion springs from the film and their comments should be rooted in what they have seen.
Finally, I try really hard to transcend the traditional “Black-White racial paradigm” when talking about race. It isn’t always easy to find material that allows me to broaden the discussion, but it is, I believe, important to include the true life experiences of all the groups that are represented in this country.
YDL: Have you ever been surprised by someone’s reaction or takeaway from the discussion?
LW: To be honest, nothing surprises me where race is concerned. One of the difficulties in trying to facilitate our discussions is that participants can be “all over the map” with their knowledge, their personal experiences, their emotional experiences with racism. There’s no such thing as a “school-of-the-way-racism-works” where we can go to preschool, kindergarten, you know, and all the way through to a PhD status in racial awareness. There’s nowhere where you can learn in a structured way. You’d think that there would be, since racism plays such an important role in shaping our lives — but as far as I know, nothing like that exists. So I expect people to say all sorts of things . . . And they do. Nothing surprises me.
If someone has never been to a racial justice discussion before, what would you want them to know before they attend this winter’s series?
LW: I’d like them to know that there’s an emphasis on people being safe. We have a set of guidelines that we agree to follow before we proceed with discussion. No matter what your opinion, when you’re in the sessions, you will be respected as a person . . .
But “safety” shouldn’t be confused with “comfort”. Racism today isn’t like it was in this country before the 1960s. It doesn’t primarily show up in the form of snarling, obviously bigoted people spitting on kids as they try to walk into school. (Although I fear that form is returning more and more) Rather, it appears today in every single one of the institutions that allow our society to function. During the days of overt bigotry, a hierarchy of race was thoroughly and insidiously ingrained into our culture, into where we live, into our educational system, into our legal system, into our attitudes about who is “normal,” and so on. That now is standardized behavior we learn from birth. We unselfconsciously replicate it all the time. So we’re asking people to change things that run very deep down inside them — not just in laws and practices, but deep in our hearts. That doesn’t always feel good. If we want change, we have to work through those uncomfortable feelings.
So I would tell people to expect discomfort, but that they also can expect to be safe and energized. Safe means they won’t be put down or criticized for sharing openly and honestly. Safe means that other participants aren’t going to leave the room blabbing to other people who weren’t there about what somebody else said. Safe means that they can share their hearts and minds and that their sharing will be dealt with constructively and not be dismissed . . . And energized means that they’ll be involved in an extremely important endeavor that is essential for our nation if we ever hope to reconcile our past, and begin to change our present so that we have a better future to look forward to. My role as a facilitator is to be what’s called “multi-partial”, which is to say that I have to allow all ideas to “roost” in the room, but there are some thoughts and ideas — ones that reinforce the “invisible” ways racism affects us — that are over-represented all the time. So In those cases, I’m obligated to balance the talk. I’ll draw attention to those ideas when they come up, and when possible, I will point out alternatives. The aim is for a greater education.