Within any very large group of people – such as an entire nation – power is not distributed evenly. Some kinds of people have more political, economic and social power than other kinds of people.
In the United States, a big factor affecting the unequal distribution of power is a person’s race. The historical roots go back 400 years to the early 1600s when white European people came here and stole the land from Na-tive Americans and – also in the early 1600s – started bringing African people here to work as slaves. Injustices still continue 400 years later.
Also, over the years, many immigrants – especially those with non-European backgrounds – also have been experiencing discrimination and injustice based on race and ethnicity.
Imbalances of power is experienced both as overt discrimination and violence and also in more subtle ways that the dominant white majority might not even be aware of, but that the people of color do experience on an ongoing bases.
Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation’s August 2015 TV program explores problems and also solutions. We explore them at both the systemic level and the personal level. We explore especially these more subtle kinds of racial injustice that occur in the U.S. and even in our local community.
Our local community in the greater Olympia area is overwhelmingly white, so we have four white guests who will share insights that can help our white majority community become more inclusive, more fair, and more just. This month’s TV program features four guests who have long experience working to create a more racially inclusive and fair society.
• Laurie Rasmussen
• Alec Clayton
• Kathy Baros Friedt
• Jim Bamberger