We wrote last week about the rise of organized, open white supremacy in our nation, and how different folks are coping with the emotional impact of the hate and violence in Charlottesville. Today we’re sharing some reflections from Sierra Club staff members about how white supremacy impacts their lives every day. Sierra Club often gets pushback on social media and even from our own members when we speak out against white supremacy or in support of movements like Black Lives Matter. Some folks say they don’t understand why Sierra Club considers solidarity with folks struggling against oppression to be a part of our mission. When I spoke to other staff members about how Charlottesville was impacting them, I was reminded that many people in the Sierra Club community are also folks struggling against oppression in their own lives.
The Sierra Club community cannot simply look away from this violence and hate. Last week in Durham, North Carolina the local Sierra Club office was forced to close because the Klu Klux Klan was planning to march outside their building. Chelsea Watson, Communications Apprentice with the Beyond Coal campaign in Durham, told me:
“When we found out the KKK was planning to march through Durham, it felt like a fire alarm had gone off, and no one knew whether to stick around or run for their lives. Charlottesville had sown a new kind of fear around white supremacist rallies. I knew the KKK would be armed and that they literally wanted to end people's lives - my life included. Deciding to go to the counter-protest was an extremely hard decision, because the stakes felt higher than ever before. Everyone around me was telling me to go home and be safe, but I knew I couldn't stay home. Rallying with hundreds of other Durham residents reminded me of our collective strength, and suddenly I was less afraid. There's a time for action and a time for reflection, and now is the time to act.”
Sierra Club staff in Durham rallying against the KKK
Rita Harris, (pictured below) Senior Organizing Representative with the Sierra Club in Memphis told me: ”A deep level of trust has eroded for me personally. I feel it can be dangerous for people of color to let their guard down in this current hate-filled climate. As an African American mother I am constantly concerned with the possibility of hateful acts being committed against my son. I am also concerned about the safety of my grandchildren. I am worried about them each time they go out into the world. I know there are hundreds of hate groups all over this country and I never know when their members or sympathizers will strike randomly or purposely against us."
Eva Hernandez-Simmons, (pictured below with family) Senior Field Organizing Manager for Sierra Club in Austin, Texas, reflected: “The news was a gut punch - one that I feel far too often as the mother of two black boys. I feel a growing resolve not to let the hate of the white supremacists touch me, a growing resolve to experience the love and joy of my community and my family and to ensure that my actions and words were coming from that place of love and a vision of a different and better world. At Sierra Club we have an obligation to do everything in our power to challenge the biggest threat to human safety and security - the same threat to our democracy, our environment, and many of our communities - which is the same system of power that upholds white supremacy.”
The Director of our Environmental Justice program, Leslie Fields, (pictured below) reflected with me on the ways that white supremacy impacts her life every single day, before and after Charlottesville: “As an African-American woman, I have been exposed to white supremacy in every facet of my life. I have lived in the Midwest, on the East Coast, in the Mid-Atlantic region, Texas and California. It's everywhere. In the office, I have to be careful about what I say in certain situations while speaking my truth. When I walk home through several different police jurisdictions, I always pay attention if I see them. I have been a victim of crime and the burden is always on me to show the police that I'm actually the victim. Lately, when I open the gate to my front yard I've been asked, "Do you live here and OWN this house?!" by some of my newer neighbors. There’s no part of my life that isn’t impacted by white supremacy.”
Before and after Charlottesville, white supremacy impacts the lives of Sierra Club staff, members and volunteers every single day. That’s one of many reasons that Sierra Club will continue to support those in our community impacted by oppression and to call out the bigots who are trying to divide us from one another. We won’t back down or be quiet while members of our community are under attack - we’re going to speak out louder than ever before.