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Reflections on Anti-Bias Training
By Martha Chazanoff, Program Manager, Livingston County
One of the things I have enjoyed about co-leading the Anti-Bias Trainings sponsored by the Finger Lakes Hate & Bias Prevention Council has been the honest conversations in which I and other participants in the trainings have engaged. Every one of the sessions that I have either attended or led has led to insights about myself, my thinking, and my behaviors– both past and present.
One such occurrence, at a recent training in Livingston County facilitated by Amanda Andera and myself, helped me clarify HOW, WHY, AND WHEN my thoughts began to evolve– what or whom transformed my worldview in which I casually accepted my white privilege while obliviously disregarding the struggle and need for both unity and resolve by others who do not share my background.
I worked for Pam as a home health aide when I attended college in San Diego. Pam was a crisis line counselor, and clearly she had skills in effective communication, patience, and non-judgmental objectivity. I had shared with her my musings about “other” groups having “____ Power” and “____ Alliance” clubs/groups/meetings, and how I didn’t understand why THAT was ok, but having a “White Power” meeting was not.
Yes, I cringe at that memory more than words can explain, but it is what it is. I had, until that moment, been taught to overlook the experiences, history and the struggles of non-white, marginalized groups. I was, as they say, a “very good student” and my thoughts, words, and behaviors reflected those teachings.
But Pam– Pam didn’t attack me. She didn’t shout, “Racist!” She didn’t belittle me or express judgment. She taught me. She explained how historically groups which we label “minorities” in this country have existed and struggled against oppression– against laws and attitudes created to maintain power for white people. Because the color of my skin, my religion, my native language, my sexual orientation had never been used by others to “hold me down,” I already had power. Others were within their right to demand access to power they had historically been denied.
And just like that– I understood. There was nothing magical about ME for learning that— it was Pam. Her clarity, her patience, her non-judgmental demeanor– that was the key that unlocked the door to my understanding.
Remembering that conversation and having the opportunity to process those memories in the safe space of anti-bias trainings has led me to ponder how I might provide a similar calm, non-hostile response when I hear others make statements that demonstrate deficiencies in understanding.
For me, the response given by Pam as she seized upon a teachable moment without hostility or attack, has made all the difference in my growth.
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