“An articulate Black woman.”
LA Voice is the affiliate of the PICO National Network. Founded by Catholic theologian John Baumann as the Pacific Institute for Community Organization (now called People In Communities Organizing) in Oakland in 1972, the organization has a heavy Black and Catholic presence. My involvement with PICO has put me in touch with some incredible activists and thought leaders around areas of poverty and race. To say that my eyes have been opened is an understatement—I feel like I was once truly blind. I am grateful for the gentle (and sometimes necessarily disturbing) lessons taught to me by its leadership.
At a gathering in Los Angeles, we were challenged to explore our own racial biases. “Me, racially biased!?” I thought. No way! I’m totally aware! Just then a Black woman rose to speak about her experiences with racial bias. I thought, “she’s so articulate.” And then she asked the provocative question: “When a white woman rises to speak, how often do you say she’s an articulate white woman?” Uh-oh…how did she know what I was thinking?
Here’s the lesson. I thought that I’d devoted a great deal of time to making myself aware of my internal biases. From my encounters with Black churches after the LA riots in 1992, to my work with PICO, to the books I’ve read—I believed I had it figured out. Until this insightful woman asked me to plumb deeper into my own proclivities. And it was then that I discovered, it is always a work in progress.
Here’s a good place to start learning about implicit bias. Or just Google it!
— Rabbi Ron Stern
Learn more about anti-racism and find educational resources here