Smith’s annual Presidential Colloquium series opened last Wednesday night with a presentation from Eric K. Ward, renowned activist and executive director of the Western States Center, an organization that works “nationwide to strengthen inclusive democracy so all people can live, love, worship and work free from fear.”
Ward’s talk, “Authoritarian State or Inclusive Democracy? What We Can Do Right Now,” was a rallying cry to all Smithies witnessing our country as it exists today — where democracy is jeopardized and the lethal effects of decades of insurgent white supremacy are coming to fruition. Ward, who was calling in from his home in Oregon, quipped that we’ve been saying the country is on fire for a while, but now it is literal — referencing the orange skies outside his window due to the raging wildfires tearing through the West Coast.
Beginning with a brief summary of his personal history, Ward recounted how he arrived at this moment in time in order to explain how we as a nation have arrived at this moment in our history. He spoke of the incidences growing up in Los Angeles that radicalized him — for example, how his high school foray into the punk scene showed him what it looks like when young people find common ground beyond the boundaries of race — and how his eventual move to Eugene, despite misgivings as to whether there would be running water, MTV or McDonald’s, taught him that, “too often, we pretend we know things, but are filled with stereotypes.” He would go on to be on the frontlines of protesters who were pepper sprayed at the 1999 Battle of Seattle, and, further down the line, engage in philanthropy work to help fund grassroots structures that tackled police brutality.
This is to say, just as Ward has traveled a long arc to arrive at this moment in history, the Black civil rights movement and our journey to an inclusive democracy has also traveled a long arc to arrive at where we are today. Ward attributed the entrenchment of white supremacy — a historic system of discrimination built on the premise that some were superior because of skin color — in our country to three things: 1) the genocide of indigenous people and their resources, 2) the chattle slavery of Africans, 3) the control of women and their sexuality, including social control of the LGBTQ+ community. He traced the history of white supremacy from the time of widespread acceptance pre-1960s, to when it no longer became rule of law during the Civil Rights Movement and entered a contested space in America.
Ward explained that white nationalism — the belief in a system of ethnic cleansing and removal, grounded in revolutionary genocide — was a reaction to the success of the Civil Rights Movement. The movement of white supremacy and white nationalism is something we are still battling today, including the ever prevalent tool of anti-semitism. As Ward said, “anti-semitism is the glue that holds together the white nationalist movement.” White supremacists and nationalists use the Jewish community as a scapegoat for all of their failings — they are blamed for rising multiculturalism, and the victory of the Civil Rights Movement, and many white nationalists believe they are at war with the Jewish community. Ward is adamant that while anti-semitism is at the root of white supremacy, islamophobia, xenophobia, etc., it is not understood well enough in the U.S. outside of a thing of the past.
And now we stand at this moment in history, when the Black Lives Matter movement is gaining momentum everyday and the global pandemic has showcased pervasive inequalities in our country that activists are trying to solve, and there is simultaneously immense backlash from white supremacist and white nationalist organizations that oppose progress. Ward said that despite this, he believes, “we have already won.” What does he mean by this? “We are witnessing one of the most powerful coming togethers right now,” he said. He doesn’t mean our work is done — there are still miles to go in the fight for an inclusive democracy — but that the movement for justice and peace is inherently stronger than that of the white supremacist movement.
His evidence? Ward told a story of driving through Eugene with his partner and witnessing a group of primarily white elementary school children marching through their neighborhood with Black Lives Matter signs. “It’s about winning the hearts and minds,” he said. That is a perfect example.
Ward closed his talk with a call action. According to him, here are three things to do right now:
- Learn about the white nationalist movement.
- Take our leadership seriously. Don’t give into performative drama. Help those on the losing side realize that this is their win, too. Move with humility and compassion.
- Understand your individual role and where it begins. You don’t have to be in the streets or in office — you can be a business leader, artist, or raising your family. Find one thing you can do to contribute to the collective.
“What does it mean to win the peace?” Ward asked. His answer — to get everyone into the promised land. “We don’t get into the promised land unless we bring everyone with us.” When recounting a childhood game called “if I were,” Ward recalled that he and his friends used to say, “if I were in the midst of the civil right’s movement, here’s what I would do…” Ward’s message to Smith was this: “Whatever it is you would’ve done … is the same thing you will do when you leave this talk this evening … This is the generation that walks into the promised land.”
