UER at the White Privilege Conference, April, 2004
Fifteen Co-Counselors participated in and presented at the Fifth Annual Conference on White Privilege (WPC) in Pella, Iowa, USA, in late April of 2004. The four-day conference assisted people to look at the material advantages that accrue to some but not others due to racism, and about working to dismantle this system of privilege and oppression. The conference presentations, programs, workshops, and other gatherings facilitate people of color and white people looking at and talking about how racism has affected their lives. The goal of the WPC is to create an environment where honest dialogue and understanding can occur rather than eliciting guilt and shame. As the Conference description says, "No purpose is served through white folks feeling bad about being white."
UER's goal at the conference was to support this perspective, support the work of the conference and it's organizers, and share what we know about how racism is a deep hurt to everyone and how it can be healed.
Co-Counselors had attended this conference as participants in the past, and the conference organizer welcomed our proposal to contribute to the work of the 2004 conference. United to End Racism conducted a pre-conference day-long workshop called "Healing the Damage Done by Racism." We also conducted five workshops during the conference itself: "Healing the Damage Done by Racism," "The Role of Young People in Ending Racism," "The Role of White People in Ending Racism," "Healing the Damage of Internalized Racism," and "Our Experiences in Doing Healing Work within the Prison System" (the prison system as a racist institution was a sub-theme of the conference). We also organized and led support groups for conference participants.
Dvora Slavin and L.G. Shanklin-Flowers organized UER's participation in the Conference.
The website of the Conference is: http://www.whiteprivilegeconference.com.