Congratulations to Loretta Ross, Smith College professor, life-long activist — and local treasure — for her recent receipt of a MacArthur Fellowship, the esteemed “genius” award. Professor Ross makes an extraordinary contribution to how we think about and talk with each other about race, with approaches that are helpful to us in the Valley and particularly in Amherst.
Ross’s critical work provides surprisingly practical and creative approaches and tactics, many of which do not come to us naturally. We are often too quick to judge, too tempted to dismiss positions out-of-hand that don’t align with our own. Her work is challenging and requires unlearning much about how many of us deal with difficult subjects and controversy.
We recently participated in a Sojourner Truth School for Social Change workshop with Loretta Ross, “Calling in the Calling Out Culture,” a theme central to her work.
Calling someone “out” is publicly criticizing a person or group about something they have said or done that you find politically incorrect or wrong. It often involves blaming and shaming. You are wrong! End of conversation.
Calling “in” is learning to invite conversations with people who have different ideas and experiences related to social justice work and racism. Calling-in is not about agreeing with each other but encourages recognizing each other’s strengths and working intentionally to expand perspectives. It means understanding that our processes of engagement are as important as our outcomes. Ross teaches that “Calling-in is a Call-out done with radical love to achieve accountability.”
Central to creating a Calling-in culture is learning how to persuade people to be with us, not to agree with us. Some of the specific tactics Ross recommends are reminiscent of classic non-violence theory. Avoid in-group jargon. Practice harm reduction. Be humble and open to new learning. Share what you know but don’t assume people will agree with you just because you gave them new information. Ask people about themselves and their experiences and listen carefully to what they share with you. Avoid condescension. Be patient with others and with yourself. It is a strength to have different perspectives and words to influence others, so that we are likely to reach and engage people with various viewpoints and experiences.
Difficult conversations about race are a necessary part of moving Amherst towards racial justice and equity. The challenges were brought into sharp focus following the July 5 incident involving several Amherst youths and the Amherst police. Mistakes were made and people on all sides might have done more to move the conversation forward constructively. The town manager went a long way to begin the healing process with his gracious apology to all parties. But that was only a first step in changing how we talk and act about race and human rights.
There’s more we all can do, difficult work, but immediate opportunities and challenges we can address. Specifically, how can we engage with the town’s efforts to change institutional systems and practices by applying the Calling-in processes?
While Ross’s workshops could be useful to our elected and appointed leaders and staff, we feel requiring attendance at anti-racism training for town leaders in mandated groups is ineffective. Obligation does not usually lead to increased awareness and rethinking deeply-held views. While town leaders and staff would probably benefit from Calling-in training, individuals need to decide to participate on their own, in groups that reflect our town’s diversity. We each bring different experiences and perspectives to this difficult work. For this kind of learning to be helpful, we need to meet people where they are.
Let’s reorient our work to build an anti-racism, human rights movement on hope. Patrisse Cullors, founder of the Black Lives Matter movement writes: “The movement is rooted in grief and rage but pointed towards vision and dreams.” Having hope does not deny the crimes and suffering of the past or the present. Ross tells us: “Hope matters because of these horrors.” She advises we need to embrace uncertainty and be willing to know that consequences may still be unfolding.
Ross’s work is a model of hopefulness while keeping a realistic and sober awareness of the daunting challenges we still face. Let us all resolve to incorporate her Calling-in teaching as we work in hopefulness to achieve racial healing and equity in Amherst. The work is hard but Ross provides guidance and tools to help. Readers can connect with Loretta’s workshops and resources online at lorettajross.com/online-courses.
Andrea Battle, Meg Gage and Martha Hanner are members of the Racial Justice Committee of the Amherst League of Women Voters.