Ending Racism and Classism in the Climate Movement
I was one of five RCers on the leadership team for the Sustaining All Life (SAL) and United to End Racism (UER) workshop “Ending Racism and Classism in the Climate Movement” (during Climate Week in New York City, New York, USA, in September 2020). The five of us were from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mexico, Germany, the United States, and England. We were African, African American, Pilipina, Latina, and European and had a variety of class backgrounds. [Pilipina/o is the non-colonized term for referring to the language and the people of the Philippines. There was originally no F sound in the languages of the Philippines.]
I am proud of what we offered the participants. My contribution is below.
This is a big topic to cover in ninety minutes. We can see that there is a huge interest, and this makes me hopeful. We will use the approaches of Sustaining All Life and United to End Racism for healing from the hurts and divisions caused by racism and classism. The following are some of what we have learned:
Classism and racism work together to disrupt our efforts in the climate movement. These two oppressions are hurting and damaging us personally, our environment, and our movement.
Racism and classism are individual and personal, institutional, systemic, and global. They involve the mistreatment and exploitation of one group by another, or of one country by another. Race is an entirely artificial idea, created and maintained to provide a justification for theft. The genocide of Indigenous people, colonialism, and neo-colonialism are forms of racism.
The violence and injustices are being more and more revealed. More people can see that racism is wrong and that it needs to stop. I think that is why you are here.
Classism emerged from the economic organisation of our societies. People are assigned to roles that are tied to an economic system that puts profits before people. A key feature of both racism and classism, and most other oppressions, is the dividing and separating of people from each other. The system bestows rewards—money, better treatment, and other benefits—to some and not others.
Oppressive attitudes are instilled, passed on, and enforced. These include attitudes of superiority and inferiority. We are taught to be racist and classist, against our will. This makes it difficult for us to see each other clearly and to reach for and connect with each other. It prevents us from cooperating and achieving unity.
If we do see racism and classism, we mostly try not to act it out on each other. Yet it persists, interfering with every action and sometimes wrecking our movements for change.
In preparing for this workshop, our team had to deal with the racism and classism that happened among us as team members. We addressed it by asking and answering the following questions: “How did racism come at you today?” For white people, “What racism did you see or act out?” “Where have racism and classism silenced or belittled you?” Or, “Where have you silenced or belittled someone?”
We listened to each other and faced the truth together—the challenges as well as the successes. We usually underestimate how much racism and classism have impacted us. Everyone is hurt by them. No one escapes. We need to acknowledge the damage and heal from the hurts. We heal by sharing our stories of how racism and classism have affected our personal lives, our families, our people, our work, and our movement. We need to do this along with taking action for change.
Ending racism and classism is necessary for humankind to progress. We are in this together. No one is free unless everyone is free.
London, England
(Present Time 202, January 2021)