Shawna remains one of the writers / bloggers that I like to follow. I appreciate the kind of questions she asks and the kind of principles that she reaffirms.
In a recent post, Shawna writes of staying in learning, staying in awareness, and staying in participation — all in this time of social movement and claiming who we wish to be as a complex society with all of it’s beauty, and wrong-doings.
Shawna is referencing Ibram Kendi: “The actual foundation of racism is not ignorance and hate, but self-interest.” From the article on The Undefeated:
“We have been taught that ignorance and hate lead to racist ideas, lead to racist policies,” Kendi said. “If the fundamental problem is ignorance and hate, then your solutions are going to be focused on education, and love and persuasion. But of course [Stamped from the Beginning] shows that the actual foundation of racism is not ignorance and hate, but self-interest, particularly economic and political and cultural.” Self-interest drives racist policies that benefit that self-interest. When the policies are challenged because they produce inequalities, racist ideas spring up to justify those policies. Hate flows freely from there.”
Shawna’s full post is here.
I appreciate the truth-telling that references something so far upstream. And the human reality of centuries of application from very inhuman principles.
There’s heavy lifting for all of us. I love Shawna’s encouragement to not tire.
