Racism and sexism are not "problems" or "topics." They are ways of defining reality and living our lives that most of us learned along with learning how to tie our shoes and how to drink from a cup.
Interpretation
Racism and sexism are deeply ingrained societal constructs that shape our reality from a young age.
In this quote, Paula Rothenberg argues that racism and sexism are not merely societal issues or subjects of discussion; they are fundamental frameworks through which individuals perceive and engage with the world. These ideologies are woven into the fabric of our lives, often learned unconsciously alongside basic skills, highlighting the pervasive nature of prejudice in our upbringing and daily interactions.
In practice
During a diversity training session to highlight the importance of understanding systemic issues.
White privilege is the other side of racism. Unless we name it, we are in danger of wallowing in guilt or moral outrage with no idea of how to move beyond them. It is often easier to deplore racism and its effects than to take responsibility for the privileges some of us receive as a result of it... Once we understand how white privilege operates, we can begin to take steps to dismantle it on both a personal and institutional level.
Faith always contains an element of risk, of venture; and we are impelled to make the venture by the affinity and attraction which we feel in ourselves.
When the government violates the people's rights, insurrection is, for the people and for each portion of the people, the most sacred of the rights and the most indispensible of duties.
...in the decline of life shame and grief are of short duration; whether it be that we bear easily what we have borne long; or that, finding ourselves in age less regarded, we less regard others; or, that we look with slight regard upon afflictions to which we know that the hand of death is about to put an end.
If one person has a right to something he did not earn, of necessity it requires that another person not have a right to something that he did earn.
I hope we shall . . . crush in [its] birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations.
Goodness is about character - integrity, honesty, kindness, generosity, moral courage, and the like. More than anything else, it is about how we treat other people.
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