If Not Now, When?

We are grateful to our remarkable friend, Tracie Jae, The Quiet Rebel, for giving us an opportunity to have these necessary dialogues. It’s time we take a look at our lived experiences based on race and culture AND those of our neighbors. Will you join the Like Minds team on Saturday, June 13th from 7 pm to 9 pm CST for “Hear Our Voices: Women’s Dialogue on Race and Culture” facilitated by Tracie Jae, The Quiet Rebel?

If Not Now, When?

June 1, 2020 Jenny Gustafson

You likely already know that Like Minds Communications is a Jewish and white-owned business based in Houston, Texas, the hometown of George “Big” Floyd, who was murdered on May 25, 2020. You also likely know that we (Jenny and Melina) are not shy about our views and our all too frequent condemnation of antisemitism, racism, anti-LGBTQIA+ rhetoric, Islamophobia, xenophobia, misogyny and hate, in general. And we want you to know that we are with you. Even if our voice trembles, even if we say the wrong thing. We are outraged, and we want more for our country and for our black neighbors.

As diligently and passionately as we try to stand up to hate, intolerance and unchecked biases, we are often unsuccessful and unwelcome. We’ve seen the eye rolls and have heard the “okay snowflake”-type remarks...from our own professional networks, friends and family members. They don’t want to talk about race, confront their privilege or acknowledge the microaggressions they commit regularly, let alone hear the term used. They don’t want to be reminded that their “barely racist” remark was in fact extremely racist...or that their implicitly biased word choices (you know the ones: retarded, gay, hood...the list goes on and on) are problematic for far more reasons than being politically incorrect. They don’t want to have to give up their privilege or acknowledge their (our) part in the systemic racism that makes America a mostly great place for white folks (the authors included)...but not for people of color.

Avoiding painful conversations and clinging to privilege are no longer tolerable choices.

Because what is truly intolerable is white complicity in the suffering of black, indigenous and people of color since the founding of this country to this present day. Your (our) discomfort with the reality of America’s inbred, systemic racism pales in comparison to the suffering of those persecuted by the system.

And, while we could take the easy route and rest on our privilege, our hearts won’t let us resume “business as usual.” As a mission-driven agency, we are obligated to engage in dialogue with others, to acknowledge systemic and societal problems and to take action. It is at the core of our being as an agency. And, quite frankly, it is at the core of our (Jenny’s and Melina’s) Jewish upbringing and ideology.

Jewish texts and teachings consistently remind us of our responsibility to repair the world and to support our fellow human beings. In one of the most important Jewish texts, the Talmud, Rabbi Hillel said “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?”

He also is responsible for the “Golden Rule,” explaining: “That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation; go and learn.”

And, Rabbi Hillel taught us: “Whosoever destroys one soul, it is as though he had destroyed the entire world. And whosoever saves a life, it is as though he had saved the entire world.”

Not only did we learn to value every life, but also we learned what happens when people choose the opposite path.

As Jews, we are painfully familiar with the consequences of entire populations standing idly by and watching hate escalate from words to violence, to genocide. Our ancestors perished in Poland and Russia at the hands of Nazis, while entire populations of bystanders did nothing. Conversely, we learned of the few brave “righteous gentiles” who risked their lives to save their Jewish neighbors from what would have been their peril in ovens, death marches and gas chambers. Unfortunately, antisemitism runs rampant across space and time and does not exist exclusively in the context of the Holocaust, just as racism did not start and end with slavery, lynchings and segregation. And it is partially because of this acute awareness of Jew-hatred in all its forms that we are compelled to stand with victims of hatred no matter how it rears its ugly head.

We are proud that Jewish leaders, like Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, walked alongside Martin Luther King, Jr. from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. But that wasn’t enough. Because here we are, painfully faced with the evil truth of racism as it’s reflected on our TV screens, reverberating on our social media timelines and spliced all over our newspapers. George Floyd was killed because of the color of his skin. As were thousands of black Americans before him (1,252 human beings since 2015, to be exact). And had it not been recorded for the umpteenth time (and even had it been recorded), it would have gone unchecked…again.

So, where do we go from here? We don’t have all of the answers. But we do know that we will double down on our allyship.

We'll double down by beginning with a dialogue, even if it is a messy one. We are grateful to our remarkable friend, Tracie Jae, The Quiet Rebel, for giving us an opportunity to have these necessary dialogues. It’s time we take a look at our lived experiences based on race and culture AND those of our neighbors. Will you join the Like Minds team on Saturday, June 13th from 7 pm to 9 pm CST for “Hear Our Voices: Women’s Dialogue on Race and Culture” facilitated by Tracie Jae, The Quiet Rebel?

Your $30 entry is an investment in our shared future and covers the cost of Tracie’s preparation and facilitation of the two-hour session. We encourage other businesses to join us in sponsoring their employees to share in dialogue. As such, groups of five can take advantage of a discounted fee of $125.

And even still…

We will not stay silent.
We will not avoid painful dialogues.
We will continue to educate ourselves and provide resources for others, including this reading list which is an excellent start...but just a start.
We will continue to support organizations like the ACLU, Minnesota Freedom Fund, Southern Poverty Law Center and Anti-Defamation League.
We will recruit and hire more black team members for our agency.
We will patronize and promote black-owned businesses.
We will continue to use our voices and our privilege to vote and to pressure our elected officials to enact bail reform, end mass incarceration and reduce mandatory minimum sentences and more.
We will support our team members in their action, including paying for their time away from work when it means they are fighting for change...beginning tomorrow as many of our team members choose to march with the Floyd family from Discovery Green to City Hall.

Among the many videos and images circulating the media is footage of Jane Elliott, an anti-racist activist and educator, posing a simple prompt to a seated crowd of white people: “if you, as white people, would be happy to be treated the way blacks are treated in this society, then stand up.” Not one person stands. Jane concludes, “That says very plainly that you know what’s happening. You know you don’t want it for you. I want to know why you’re so willing to accept it or to allow it to happen for others.”

Will you join us? Will you discard your discomfort and take a stand for your fellow humans? Will you do your part to repair the world?

If not now, when?