|
|
People working together for social, economic and environmental justice in Tennessee
|
|
The Anti-Racism
Committee:
DISMANTLING RACISM
VOTER RIGHTS
|
 |
In January 2003 SOCM members who had attended
Dismantling Racism Workshops formed the Anti-Racism Committee to work on social
justice issues. The committee works to address racism on an organizational
level. It also works with other organizations on the statewide issue of
restoring voting rights to citizens convicted of felonies.
|
|
About the Anti-Racism
Team: Most people do not
understand the difference between prejudice and institutional racism. These are
two completely different things. Anti-racism training teaches us that we are
not dealing with individual prejudice but with institutional racism and white
privilege which has been present throughout the history of the United States and
which continues to harm all people of all colors.
In order to be a truly
inclusive, strong statewide force for change, for several years SOCM has
sponsored Dismantling Racism workshops. As a result of these trainings, a group
of SOCM members took further intensive training and formed a SOCM Anti-Racism
Team. The Anti-Racism Team has provided training for staff and one-on-ones with
SOCM leaders. The team undertook an anti-racism training with the SOCM Board
in March 2006. In response, the Board passed a resolution stating, “We, the
members of SOCM, recognize in a deeper way the need to dismantle racism, so SOCM
can fulfill its vision and mission that embraces all people fairly and equally
across lines of age, race, and income.”
In continuing the progress
toward becoming a truly anti-racist organization, the SOCM Board issued a
mandate to the new SOCM Anti-Racism Team to work within SOCM to expand members’
understanding of how institutional racism affects all people of all colors.
With the help of a special grant plus donations from many individual SOCM
members, a 3-day Anti-Racism Training was held at DuBose Conference Center in
September 2006. Pakou Her and Emily Drew of Crossroads Ministries provided a
broad historical review of racism in the U.S., showing the institutional and
individual bases of racial prejudice and white privilege. Four SOCM members
signed up to become new members of SOCM’s Anti-Racism Team.
|
We are excited that with this expanded team SOCM
can continue its work to build community and strength within SOCM in order that
we may more effectively carry out the SOCM mission which directs us “…to build a
Tennessee where people of diverse backgrounds are empowered through community
action and leadership development to achieve change that improves their quality
of life by addressing issues of environmental, economic, and social justice.”
SOCM members who have attended a two day Dismantling Racism workshop are welcome
to participate on this team.
|
|
What you can do:
•
If anyone would like more information about Dismantling Racism Training or about
the Anti-Racism Team, please contact Rochelle Ziyad at
gzraja@aol.com or (931) 540-0502, SOCM’s
middle Tennessee office.
• Let us know you are interested in these issues and we will keep you informed of future opportunities to participate.
• Join SOCM and join the Social Progress Committee to work on either or both of these issues
• DONATE funds to assist SOCM in expanding its work in these areas
|
|
|
|
About the Voter Rights Group
In the spring of 2003, SOCM was invited to
attend the Critical Resistance South Conference in New Orleans. This
conference was a regional strategy session with grassroots groups from all
over the South. The conference was held in the South because the region
leads the nation in imprisonment rates as well as in imprisonment rates for
drug offenders, African American drug offenders, and youth drug offenders.
SOCM invited a number of
groups who attended the conference to examine the issue of restoring voter
rights to citizens who have been convicted of felonies in Tennessee.
Because Tennessee law has been changed several times over the years, some
Tennesseans convicted of felonies were not eligible to vote while others
had to go through a long and complicated process to have their voting rights
restored. Whether you were ineligible to vote or allowed to regain your
right to vote depended upon the year of your conviction! The group decided
that as a first step they wanted voting rights automatically returned to
people on probation or parole and to those who had served their jail or
prison sentences.
In 2005 SOCM found
sponsors for a bill which would have restored voting rights to people who were no
longer incarcerated. A small part of this bill was introduced as a separate
bill by other legislators. This separate bill, which passed in 2006, makes
restoration of voter rights uniform and automatic. Unfortunately, the bill
excludes whole categories of felons and adds restrictive conditions. SOCM
worked hard to remove these more restrictive measures but was unsuccessful.
|
|
What you can do:
• There
is much work yet to be done. If you are interested in this issue and wish
to obtain detailed information on the voting status of convicted felons or
what constitutes a felony in Tennessee, please send an email to one of the
people listed under the Anti-Racism Committee on the
WHO TO CONTACT page.
|
|
|
