"So You Want to Talk About Race" Week 8 Update

Week 8 - 13 attendees - Leader: Rev. Amy Lincoln (Karen Buys being absent)

Chapter 10: What is cultural appropriation?

As with some earlier chapters, there wasn’t much to discuss about the material as it was presented. We agreed that the definition given was pretty good: “Cultural appropriation is what is occurring when a dominant culture (think White, Male, Eurocentric) receives material and financial benefit from a piece of culture being siphoned away from the culture that is being appropriated.” In addition to rap music as presented in the chapter (madonna took this “mainstream” with her song “Vogue”), examples given were Elvis Presley’s appropriation of black/African-American songwriters’ and singers’ works; e.g., Big Mama Thornton’s recording in 1953 sold a half million copies, but Elvis’s recording in 1956 sold 10 million. Perhaps more benign examples were the adoption of St Patrick’s Day (generally not celebrated in Ireland), the founding of Taco Bell (based on Glen Bell’s hot dog drive-in first in San Bernardino, CA), and all manor of Halloween costumes. Regarding whether if one’s “borrowing” of a custom or cultural aspect is inappropriate, the chapter’s message was that “if it is offensive to any member of the culture whose aspect is being appropriated, then it is cultural appropriation.”

Chapter 11: Why can’t I touch your hair?

Again, this was pretty straightforward, and touched lightly on “microaggressions” that will be discussed in detail next week.

The class had an opportunity to engage in an action as it closed. It was pointed out that there were a number of scarecrows placed on Main Street in celebration of the season and that at least one of them had a black face mask on it. Many of the attendees left at the end of the meeting to observe these. There were mixed feelings about the mask per se, but the way the scarecrow was hanging on a pole was definitely offensive. A call was a made to the Flemington Community Partnership (FCP), and an investigation by them found that masks had been added by unknown persons to the rather nondescript scarecrows. FCP had at the masks removed and appreciated the concerns voiced and were grateful for our group’s intervention.

The group also engages in a number of lively discussions via emails on topics of interest. Among these have been posts on various websites. The websites are as follows:

Video, 5:35 in length

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QokU6ayk6g&feature=youtu.be

A longer interview (in multiple parts) is here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhLY0JqXP-s

An article in Sojourners:

https://sojo.net/articles/study-shows-racism-shortens-lifespan-black-people

This is quite long, but it addresses some of the reasons for the discrepancies between black wealth and white wealth

https://features.propublica.org/black-land-loss/heirs-property-rights-why-black-families-lose-land-south/?utm_content=buffercce0c&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=buffer

It is notable in that New Jersey has introduced legislation to correct this matter.

And finally, there is also a wealth gap in contributions to Democratic presidential candidates in terms of color:

https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-am-04444700-b7df-4ce6-bd91-acd5c6ce0cb6.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiosam&stream=top

Peace,

— Duncan Taylor

Maasai Village: Request for Support from Marianne and Ed Fimbel

To our friends at Grace,

Ed and I recently went to Africa. I would say it was a very life-impacting experience! We would like to share one piece of it with all of you in the hope that you will then be interested in joining a project with us.

We visited a Maasai village (see attached pictures). We were greeted by a group of people who truly amazed us. They live in a village with no running water or technology and have little in the way of food and what we would consider the basics of life. The school was a room with a blackboard and benches. Yet the children responded to us as if we were long lost relatives. I have rarely had people react with so much joy upon seeing me. I will attach some pictures. The little boy that I was holding was curious about my phone but had absolutely no reaction when I showed him his picture. I was told later he didn't know it was his picture as he really doesn't know what he looks like.

They live at the top of the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania. It is near the equator but it gets cool at night due to the high elevation. The Maasai warrior who guarded our camp at night (we were visited by zebras, wildebeests, etc.) had no gloves or raincoat and were quite cold in the morning. The little boy I was holding had very cold hands and feet in addition to having a cold.

Ed and I hope to send them school supplies and clothes. As the whole village is in need of warm clothing any size is good. The people were all thin and many were tall. The children need navy pants so they can attend school and I was told the Maasai love the color red.

The guide we worked with, Baraka, will pick up the boxes in Arusha and drive them to the director of our camp. They will bring the items to the villagers and send us pictures.

If you feel moved to donate new or gently used clothing, school supplies or money to help with the mailing expenses, we would be grateful. More than that, you will be making a big impact on the people of the village.

Thank you,

— Marianne and Ed Fimbel

Family Promise Support Opportunity

Dear Grace UCC, there are currently four homeless families in the Family Promise network in need of our support. As I announced at church on Sunday, the Flemington Presbyterian Church (FPC) will be hosting the families for the next two weeks. And our support of that hosting is important. This hosting has been organized the way we have become most comfortable.

Click to Volunteer

Steve Lederach and I are in particular need of volunteers for those first 3 days (Sun-Tue). It hard for those of us coordinating this hosting to relax when many of the early slots are still open. So please, let’s get these slots filled, moving from the left to the right please. And rumor has it, if you do multiple slots, you win favor with Pastor Dan! I know. It’s a very small reward… :)

Lastly, I won’t have the demographic break down of the four families (adults, children, ages, etc.) until the official memo comes out. In the meantime, let’s start volunteering.

Thank you.

— Bill Taylor