The fifth in a series of Learning Letters to the congregation of The First Unitarian Church of Hamilton from Rev. Victoria Ingram
Why do we HATE?
My thoughts in this letter come from participating in the Listen-Learn-Act anti-hate summit, sponsored by No Hate in the Hammer.
First, let me share with you some themes from Varsha Naik, the Executive Director of the Regional Diversity Roundtable:
While anger and fear are human emotions, hate is not. Hate is a choice. It can be managed, changed, and stopped when people choose different alternatives in thought, word, and action. Hate is rooted in bias, prejudice, discrimination, and fear. Bias exists consciously and unconsciously and can only be addressed when we are willing to engage in a personal and cultural review of our thinking which adversely impacts BIPOC, LGBTQ2S+, and other typically marginalized people. It is the experience of many that it is becoming more acceptable to cultivate and act out of hate, and that these actions are becoming more public, violent, and pervasive.
Prejudice and discrimination show up when bias is actualized in policies, practices, and behaviours. Prejudicial practices allow for different treatment and outcomes for people identified as “other”. Our efforts must go into dismantling institutionalized discriminatory policies, procedures, standards, and behaviors which reinforce bias and prejudice. Only by institutionalizing inclusion can we make progress toward a diverse, inclusive, and equitable future.
People who want to change the culture of hate need to cooperate and work together to create safe spaces that allow discussion and learning. Those involved must work to ensure that steps are taken to put into place protections under the law, prevention strategies taught within our educational institutions, through partnerships between community groups, and that individual persons can experience growth and progress toward embracing anti-racism viewpoints and behaviors.
Hope or Fear
Session facilitator Ralph Benjurgui, a noted journalist and producer for the CBC, talked about his history of covering and working in political campaigns. He says that its well known in political spheres that there are only two kinds of campaigns you can run. One is based in fear and one is based in hope.
The campaign based in fear plays on people’s concerns over scarcity – will there be enough for me? When a candidate chooses a fear-based campaign, they appeal to a desire to protect what one has – power, resources, privilege, property, rights, social status or position, etc. The thinking is that there is only so much of any resource available, and if you don’t carefully guard what you have, you could be in a worse position in society than you are today. Not surprisingly, when you emphasize the need to be fearful, what you create is greater fear, distrust, and alienation.
Campaigns based in hope focus on abundance, and the thought that there is enough for everyone if we embrace fairness, equity, and inclusion. These campaigns stress what can be accomplished if we work together, if we share and care for one another (and especially those who are disempowered and disadvantaged in our current system) and emphasize the better world that can be created in the future. Campaigns focused on hope spark peoples’ optimism and possibility thinking, they encourage people to build relationships and talk to one another by sharing their stories and experiences.
The Axis of Bias
Speaker Kim Katrin, an award-winning Canadian educator, consultant, and social entrepreneur spoke to the need to create spaces for authentic conversations about people’s experiences in today’s isolating and divisive culture. She focused on our need to develop a relationship attachment that can withstand hearing each other to engage in tough conversations. She says that we problems we can’t talk about are problems that we can’t solve.
Sometimes, we feel uncomfortable broaching issues of racism and its impacts in society. However, we know that we grow our character through discomfort and find meaning in life by taking on increasing levels of responsibility. We may wish to be “nice” or not hurt anyone’s feelings (or have our own hurt), but that can be a way to mask our unwillingness to engage, listen, and affirm.
Ms. Katrin spoke of six “access points” for bias, which include:
Class – for example: debt, legal status, generational poverty, etc.
Ability – for example: being deaf, in a wheelchair, or having ADHD
Race – for example: ethnicity, language, immigration status
Gender – including relationship status
Religion – either being engaged in religious practice or not being religiously affiliated
Age – including those who are children, seniors, young adults, and so forth
No one’s life is easy – we have areas where we are “privileged” (we have some unearned benefit) and areas where we are vulnerable to bias. Becoming a better ally involves learning to step into the discussion about privilege from a place where we are not vulnerable, i.e., speaking to anti-Black racism from a white identity when confronting other white people about bias.
Becoming an ally is a process, not an identity. We become better allies when we learn to lead from curiosity and land with humility. When we continue to learn more and more every day and seek to build relationships, we become more aware of our own privilege and stronger in understanding our ability to move into relationship and dialogue. Learning build awareness of the impacts of our behaviours, making it easier for us to understand when we need to acknowledge where we’ve been wrong or caused hurt, to apologize and seek forgiveness.
Learn more about the work of No Hate in the Hammer at www.nohateinthehammer. ca
The Eighth Principle
By now you have most likely heard that an unexpected vote was taken at the CUC Annual Meeting to affirm the adoption of the Eighth Principle for our Canadian association. After a review of the by-laws, it was determined that the vote was out of order and the Principle could not be added at that time.
The Principle reads as follows:
We, the member congregations of the Canadian Unitarian Council, covenant to affirm and promote: Individual and communal action that accountably dismantles racism and other oppressions in ourselves and in our institutions.
Between now and a special meeting to be held in November, 2021, congregations have the chance to review the spirit of the Principle and discuss whether or not they wish to affirm and accept it into practice. You are invited to share your opinions and insights as a part of this process.
NOTICE: I will be facilitating a congregational conversation about the 8th Principle process. You are invited to attend and bring your questions, ideas, and input. The conversation will happen on:
Wednesday, June 9 – via ZOOM – from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.
Please RSVP to me, (victoria@uuhamilton.ca) if you would like to receive the ZOOM link to attend and participate in this conversation session.
With love,
Rev. Victoria
RESOURCES:
No Hate in the Hammer www.nohateinthehammer.ca
This website is for the Hamilton based, grass roots organization that is inviting people to address our community’s heritage as the most hate-filled in Canada. They recently hosted a summit for learning about hate in Hamilton and talking about community-based strategies for addressing bias.
Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion www.hcci.ca
Mobilizing all Hamiltonians to create an inclusive and welcoming city. Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion is a charitable organization driven by a mission to mobilize all Hamiltonians to create an inclusive and welcoming city.
Anti-Racism Resource Centre www.hamilton.ca/city-initiatives/priority-projects/anti-racism-resource-centre
The Hamilton Anti-Racism Resource Centre (HARRC) was launched in April 2018 as a collaborative pilot project involving the City of Hamilton, McMaster University and the Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion. HARRC arose from community need for a resource centre that addresses issues facing Hamilton residents experiencing racism and discrimination. The launch was informed by years of hard work by the City’s Committee Against Racism (CAR) and other community advocates.
The Regional Diversity Roundtable (Peel) www.rdrpeel.org
The Regional Diversity Roundtable (of Peel) is a collaborative of organizations and institutions committed to building inclusion and diversity competence that results in the institutionalization of equity in their core values, structures, workforce, policies and services.