I don’t want to make this seem like a really big issue, because it isn’t. But I thought that we already have considered proposals to use a racial or gender preference to bring diversity to the stack at the GA, and that proposal did not eve come close to passing consensus. So why were the facilitators at the GA last night (12/21) talking about how they would balance the stack to put POC or women ahead of others?
I’m sorry, I don’t want to come off as naive. I’m not one of those white people who thinks that “racism is over” because Obama was elected, or whatever arbitrary mark we might use to define a “post-racial” era. It doesn’t exist. But, I am a white man. I can’t help being a white man, and I don’t feel guilty about it. I recognize the priviledge that some segments of society extend to me, but I do not relish them and I don’t feel I should have to pay for them by sacrificing my free speech. I don’t think a white man’s voice is less valuable than anybody else’s voice, but I have often gotten the impression that a lot of people at #OO do feel that way. And I don’t feel that pushing the racial majority to the margins is going anything to help this movement or to help those who have been previously marginalized. Eye for an eye makes the world blind. Just sayin’…..
Hi Twistedchick,
what specifically do you have issue with at Oakland GAs?
I am curious to hear. I also wonder what Occupy San Jose has that improves on our model.
Not like I run shit at occupy oakland, but I am open to trying to fix the process, as it does seem kinda stagnant lately.
The Occupy Oakland GA needs to honestly reconsider how it functions before I’ll go down there again – I’ve tried too many times. As for now I watch from afar and read up on it, but I travel down to OccupySanJose when I volunteer hours for Occupy.
the crowd is so homogenized now in GA’s (as calveras said) that calling for a progressive stack is close to impossible. i appreciate the facilitators for acknowledging the imbalance of that night’s stack – cuz it’s true (and i counted)….several people in a row who had spoken were males…many of them appeared to be white. that’s an issue in a movement taking place in oakland, california.
the fact that a person can pretty much name the handful of vocal non male/non white people in the whole crowd of 120 is SAD, guys. it shouldn’t be that easy.
it’s a good idea to bring a diverse array of friends to GA. who is gonna do that? who in the crowd of a whole lot of white folks A) has enough friends who are interested in a GA, B) has enough friends of color or enough female friends to come to GA, and C) has the interest in even inviting others to come to GA?…
as for this comment from david: “I don’t think a white man’s voice is less valuable than anybody else’s voice, but I have often gotten the impression that a lot of people at #OO do feel that way.” asking for other people to lend their voices is not the same as saying the white male voice is unimportant. the white male voice is the default in the movement right now, and actually has the most importance over any other type of voice. the white male voice is still gonna be heard and is still gonna be valued…some of us would just like OTHERS to have the floor too. let’s all share.
i agree with calveras on one point – that in general, it would be nice to remind folks (and for folks to remember) in GENERAL to step up and step back, no matter the race or gender of that person. the same friggin people get up to speak, for several minutes at a time, or even a couple of times in a row in an evening. while it has improved a little, that’s just fucked up that it continues.
I agree. One of the facilitators mentioned “progressive stack” last night. The progressive stack proposal is well intentioned but I think needlessly complicates things. The problem with the stack is less that “white males” are dominating it, and more that the same people keep speaking over and over again. For example, Omar, Victoria and Barucha and a couple others are seen on the stage at every single GA. Correct me if I am wrong but none of those people are white males as far as I can tell. I am not saying that they shouldn’t speak at all, but maybe they should “step back” and let some other voices be heard. I also have been kind of annoyed by this whole identity politics thing because, well, it is true that on any given night the GA is fortunate if we have more than 10% non-white attendance. Quite a few POC that used to be regulars are seldom if ever seen around anymore.
Instituting some kind of stack management that vaults POC/glbt/women to the top of the stack wont make a difference if we are 90 white guys and 10 non-white non-guys.
In other words, if you think straight white guys are hogging the movement, please, PLEASE bring your black, brown, gay, female friends to GA. And encourage them to participate.
Now I am gonna go look for Suabru’s on craigslist after I go shopping for Chrome messenger bags.
XD