WPC 13 brings 1,300-plus to Albuquerque to tackle tough issues

A cadre of UCCS faculty and staff spent spring break teaching and learning about the advantages that are often provided to groups of people based on their social identities.

At least ten faculty members, three current and former staff members, and more than a dozen current and former UCCS students attended WPC 13 in Albuquerque, N.M., March 28 to 31. They did everything from leading workshops to assisting some of the more than 1,300 participants with anything from getting lunch to processing complex emotions.

The recent Florida shooting of a black teenager, Trayvon Martin, by his white neighbor served as a backdrop and fueled many discussions about the advantages associated with being white, including the presumption of innocence in the shooting of a black teen.

WPC stands for White Privilege Conference, a term that organizers freely admit can be polarizing. They quickly point out they are not anti-white but are vehemently anti-white supremacist. They seek to build both relationships and understanding across differences in race, gender, religion, sexual orientation and other identities.

Privilege is a term often used by sociologists and other academic disciplines to categorize various “isms” – racism, sexism, ageism, and heterosexism – as well as discrimination based on physical ability. This year’s conference theme: “Intersectionality: Vision, Commitment, and Sustainable Partnership,” signals the conference’s focus beyond only race.

Since 2007, WPC has been institutionally housed at UCCS, specifically the Matrix Center for the Advancement of Social Equity and Inclusion. The conference rotates locations and relies on local volunteers and sponsors. In Albuquerque, the New Mexico Equity and Social Justice Alliance was a collaborator as was the University of New Mexico. Next year, the conference will be in Seattle.

Morning conference sessions began with Navajo and Acoma blessings, lessons themselves in Native American culture and traditions. The blessings included drums and the burning of sage as thanks was given to mother earth, setting the stage for WPC founder and director Eddie Moore Jr. to explain to those who ranged in ages from 13 to more than 70 why this conference was different.

“This is not the ‘Hunger Games,’” the charismatic Moore told the audience which, for the first time, included middle school youth. “We’re not looking for the greatest white activist on the planet here. Don’t be looking to destroy folks to rise yourself to the top. Check yourself before you wreck yourself.”

Moore encouraged those in attendance to create a family atmosphere where hugs and handshakes were common and appreciated. Those gestures were particularly important when coupled with difficult topics of racism, sexism and homophobia.

But Moore, director of diversity at the Brooklyn Friends School, and Abby Ferber, director, Matrix Center, and professor, Sociology and Women’s and Ethnic Studies, did not present themselves as all-knowing. Ferber said she “always learns something new” at the conference.  Moore acknowledged ageism on his part through doubting the abilities of middle schoolers who helped organize the conference.. He also revealed his own discomfort when using a gender-neutral restroom for the first time.

“Trust me, you will live through it,” Moore told the crowd of his experience amid a few chuckles.

But most WPC subjects did not draw laughs.

Heidi Beirich, representing the Southern Poverty Law Center, talked about the explosion of white supremacists groups, also known as sovereigns, who defy the nation’s laws and are considered domestic terrorists. Such groups have proliferated since the election of President Barack Obama and have used the election of an African-American president as a rallying point.

But while Beirich believes two-thirds of the estimated 1,000 hate groups operating in the U.S. are “white power” organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis, or skinheads, there are also radical black, Hispanic and anti-gay organizations. She said there are more than 200,000 hate crimes committed annually with members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community often facing attacks. There is a surge of anti-immigrant crime as well.

“We define a hate group as anyone who treats others as a lessor,” Beirich said.

Demographics are one factor driving the violence. In 1970, 80 percent of the U.S. was white. By 2050, whites will be a minority. Hate groups are using statistics to incite fear of the inevitable change occurring in the U.S.

“Hate groups and hate crimes are a reaction to the positive things happening in this country,” Beirich said before outlining some of the tactics the Southern Poverty Law Center uses to disrupt them.

Those tactics include lawsuits in civil courts, law enforcement training to recognize hate crimes and bias, films and other efforts to both reduce bullying, and the encouragement for average people to speak up when they see bigotry and racism.

But not all divisions occur within traditional racial lines.

The former president of Gallaudet University, Jane Kelleher Fernandes, spoke of divisions within the deaf community, lines that often are rooted in racism, privilege and tradition.

Fernandes explained that deep divisions exist between deaf Americans who use American Sign Language as their primary means of communication and those who have learned to speak and to read lips. Frequently, white deaf Americans come from multiple generations of ASL users and refuse to accept those of differing races or those who chose to operate in a hearing world by speaking and reading lips.

Fernandes told of her efforts to change the culture within Gallaudet, efforts that resulted in riots, threats against her and, finally, her dismissal as she sought to change what she called the “white deaf privilege culture.”

Fernandes encouraged the mostly hearing-abled crowd to include deaf and deaf blind people in the workplace and to encourage the teaching of American Sign Language in the public schools to create a “critical mass” of interpreters as a way to break down barriers.

“You are allies of social justice,” Fernandes said. “Be exuberant in your pursuit. Stand up to people who need to be stood up to.”

Presenting at the conference were: Ferber; Lynda Dickson, associate professor, Sociology; Heather Albanesi, associate professor, Sociology; Jeff Montez De Oca, assistant professor, Sociology; Dena Samuels, assistant professor, Women’s and Ethnic Studies; Andrea Herrera, professor, Women’s and Ethnic Studies; Janice Gould, assistant professor, Women’s and Ethnic Studies, Carole Woodall, assistant professor, Women’s and Ethnic Studies and assistant professor, History; Christina Jimenez, associate professor, History, and Daryl Miller, former program assistant, Matrix Center.

Marguerite Cantu, senior instructor, Communication, volunteered and assisted with registration and other event details. Marqita Jones, program manager, Matrix Center, served as the event’s primary staff member and volunteer organizer.

For more information about the WPC, and related year round programming, visit http://www.whiteprivilegeconference.com/