Letter from Mark George

A very good friend of mine wrote this as an open letter to others he knew. I hope he does not mine it showing up here

Dear Family and Friends,

My name is Mark Patrick George and I am contacting to invite you into a conversation we have been having here in Atlanta. For some time, many of us have been discussing the issue of resources, particularly money, and how it relates to our privilege as white people. Part of that conversation has involved discussing the fact that because of white privilege and how this society is set up, we must accept that much of "our money" is in fact not ours. In short, as people who say that we believe we are unfairly privileged (in a variety ways beyond mere monetary reward), we would like to suggest that as white antiracists we need to relinquish that which is not ours and direct it towards the work of racial justice.

As we have discussed this, it has also been apparent that as antiracists we are often not clear on the economic breakdown of folks in the US and where we fit into that. The breakdown of income in the US looks like the following.

If you have a total family income of $155,000 you are in the top 5% of the population
If you have a total family income of $105,000 you are in the top 10% of the population
If you have a total family income of $88,000 you are in the top 20% of the population
If you have a total family income of $60,000 you are in the top 40% of the population

Given that many of us involved in this work are college educated, it is safe to safe to say that many of us find ourselves in these top brackets.

Though we are not proposing a particular way or “formula” on how to shift resources to the work, a variety of ideas have come up in our discussions. One way would be to commit, for the duration of our lives, a substantial percentage of our annual gross income to "the work" locally and/or nationally. This might involve commitments to particular organizations doing the work or the creation of a body/organization controlled by people of color involved in the work?

An additional, less complicated way involves beginning to think about how and where we borrow, spend, and save in our day-to-day lives. For instance, many of us are moving our checking and savings to banks that are owned and operated by people of color. Many of us are also beginning to find out how we can deliberately buy what we need from businesses/corporations owned by people of color. A simple example of that here in Atlanta has involved some of us buying everyday household items from the local representatives of the MATAH network (www.matah.com). This small act effectively shifts money that would be spent at the corporately owned grocery store to local entrepreneurs of color. Again, please know we don’t have an elaborate plan and don’t think that we should try to figure this out without the guidance of people of color. Prior to having that conversation though, we do feel that it is important to ask you all to beginning thinking about this proposal.

Knowing that the topic of money among white folks is often a difficult one, we also want you to know that this letter is not about guilting or manipulating anyone. Instead, it is our hope that this conversation will be a seed for a broader movement among white allies, one that might not only further the cause of racial justice, but also further our own spiritual growth. Instead, it is simply about putting resources that we feel we have because we are white where our mouths are. So if you or your group already does what we are proposing, as some people do, please share any ideas, thoughts, and struggles you may have had with us. Also know that we enter into this conversation knowing that the reallocation of resources doesn’t get us out of the antiracist work we need to do in our daily lives. We also don’t believe that this move is charity or some form of penitence. Instead, we believe it is simply a way we can more fully live the values we say we believe.

With that said, as extended family members we would like to make a couple of requests of you. First, we ask that you and your local antiracist family to begin thinking and discussing this topic. Secondly, we would like to ask you to circulate this letter to those outside your immediate circle of allies. Lastly, we have set up a listserve to further this conversation and to address any concerns or questions. To become a part of that listserve just send an email to givingitback-subscribe@topica.com. Once you have subscribed simply send future messages to givingitback@topica.com.

In closing, we would like to say that we feel that this conversation is especially timely given recent reductions in funds available to the non-profit and social changes groups. Many of us realize that a variety of organizations doing the work repeatedly find their hands tied by philanthropic money, funds that inevitably has many strings tied to them, funds that are also generally short term. With that reality in mind, wouldn’t be incredible if organizations lead by people of color, doing antiracist work were freed of this responsibility and burden?

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and joining the conversation. We are excited about the possibilities and the wisdom you will bring to the conversation.

Mark Patrick George