“Men hate each other because they fear each other, and they fear each other because they don’t know each other, and they don’t know each other because they are often separated from each other.” Dr. Martin Luther King.
The Center for the Healing of Racism offers Dialogue: Racism, an eight-week process, which provides a safe, respectful, and loving atmosphere for individuals to learn new information, share their experiences, dispel the fears and guilt, get to know each other, and come together.
HOUSTON BAHA’I CENTER
2419 Fannin Street, Houston, TX 77004
WEDNESDAY EVENINGS
Feb.14th – April 4th, 2018 – 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
WEEK ONE: Defining Prejudice and Racism and How Racism is perpetuated. Childhood experiences, misinformation, and separation. The Eye of the Storm DVD chronicles Jane Elliott’s now famous exercise where she divides her class based upon the color of their eyes and bestows upon one group privileges and on the other group impediments.
WEEK TWO: How Racism is Perpetuated: We learn about how childhood experiences, misinformation and segregation perpetuate racism generation after generation.
WEEK THREE: Unaware Racism and White Privilege: (Implicit Bias) is one of the most insidious forms of racism simply because it is unconscious, unintentional and involuntary. Despite one’s lack of awareness when perpetrating these subtle acts of discrimination, these slights cause emotional, psychological and physiological harm to people of color. All people of European descent are susceptible to it without exception, simply by living in this society. White privilege arises from the systemic advantage of one group over others. The DVD White Privilege 101 helps us to see its effects.
WEEK FOUR: Internalized Racism: When the anger, hurt, and frustration turn inward. The short film Shadeism explores the discrimination that exists between the lighter-skinned and darker-skinned members of the same community and how it affects young women within the African, Caribbean, and South Asian Diasporas.
WEEK FIVE: Cultural Racism: Culture is transmitted through language and traditions, both verbally and non-verbally. When one culture is regarded as standard, even superior, other cultures and their cultural forms are denigrated. When a group’s culture is held to be inferior, cultural genocide can result. The film Healing the Hurts depicts the effects of residential schools on Native Americans.
WEEK SIX: Stereotypes and How They Affect Us: The awarding-winning documentary, Ethnic Notions, shows the deep-rooted stereotypes and dehumanizing caricatures that have fueled anti-Black prejudice.
WEEK SEVEN: Institutionalized Racism: Exploring the systems that affect us daily: the media, justice, educational, health care and economic systems. Viewing the DVD of the keynote address by Michelle Alexander on her book The New Jim Crow, we will hear her finding, “There are more African Americans under correctional control today—in prison or jail, on probation or parole—than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the Civil War began.”
WEEK EIGHT: Oneness of Humanity, Ally Building and The Next Steps: Race is a human invention. We will view the DVD Race: The Power of an Illusion, “one of the most honest and compelling documentary series on race and its impact on this nation’s culture and politics, as well as on economic status.” Once we see our oneness, we’ll explore some of the ways to put this knowledge into action.
The sessions are free and open to the public, donations encouraged; registration is required by emailing cfhr1@juno.com or calling the Center’s office at (713) 520-8226. *The Center is not affiliated with the host organization.
The Mission of the Center for the Healing of Racism: Our mission is to facilitate the healing of racism through education and dialogue in a safe and supportive environment in order to empower individuals and transform communities.
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