Almost every time we plan or discuss AHRA (African Heritage Reparations Assembly) listening sessions or forums, some of our members inevitably say that we must provide “a safe space for Black people to speak,” or some variation on that theme. This topic is not unique to the AHRA. This position is shared by various diversity equity and inclusion departments and human resources departments across Amherst, the region, the state, and the country. The underlying sentiment behind this endeavor is the assumption that Black people feel threatened or will feel threatened by retaliation for what they say. Moreover, the belief insinuates that Black people fear speaking in public because white people are in the audience.
Whatever the reason or rationale this discussion always finds its way into AHRA meetings and other public meetings in Amherst. This must stop. It must stop because it infantilizes Black adults, it takes away the peoplehood of blacks by denying them their history of courage in the face of enormous challenges. We have just celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Black History Month will soon be upon us. Everything about Dr. King was about courage, everything about the civil rights movement was about courage, everything about, the sit-ins, marches, and the facing of angry mobs of white people was about courage. Black History Month, gives example after example of Black people facing life-threatening moments with great courage and intestinal fortitude. I could go on and on, but the point is that saying that Black people need safe spaces to talk is a direct insult to all those Black people and Black ancestors who came before us, whose courage is the very foundation upon which we stand. I am calling on us to stop this practice and reinsert in our practice the assumption of courage and personhood of Black people and stop robbing them of their dignity.
Irv Rhodes
Amherst
