What Quakers (and others) can do to address the racial justice crisis

I serve on the Peace and Social Concerns Committee of Orange Grove Friends (Quaker) 

Meeting. Yesterday (June 8) this committee approved circulating the following statement recommending what Friends and others can do to address the racial injustice in our country and in our personal lives. 

RESPONDING TO THE CALL OF PACIFIC YEARLY MEETING CLERK REGARDING RACIAL JUSTICE

As Quakers are we hearing the call from God to witness racism, feeling the injustice in our 

bodies and then discerning ways to live into mending the harm?  We cannot be silent or complacent.  By virtue of our faith we are called to witness to white supremacy, domination, and disregard for humanity.   We are called to discern how we will live and speak so that all people have the space and air and choices that we all have been given by God.  

We must look consciously for and weed out the ways within the Religious Society of Friends of the Truth that constrict us in patterns of oppression or silencing of other human beings.  I ask that we reflect deeply, ask for guidance, and follow that guidance.

Sandy Kewman
Presiding Clerk of Pacific Yearly Meeting

In light of this call from Clerk of PYM, Peace and Social Concerns Committee of Orange Grove Meeting recommends that Friends follow her request and seek ways to witness to racial justice as led by Spirit. Here are some specific actions and resources for you to consider prayerfully, many of which are recommended by our Quaker organizations. Others are recommended by local activist groups.

1)       Invite for Adult Study a leader from your community who is a person of color concerned with issues such as police accountability. (Please feel free to make a recommendation.)

2)       Read and discuss  Fit for Freedom, Not for Friendship: Quakers, African Americans, and the Myth of Racial Justice. By Donna McDaniel and Vanessa This book documents the spiritual and practical impacts of discrimination in the Religious Society of Friends in the belief that understanding the truth of our past is vital to achieving a diverse, inclusive community in the future. There is a common misconception that most Quakers assisted fugitive slaves and involved themselves in civil rights activism because of their belief in equality. While there were Friends committed to ending enslavement and post-enslavement injustices, Fit for Freedom, Not for Friendship reveals that racism has been as insidious, complex, and pervasive among Friends as it has been generally among people of European descent.

3)       Support AFSC recommendation that we contact our Governor and tell him:  Invest in communities, not policing! This link makes it easy: https://www.afsc.org/action/tell-your-governor-invest-communities-not-policing

4)       Take time and read the excellent resources on the Friends General Conference (FGC) website: WAYS THAT WHITE PEOPLE CAN TAKE ACTION TO OPPOSE RACISM (Fundraisers listed below have no affiliation with FGC or OGMM.)

 ·   The Movement for Black Lives    https://m4bl.org/ 

·   List of Bail Funds for Protestors across the Country:   https://bailfunds.github.io/

·   Anti-Racism Resources for White People and Parents to Deepen our Anti-Racism Work:    https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BRlF2_zhNe86SGgHa6-VlBO-QgirITwCTugSfKie5Fs/edit 

·   Justice for Breonna Taylor;    https://justiceforbreonna.org/ 

·   Official George Floyd Memorial Fund:    https://www.gofundme.com/f/georgefloyd 

·   75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice:    https://medium.com/equality-includes-you/what-white-people-can-do-for-racial-justice-f2d18b0e0234 

·   Floyd Murder by Police Officer Is an Outrage, Says National Council of Churches USA:    https://nationalcouncilofchurches.us/floyd-murder/ 

·   38 Community Bail Funds to Support Right Now:    https://secure.actblue.com/donate/bail_funds_george_floyd 

5)       Go to https://fcnl.quorum.us/ and write your member of Congress asking them to take swift action in response to ongoing fatal and racist police killings and other violence against Black people across our country. Urge them to co-sponsor :

·     The End Racial and Religious Profiling Act (S. 2355): Bans federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies from using race or religion to influence police stops, searches, and immigration proceedings.

·     The PEACE Act (H.R. 4359): Establishes a national “necessary” use of force standard to prevent police officers from using lethal force unless all non-lethal methods have been exhausted.·     The Eric Garner Excessive Force Prevention Act (H.R. 4408): Makes it illegal for police to use any hold or grip that blocks the throat or windpipe. The sort of choke holds that police used to kill Eric Garner and George Floyd.·     The Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act (H.R. 1714): Would stop military hardware from flowing into the hands of civilian law enforcement agencies by ending the 1033 program that provide such things as helicopters, armored vehicles and military guns.·     Urge your members of congress to cosponsor these bills and be a champion for racial justice and equitable policing.

5) Support the efforts of the Friends Committee on Legislation of California to address the needs of minority and low-income communities during the Covid 19 crisis. People of color have been disproportionately impacted by this pandemic. Go to fclca.org to take action.

·        Tell your Assemblymember you support job protected paid family leave for all!

·        Add your name in support of a #SafetyNet4All - provide immediate support to undocumented workers in California

·        Tell Gov. Newsom to include all California Seniors in Medi-Cal regardless of immigration status

·        Tell legislators and the governor to include all income eligible tax-filers in the CA Earned Income Tax Credit and Young Child Tax Credit, including immigrants who work with Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers

·        Register for the Work and Family Coalition's Virtual Advocacy Day on June 11- Sign up to advocate for paid sick leave and paid family leave - join virtual legislative visits and more.  FCLCA is part of the Work and Family Coalition -The COVID-19 crisis highlights the importance of Paid Sick Days and Paid Family Leave protections—no one should lose their job or face economic insecurity because they are sick, caring for an ill family member or complying with public health directives.

6)     Write to our local Pasadena officials urging them to reduce funding for police so there is more funding available to address crime prevention crime and disparity. For example, affordable housing is listed on the national crime prevention website as a deterrent to crime. We spend approximately $80 million on the police and $1.3 million to run our housing department. There is no dedicated funding source for affordable housing in Pasadena. Pasadena was once 25% African American, but today less than 8% yet a very high percent of the 527 counted this year as homeless are Black. Most Black have left due to gentrification, they have either been priced out or cashed out. Very little of Pasadena’s funding is spent on improving historically Black neighborhoods and density is kept low, preventing economic and housing development. Here are the email addresses of our City Council members: ttornek@cityofpasadena.net, thampton@cityofpasadena.net, mmcaustin@cityofpasadena.net, gmasuda@cityofpasadena.net, smadison@cityofpasadena.net, vgordo@cityofpasadena.net, awilson@cityofpasadena.net

7)       Urge our City Council to seriously a motion authored by LA County Supervisors Janice Hahn and Mark Ridley-Thomas calling for police departments in the county to include the following eight policies outlined by Campaign Zero:

·        Requiring officers to intervene to stop another officer from using excessive force

·        Restricting, or prohibiting, the use of chokeholds, strangleholds, and carotid restraints

·        Requiring officers to de-escalate situations, when possible, before using force

·        Using a Force Continuum or Matrix that defines and limits the types of force that can be used to respond to specific types of resistance

·        Requiring officers to give a verbal warning before using deadly force

·        Prohibiting officers from shooting at people in moving vehicles unless the person poses a deadly threat by means other than the vehicle

·        Requiring officers to exhaust all other reasonable alternatives before resorting to using deadly force

·        Requiring comprehensive reporting that includes both uses of force and threats of force

8)       Support the recommendations by Coalitions for Increased Civilian Oversight of Pasadena Police (CICOPP) that the Pasadena City Council:

·        create a civilian oversight commission, with the power to investigate police violence and abuse, as happened with unarmed Kendrec McDade,19 (shot 7 times by the police), Reginald Thomas and Christopher Ballew.  

·        revise its policy on the use of deadly force to reflect the legal language of police reform bill AB392 passed in 2019.