Category: Billie’s Blog.

Social acceptance is open, trusting, deep, and positive regard for others. We recognize everyone’s right to a life of dignity, regardless of skin color and other demographic markers. We learn how the sharing of resources, whether financial, creative, or intellectual, enhances life for everyone, as all receive equal opportunities for expression and participation. Social acceptance tells us to honor the desires of all people to live as fully as possible.

Acceptance does not equal agreement. I may disagree with someone while accepting the person for who she or he is. I have a close friend whose political views differ from mine. When we tackle issues, recognizing that many are volatile, we do so without political rhetoric. We discuss the issue at hand without accusations and finger-pointing. Acceptance doesn’t aim to discount who we are, but to honor everyone as equal, viable, and valuable.

I attended graduate school with a delightful woman who used a wheelchair and who had several obvious physical disabilities. Despite her cheerful disposition, some classmates avoided her or ignored her, which was ironic and unfortunate as the program prepared us to work with people who have disabilities. Students who engaged with her from the outset served as powerful peer examples of what was possible. They showed curiosity, openness, and compassion, which opened a door through which the rest of the class could venture. By the end of the semester, most classmates had grown to accept her intelligence and her contagious, effervescent attitude. The process took time and repeated exposure to her. The overall environment of the class supported the healthy formation of relationships for all students. Interaction and relationships change people’s minds.

Many white people fear that acceptance of minorities threatens what they see as a delicate and precarious status quo of privilege and power. That is far from the intention of acceptance. Social acceptance levels the field of opportunity for everyone. Black people and other marginalized people then have equal chances to reap the benefits that white people take for granted in a thriving society. We are no longer bystanders watching a world that profits from us but denies us access to the rewards that come with privilege. Promoting the welfare of disadvantaged people promotes the welfare of privileged people as well. Privilege under our Constitution is a right intended for everyone. There are more than enough resources for all.

Acceptance is a choice that one arrives at through introspection. It is an opportunity to ask: How can I look at this differently? White people have the responsibility to look at the subtleties and nuances of policies and practices and ask tough questions: (1) Am I exempt from this ruling because I am white?; (2) How does this policy affect Black people and other people of color?; (3) If I build a highway or mall through this neighborhood and displace the residents, how will it affect the existing community and how will that affect me?; (4) Are my decisions humane?; (5) How would I feel if I or a loved one were subjected to this?

White people must begin with admitting the pain and damage their privilege and power have brought into the lives of non-white citizens. They can look honestly at their environment and the world they have created and acknowledge the innumerable privileges they enjoy solely because of the color of their skin and how other people are denied those privileges. They can look at hurtful systemic factors such as the construction of roads through Black neighborhoods, the building of exclusive communities, and the allotment of services. Whenever white people receive a privilege because of the color of their skin, people of color receive an injustice. The challenge is to bring the inequities of white privilege to the attention of white people who care, so they are not blind to it and then, hopefully, have enough empathy to make changes. Transformation begins with white people reaching out to Black people and other people of color with sincerity, honestly and openly admitting the inequities, and offering actual solutions.

While the fundamental change is largely the responsibility of white people, non-white people also have a challenge. We must continue to tell our stories in the news, books, magazines, and on social media. We must continue to speak out about injustices and be willing to risk hearing innumerable times that we are overreacting, that times have changed, or that we need to stop whining. Improving race relations is everyone’s job.

We all have a role to play in the furthering of freedom, inclusion, and equality for all people. We can:

• investigate our fears and prejudices.
• ask ourselves whether our opinions and beliefs are in line with our values.
• take classes and workshops that aim to help us transform our opinions and beliefs about others.
• read books that address issues of race relations and white privilege.
• approach people different from us with an attitude of curiosity and genuine interest.

We are all challenged to look beyond gender, age, disability, and the people who don’t fit our definition of valuable and viable. Change begins on the ground with honesty and sharing, rippling out from one person to another. We must all be willing to be vulnerable and receptive by having the courage to seek people different from us and build relationships.

Previously published on Escape Into Life:

June 25, 2018

Billie Wade is a gregarious introvert whose primary interests are writing, lifelong learning, personal development, and how we all are affected by life’s vagaries.

Issues facing Black people, women, the LGBTQ community, and aging adults are of particular concern to her. She enjoys open-hearted dialogue with diverse people. The opinions expressed here are her own.

Fifteen days separate June 19^th from July 4^th on the calendar. The significant events of these two dates, July 4, 1776, and June 19, 1865, took place eighty-eight years, eleven months, and fifteen days apart. July 4^th was hailed as Independence Day. June 19^th was dubbed Emancipation Day, also known as Juneteenth. The two terms are separate, and they are not equal. On Independence Day, the United States of America extricated itself from the rule of Great Britain and became a sovereignty in its own right. All thirteen colonies signed the Declaration of Independence. Conversely, the Emancipation Proclamation was an Executive Order signed by President Abraham Lincoln. The document freed only those slaves held in Union states, making those men eligible to fight in the Civil War. The Proclamation, delivered to Galveston, Texas, over two and a half years after its signing on January 1, 1863, was as much a war and political strategy rather than a strategy for slave freedom.

While the two documents functioned differently, there were similarities in form: The signers of both were wealthy white men who owned land, livestock, crops, and people whom they regarded as chattel property, livestock, and currency. The Emancipation Proclamation did not consider any input from the enslaved people the document stated it freed. According to Public Broadcasting System (PBS): The Emancipation Proclamation did not free all slaves in the United States. Rather, it declared free only those slaves living in states not under Union control. William Seward, Lincoln’s secretary of state, commented, “We show our sympathy with slavery by emancipating slaves where we cannot reach them and holding them in bondage where we can set them free.” Lincoln was fully aware of the irony, but he did not want to antagonize the slave states loyal to the Union by setting their slaves free.

The proclamation allowed black soldiers to fight for the Union — soldiers that were desperately needed. It also tied the issue of slavery directly to the war.

The Declaration of Independence does not seem to be a declaration of absolute freedom, just freedom from chattel slavery. Enslaved men were released by their holders without financial resources, property, formal education, or vocational training. Then, they were trained in the violence of warfare, Abraham Lincoln’s warfare. We have no immediate information about the freedwomen and children, some of whom had formed family units with the men. Once again, Black families were torn asunder in the name of the whims of wealthy white men. Also, while disentangling Black people from the horrors of slavery, the Emancipation Proclamation fanned the flames of anger, hatred, and fear of white people, especially those who were forced to release their slaves.

Two-hundred-forty-nine-years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the United States of America remains a sovereign country. One-hundred-sixty-years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, African American Descendents of Slaves still are not free. You see, emancipation does not follow a natural trajectory to independence, then to freedom. America is free to decide in the country’s best interests. Black people do not have, and have never had, that freedom. Everything about our lives is dictated to us—where we live, where we worship, what jobs we hold, what our income should be, the education we receive, etc.

July 4^th is rightfully celebrated as a day of joy. People hold parades, wave flags, host neighborhood picnics, and shoot firework displays. June 19^th, also known as Juneteenth, is an equally rightful day of celebration. The holiday is a day of remembrance of the experiences and sacrifices of our forebears, and our resilience, and our tenacity as a people to never let go of the dream of possibility in our hearts, despite daunting obstacles that remain in our paths, and new ones that pop up daily.

Freedom is not a one-day, one-time proposition. You cannot make a bowl of potato salad and be done until next year. What are you doing every day to nurture your freedom and the freedom of others? Do you fear the freedom of others will harm your freedom or the freedom of people you love? What are your fears about what will happen if someone different from you moves into your neighborhood or joins your family or religious community? Think about other fears you may have about people different from you. How can you bridge the chasm between you and “othered” people and begin to communicate? Perhaps you could start by inviting them over to share a bowl of your award-winning potato salad.

Billie Wade is a gregarious introvert whose primary interests are writing, lifelong learning, personal development, and how we all are affected by life’s vagaries.

Issues facing Black people, women, the LGBTQ community, and aging adults are of particular concern to her. She enjoys open-hearted dialogue with diverse people. The opinions expressed here are her own.

You may have considered joining the Center’s Antiracism Book Group announced in the newsletter, but you have some questions and do not know whom to ask. May this month’s post be useful.

According to Statista, in 2020, of the 1,020 people killed by police officers, 243 were Black. These numbers included Breonna Taylor, murdered on March 13 in Louisville, Kentucky, and George Floyd, murdered on May 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. These headliners led Terri Mork Speirs, then the Center’s Director of Community Relations, to post a statement of solidarity with the Black Community on the Center’s homepage of the website.

Speirs also set out to form an antiracism book club within the Center, which she and I planned and co-facilitated. The intention and focus of the Group were, and remain, to learn about the relationships between Black people and white people and act when and where possible to mitigate harm. The Antiracism Learning Group debuted on Monday, July 13, 2020, with discussion of How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi. Since then, we have become the Antiracism Book Group and have discussed sixteen books. When Terri pursued new opportunities in the fall of 2021, I took on the role of full facilitator.

The Group is free, however, each member gets the book on their own. Books are most often available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Thriftbooks, and local bookstores, and public libraries, both of which I recommend and support. Although I select the books we discuss, members suggest most of our reading. The Group has explored many topics, from Black history to white privilege and much more.

I divide the books into five sections, and we meet five consecutive Mondays, 6 p.m.-7:30 p.m. Central Time on Zoom. I alternate the sessions between fiction and nonfiction books. There is a two-Monday break between each book, and we do not meet in the months of November and December.

To be added to the email list and join the group, email your name and phone number to me at the email address in the newsletter with the subject line, “Antiracism Book Group.” If you use a device other than a computer, and sign in using your phone number, I must be able to identify you. I will add you to the list. You will then receive all communications, and for security purposes, only those on the email list receive the access link. People who get the link from someone other than me are not permitted entrance. For privacy, all communications are emailed using blind carbon. Opt-out is easy too—just notify me by email and I will remove your information. Otherwise, you remain on the list even if you never attend a discussion. For a myriad of reasons, unique to everyone, some people like to follow the Group as we move through the books.

Confidentiality within the Group is essential. From the Group’s inception, we intended people to express their heart in this brave space. Our discussion is popcorn style, and everyone is encouraged to speak openly.

A highlight of the Group came on Monday, May 23, 2022. The week before, we wrapped up our discussion of These Walls Between Us, co-authored by Wendy Sandford (white) and Mary Norman (Black). “In the mid-1950s, a fifteen-year-old African American teenager named Mary White (now Mary Norman) traveled north from Virginia to work for twelve-year-old Wendy Sanford’s family as a live-in domestic for their summer vacation by a remote New England beach” (Amazon). Over the years, the two formed a lasting friendship. To the delight of the Group, Mary and Wendy joined us for a special one-hour interview and Q and A session. The women talked candidly about their relationship and the difficulties that defined how their friendship blossomed.

Black people often are asked why we need to keep alive the tough conversations about race relations. In 2024, police officers shot and killed 1,173 civilians, 248 of whom were Black. With the current efforts to erase Black history, downplay the horrors of slavery, and the continued existence of health and healthcare disparities, and educational and employment inequities, it is incumbent upon everyone to educate and empower themselves and others, so right actions can be taken. These imbalances and many more are fueled by fear and hatred, both of which are unacceptable. People are getting hurt. People are dying. People are rising. Learn all you can, then act. Become one who is rising.

Billie Wade is a gregarious introvert whose primary interests are writing, lifelong learning, personal development, and how we all are affected by life’s vagaries.

Issues facing Black people, women, the LGBTQ community, and aging adults are of particular concern to her. She enjoys open-hearted dialogue with diverse people. The opinions expressed here are her own.

Juneteenth – How Black People Celebrate Freedom

by Billie Wade, guest blogger

June 2021 – Juneteenth, June 19, is a joyous day for Black Americans for it ended slavery in the United States. On this day in 1865—more than two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation—General Gordon Granger read to enslaved people in Galveston, Texas “General Order No. 3.” The words of the order declared: “The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.” This simple statement freed 250,000 slaves. The Declaration of Independence dated July 4, 1776, and signed August 2, 1776, did not declare freedom for what would multiply to almost 700,000 slaves in 1790.

Newly freed slaves immediately celebrated. On June 19, 1866, freedmen in Texas organized the first formal celebration, then called “Jubilee Day.” Over the years, Juneteenth celebrations have included music, barbecues, prayer services, parades, and other activities. Juneteenth spread to other regions of the country as Black people moved from Texas.

Juneteenth, thought to be the oldest African American holiday, is the melding of “June” and “nineteenth.” In 1979, Texas became the first state to decree Juneteenth an official holiday. Today, 47 states recognize Juneteenth as a state holiday, while efforts to make it a national holiday have so far stalled in Congress.

The Emancipation Proclamation signed January 1, 1863, which provided in part, “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free,” freed only those slaves in Confederate States. When Northern forces marched into the South, numerous slaves fled to safety behind Union lines. Despite the order, some slaveowners suppressed the news until harvesting was done. On December 6, 1865, with ratification of the 13^th Amendment, the institution of slavery in the United States was officially abolished.

President Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation with some trepidation. He believed Black men should have the right to improve their lives and enjoy the rewards of their endeavors which equaled them to White men. However, he opposed absolute equality. In a September 18, 1858, debate with U. S. Senate opponent Stephen Douglas, he admitted that he was not nor ever had been in favor of social and political equality for Black and White people.

Mr. Lincoln went on to say he was against Black people having the right to vote, to sit on juries, to hold public office, and to marry White people. His biggest hurdle, though, was the endorsement of slavery by the U. S. Constitution which included clauses governing fugitive slaves and the clause defining slaves as three-fifths human. At one time, Lincoln considered removing Black people from the country and colonizing them in various locations in Africa which angered Black leaders and advocates. He said because of the racial differences and the hostilities of White people toward Black people it would be better if the races were separated. Little has changed in the past 156 years. When White people become uncomfortable, Black people must go away in all the many forms that happens in this country.

Although limited, the Emancipation Proclamation indicated a critical change in Lincoln’s mindset regarding slavery and the Civil War. Approximately 200,000 Black men served the Union Army and Navy landing a deadly strike against slavery and opening the door for abolition declared by the 13^th Amendment.

Important dates in Iowa:

On March 22, 2021, the City of Des Moines announced Juneteenth is now an official City holiday. City offices and buildings will be closed on June 19 or the adjacent weekday to the date. Scott Sanders, City manager stated. “We hope by commemorating this date, we can better illustrate the significance of Juneteenth and generate greater recognition throughout our community and the state.”

June 19, 2015, Iowa Public Television, known as Iowa PBS as of January 1, 2020, presented “2015 Juneteenth Jamboree” produced by PBS station KRLU of Austin, Texas which included mention of the Iowa Juneteenth Observance.

On February 26, 2015, the Iowa House of Representatives adopted House Resolution 11(HR11) which stated, in part, “Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, that the House of Representatives acknowledges the 25^th Anniversary of the Iowa Juneteenth Observance and recognizes the significant role of the Iowa Juneteenth Observance in serving as cultural and historical asset to Iowa’s citizens.”

On February 23, 2015, the Iowa Juneteenth Observance transferred to the Iowa State Historical Society (Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs) articles to be included in permanent museum collection records. They are used to strengthen the Juneteenth exhibit in the State Historical Museum of Iowa.

On April 11, 2002, former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, currently serving as the United States Secretary of Agriculture, signed into law the official observance of Juneteenth on the third Saturday in June.

Information for this year’s Juneteenth Observance is highlighted by DSM USA of the Greater Des Moines Partnership.

Enjoy.

For more blog posts from Billie Wade: www.dmpcc.org/Billie