My church is trying to get people to sign up for an introductory anti-racism training seminar. The full seminar is 2 1/2 days and costs $500. The introductory is only a half-day and costs $100. They are also trying to get grants to cover the cost of the introductory.
Both seminars are run by a national group that specializes in such training. Now I am rather new to all this but when I saw what they were charging for this training I thought, there is a lot of money in this anti-racism education business. Now by some standards what they are charging may not seem like much, but from where I sit, that's money a lot of folks I know don't have. And so income is a barrier. It doesn't matter that the church offers some scholarships, income still is a barrier. Because if you can afford to go to these things, you can afford to do other things too, things people on scholarship can't, and whether it's intended or not, it does set up a divide. Especially when you hear people talking about coming back on a repeat basis and you know that this is your only time.
Now I am a member of a professional women's organization and I know a little bit about putting on educational seminars on a budget because that is what we have to do. We can't afford to pay speakers very much if anything at all, so we have to make do with local people. Sure, we'd like to fly in someone from Microsoft to teach us about the latest software, but we don't have that kind of money. So someone will say, hey, I know someone who is a whiz at Excel and someone else will say, I know someone who is an expert at Powerpoint or Outlook, and we call on them for our programs. Judging from the reception, I say we do all right.
Now, this national group. I think it is fairly safe to say that none of their speakers live in the area and most have to come from quite a distance away. How do they get here? Do they take the bus? The train? Carpool? Bike? And where do they stay? At the Budget Inn? At a campground? At someone's house? You think I am joking? Of course, they FLY in to town and they stay at the Radisson. Come on now! And where is this training held? Well, I can tell you where it won't be held. Of course it will be held at the Radisson or maybe the university conference center. What you are paying for, my friends, is not the information, you are paying for the atmosphere. For the appearance.
There are several people in my church who have gone through the full 2 1/2 day training. Apparently it has never occurred to anyone on the committee that we could take the information and knowledge that they now possess and put on our OWN anti-racism training seminar. I know what would happen if I should suggest that. Oh, we can't do that, because of copyright/intellectual property/authorization issues. As if this sort of thing belongs only to this professional group and no one else is authorized to teach this. I am sure glad the women's organization I belong to doesn't think like that!
But why don't we write our own material? It would be a darn sight more accessible to more people because for one thing it'd be a heck of a lot cheaper. No, we wouldn't get the national experts and we wouldn't have all the bells and whistles of the Radisson, but, what is more important, the message, or the atmosphere?
Both seminars are run by a national group that specializes in such training. Now I am rather new to all this but when I saw what they were charging for this training I thought, there is a lot of money in this anti-racism education business. Now by some standards what they are charging may not seem like much, but from where I sit, that's money a lot of folks I know don't have. And so income is a barrier. It doesn't matter that the church offers some scholarships, income still is a barrier. Because if you can afford to go to these things, you can afford to do other things too, things people on scholarship can't, and whether it's intended or not, it does set up a divide. Especially when you hear people talking about coming back on a repeat basis and you know that this is your only time.
Now I am a member of a professional women's organization and I know a little bit about putting on educational seminars on a budget because that is what we have to do. We can't afford to pay speakers very much if anything at all, so we have to make do with local people. Sure, we'd like to fly in someone from Microsoft to teach us about the latest software, but we don't have that kind of money. So someone will say, hey, I know someone who is a whiz at Excel and someone else will say, I know someone who is an expert at Powerpoint or Outlook, and we call on them for our programs. Judging from the reception, I say we do all right.
Now, this national group. I think it is fairly safe to say that none of their speakers live in the area and most have to come from quite a distance away. How do they get here? Do they take the bus? The train? Carpool? Bike? And where do they stay? At the Budget Inn? At a campground? At someone's house? You think I am joking? Of course, they FLY in to town and they stay at the Radisson. Come on now! And where is this training held? Well, I can tell you where it won't be held. Of course it will be held at the Radisson or maybe the university conference center. What you are paying for, my friends, is not the information, you are paying for the atmosphere. For the appearance.
There are several people in my church who have gone through the full 2 1/2 day training. Apparently it has never occurred to anyone on the committee that we could take the information and knowledge that they now possess and put on our OWN anti-racism training seminar. I know what would happen if I should suggest that. Oh, we can't do that, because of copyright/intellectual property/authorization issues. As if this sort of thing belongs only to this professional group and no one else is authorized to teach this. I am sure glad the women's organization I belong to doesn't think like that!
But why don't we write our own material? It would be a darn sight more accessible to more people because for one thing it'd be a heck of a lot cheaper. No, we wouldn't get the national experts and we wouldn't have all the bells and whistles of the Radisson, but, what is more important, the message, or the atmosphere?
