For the past two months, about 100 Waunakee community members have been engaged in a community learning project, exploring systemic racism within the United States.
Led by diversity and equity consultants Percy Brown Jr. and Rainey Briggs, the group met via Zoom six times and discussed chapters of Joe R. Feagin’s “The White Racial Frame: Centuries of Racial Framing and Counter-Framing” in breakout groups during each session.
Percy spoke to the Waunakee Rotary Club May 20 about the project and described how he became involved in diversity, equity and inclusion work. His grandfather was an educator and, with his father, was a civil rights movement leader in Mississippi. When white student Freedom Fighters traveled from Madison to the South to help with Black voter registration efforts, a few UW-Madison students stayed with Percy’s family. It was the first positive experience his father had had among white people, Percy said, and he later applied to and attended UW-Madison then settled in the area.
Percy said his family is aligned with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in his social justice and equity work. He is guided by their efforts and bases his own work on Dr. King’s notion of building better communities, a humanitarian effort.
A year ago, the U.S. entered into a perfect storm, Percy said, as it was hit with COVID-19 and the murder of George Floyd by a white Minneapolis police officer. U.S. Politics had become polarized, and soon issues of racism and COVID seemed to be divided by political ideology, he added.
Percy had heard some saying racism is no longer an issue, and some are demonizing social justice work as anti-humanitarian as they criticize the use of critical race theory.
The community learning project in Waunakee drew more than 100 people. A survey asking about racism in the U.S. was given during the first and final sessions with more than 100 respondents during the first session and 79 during the final session. One question asked if the participants understood steps to take to create a more loving community or just society. A significantly higher number of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that they understood those steps on the exit survey. With different numbers of participants responding to both surveys, judging the exact impact is difficult.
“For me, on a personal level, I was hearing very meaningful discussions of how people are trying to move the conversation forward,” Percy said, adding strong ideological or political beliefs sometimes pose barriers.
Percy and Rainey’s diversity, equity and inclusion work in Wisconsin school districts is recognized as important for students’ success after they graduate and enter more diverse workplaces and universities. The goal is to build cultural competence, so they feel comfortable in places where they may find themselves in the minority.
Percy builds his work around a foundation of humanitarianism.
Other news:
-Phil Willems and other club members will be selling flower baskets Friday and Saturday at Village Park. The proceed support Rotary and the village’s 150th year.
- Tri 4 Schools was rainy once again.
-Taylor Endres is scheduled for surgery on June 3
-June 29 is the steak fry, or changing of the guard, at Drumlin Ridge Winery.
-June 21 is Make Music Waunakee and a sesquicentennial celebration will be at Hometown Pharmacy.
Birthdays: June 2, Tom Roepke; June 2, Tom Kennedy.
Anniversaries: May 30, Phil and Betty Willems
