Introduction
We hold Anti-Racism-Trainings for Whites and Empowerment-Trainings for People of Colour.
The societal need for Anti-Racism-Trainings
We consider our work to be of utmost importance, because society has not yet come to terms with the phenomenon of racism and it remains influential in shaping relationships between White people and People of Colour.
As early as 1903 W.E.B. Du Bois wrote in his book The Souls of Black Folks: “The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the colour-line." This fact has continuously been a taboo or it has been trivialized. The result is a situation in which increasing racist violence and racist thinking are a growing menace to peace in our society. In general, the lack of a clear definition of racism makes it difficult to take effective measures against it. Nurtured by prejudices, hidden images and the claim to power, even people who are sensible towards the need for equality are unable to shed their racist tendencies in the way they think and act.
Objective and methodology of the training
During the training we want to enable the White participants to learn in-depth about their judgments, prejudices and behavior so that they can find ways of creating a future of peaceful togetherness.
The training is not a seminar. It is not about discussing racism theories. It rather wants to discover the interrelations between individual and structural racism. This requires a permanent participation and a willingness to participate openly on the part of everybody involved in the training. During the training we use different kinds of methods: plenum, working in groups, working with one partner, videos, role play. The exact way of organising the agenda evolves during the training. Units of input, discussion and reflection alternate during the entire training.
After-Training work
The development and implementation of anti-racist strategies and ways of living can take a lot of time and can only be achieved by working within a group. Therefore we offer our assistance in creating groups that meet on a regular basis and offer them basic materials, supervision and Follow-Up-Trainings.