Re-emerging from Witness Patterns
Several of my recent mistakes around racism have involved witnessing racism, thinking briefly about it, and then forgetting about it. I have been discharging on this and have remembered the following:
- In my childhood I witnessed oppression many times every day. No one identified it or spoke against it until I was eight years old.
- I felt sexism personally and fought against it. Much of my response was reactive. I was acting out distress rather than responding flexibly. I don’t recall ever talking about it with anyone.
- When I was eight years old, a teacher interrupted racism in my class at school. That was important for me. Someone had named racism and spoken against it. She was my hero. I ran home and shared the good news with my family—and was belittled [treated as unimportant and contemptible] for doing so.
I have been discharging on the eight years of witnessing silence about racism. Here’s what I plan to do in the next period (along with discharging):
- Every time I witness oppression, I will say, “That was oppression.” I will stop what I am doing and focus on this important thing that just happened.
- Then I will ask myself, “Does something need to be done now about it?” and answer that question.
- Next I will ask if the targeted person is being listened to and supported. I will make sure someone is doing that (it doesn’t have to be me). If it would be useful, I will communicate to the targeted person that I noticed what happened and care.
- If I can’t tell [perceive] that the oppression is being handled well by others, I will ask the targeted person if they want my or someone else’s help to address it. And I will address it myself if that is what they prefer.
This is going to work better and better as I keep discharging and speaking up.
What is your experience with discharging on and re-emerging from witness patterns?
[See related article on the following page.]
D— USA
Reprinted from the RC e-mail discussion list for white allies ending racism
(Present Time 207, April 2022)
Last modified: 2022-12-25 10:17:04+00