[Libs-Or] Learning While White

[Matthew Baiocchi]

Listening to our BIPOC colleagues is the best way for us to learn about racism, white privilege, and white fragility, but it is not their responsibility to teach us about these things (despite this fact, they are often called to do just that, oftentimes to their great detriment). We, as white library staff, need to talk more with each other about these topics. Taylor Worley very generously offered to do this (twice!) during the recent Libs-Or discussion about the petition...I'm late to the game but I'd like to talk about these things with you, too.


I'd like to offer a safe spot to do it. As long as we come from a place of learning and understanding, there will be no judgment, and things said will be confidential. Realizing the immense extent of racism, white privilege, and white fragility in America can be exhausting, frustrating, overwhelming, and very uncomfortable. If you'd like, we can keep it off Libs-Or and we can use personal emails so we don't run into Oregon's public records law.


I use hotmail (what is this, the 1990s?!) and my account is mbaiocchi.


To help start the discussion, here are the first couple of things that really opened my eyes on these subjects. I'd very much enjoy discussing them with you:

- 13th by Ava DuVernay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krfcq5pF8u8
- Dr. Robin DiAngelo on White Fragility: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45ey4jgoxeU
- Dr. Ibram X. Kendi on How to be an Antiracist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxa43H8m034

There are also three excellent resources I use to help me continue to learn. The first is an anti-racism guide (https://simmons.libguides.com/anti-oppression/anti-racism) put together by Stacy Collins, a Curriculum & Research Librarian and Team Coordinator at Simmons University. The second is the OLA EDI Antiracism Committee's Training Resources (https://ola.memberclicks.net/ola-edi-antiracism-committee-training-resources). Lastly, The Emancipator (https://theemancipator.org/), a "reimagining of the first antislavery newspapers in the United States," a collaboration of The Center for Antiracist Research and The Boston Globe.

We must start doing the heavy lifting on this! I claim no expertise. I claim no promise of having all the answers. I definitely do not claim to always be right about everything. In short (too late!) what I do claim is a willingness to keep learning, and the hope of talking with you.

Have a wonderful Tuesday, all!


Matthew Baiocchi
REFERENCE LIBRARIAN
__

City of Lincoln City  |  Driftwood Public Library
801 SW Hwy 101  |  PO Box 50  |  Lincoln City, OR
P: 541.996.1261  |  E: mbaiocchi at lincolncity.org<mailto:mbaiocchi at lincolncity.org>
W: Driftwoodlib.org | W: LincolnCity.org

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