Current Issues, History , Reparations, Race

Notes taken by Sharon Jarrett

The meeting was called to order by Dick Myers, there were initially 6 participants with a 7th joining after the meeting started.

Before the discussion began it was noted that the American Historical Association (www.historians.org)
had released a joint statement with 105 other organizations titled "Joint Statement on Legislation Efforts to Restrict Education about Racism in American History". The statement noted "It is not possible to address divisions that exist without honest reckoning with their history."

The discussion turned to a number of topics recently in the news with many posted on the blog. Included were:

The cutting off of the microphone of a speaker at an Ohio commemoration of Veterans Day. There was a backlash over the event with many in the community wanting to hear the comments and organizers not agreeing with the speaker.
The signing of Legislation to make Juneteenth a national holiday.

Clint Smith's book, "How the Word is Passed" particularly the sections related to the United Daughters of the Confederacy and Sons of Confederate Fathers.

The United Churches of Christ postings on the topic "What June 19th means to me".

A recent article in Harper's Magazine "History Wars: 1619 versus 1776". Noted was the difference in thinking between a colonial versus a national view of history.

The commercialization of Juneteenth. The group had mixed feelings about this, some thinking it was at least bring the holiday into the discussion space, others feeling it was inappropriate.

It was noted that Portland is repurposing space to offer a safe place for community discussion on issues of concern to the community.

Reparations were discussed with it being noted that the City of Tulsa, Virginia Theological Seminary and the State of California were moving forward with either discussions or programs about how to offer reparations to the descendents of enslaved ancestors. The group felt there was an increasing acceptance of the idea of reparations but how to structure the settlements was a sticking point. A suggestion made relative to the Tulsa Massacre was paying the insurance claims filed in 1921.

A participant informed the group of a organization Jack and Jill of America which uses annual conferences to teach and build organizational skills in adolescents with the idea being they will be future community organizers.

Additional short discussions focused on voter suppression and Critical Race Theory, particularly the misunderstanding of the theory and it's analysis structure.

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Links to the articles that lead to this discussion can be found on our previous post: Reparations, Censorship and Accountability
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Cancelation Notice:

In anticipation of the 1st post COVID celebration f July 4th, we have decided to cancel our July 2nd meeting. Our next meeting will take place on the 3rd Friday of the Month, July 16th at Noon. Happy 4th of July to all and we hope to see you on the 16th.

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Current Issues, History , Reparations, Race