UER at the Fourteenth White Privilege Conference
The fourteenth annual White Privilege Conference, titled “The Color of Money: Reclaiming Our Humanity,” took place near Seattle, Washington (USA), in April 2013. Eleven of us, from Washington and Oregon, attended as a United to End Racism (UER) team. We were led by Rachel Noble, the Regional* Reference Person for Oregon.
Our team had an exhibit table where we displayed RC literature, and UER reading material, posters, pins, and T-shirts. We met there daily to check in and took turns working there in shifts. Many conference participants came to the table wanting to be connected to the RC Communities and to learn more about RC and UER.
We got a picture of the solid role that UER has played over the years at the White Privilege Conference. Both RCers and non-RCers came to the table looking for sessions, and it was clear that conference participants were looking forward to our workshops.
We presented three workshops during the conference, all of them well attended: “The Role of Listening and Emotional Healing in Ending Racism and Economic Oppression,” “Ending Internalized Racism and Economic Oppression: Listening and Emotional Healing as a Tool,” and “Youth in Ending Racism and Economic Oppression.” The last workshop included a panel of four young people targeted by racism, and one white young adult.
We also attended other people’s workshops, caucuses, and keynote speeches and were able to add good thinking and support. We worked well as a team.
Once again, our presence was appreciated and made a difference.
* A Region is a subdivision of the International RC Community, usually consisting of several Areas (local RC Communities).