Upcoming Events
Brown Bag Session "Racial Bias and the Connection with Structural Racism
July 12 at 8am, 12pm and 4pm
More details
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A TALE OF TWO SCHOOLS IN SPANISH
¿Hablas español? A TALE OF TWO SCHOOLS: Race and Education on Long Island is now available in Spanish! Haz click para mirarlo |
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 info@eraseracismny.org
Phone: (516)-921-4863
Fax: (516)-921-4866
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President's Message
The June 12th Benefit Reception was a great success, thanks to so many of you who supported this important event. Of course raising money is important, however, we also use the benefit as an opportunity to educate the public about the continuing impact of racism, which is a central part of ERASE Racism's work. All three of our honorees offered compelling remarks (see the article below). We also showed an enlightening three minute video, while everyone watched with rapt attention. Follow this link to see why.
ERASE Racism also keeps the public informed about current forms of structural racism through our Race and Racism Dialogues. On July 12th, we will host three "Brown Bag" sessions to discuss the relationship between racial bias and structural racism. We will use the video that we showed at the Benefit as a catalyst for discussion, so watch it now before you come. There are also many current events that pertain to this topic; Rodney King just died and the lawsuit by the family of Marcelo Lucero has been thrown out. To participate in the dialogue just follow this link and RSVP.
In the spring we organized a special outing to see the play Clybourne Park, which just won the 2012 Tony Award for Best Play. The play was recommended to us by one of our Partners who thought that it would be a good tool to talk about issues that are fundamental to our work, such as housing discrimination, stereotypes and racial tensions. You can read a summary of the play and reactions from the group on our website.
We can now reach Spanish-speaking Long Islanders through select ERASE Racism workshops in Spanish and with the recent release of our documentary A TALE OF TWO SCHOOLS: Race and Education on Long Island with Spanish subtitles. Haz click aquí para verlo.
I hope you have an enjoyable summer. Look for our newsletter and visit the website to keep up to date. If you find you have some extra time to volunteer at ERASE Racism, please let us know.
V. Elaine Gross
President
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News from the 2012 Annual Benefit
Over 300 people gathered on June 12, 2012 at the Garden City Hotel to attend ERASE Racism's Annual Benefit. The night began with two hours of a delicious buffet dinner. Attendees walked throughout the rotunda to bid on silent auction items, see old friends, and meet others who are a part of the ERASE Racism family.
The program began with a welcome by the Benefit Committee Co-Chairs Wilma Holmes Tootle and Kenneth Pritchard. ERASE Racism President Elaine Gross then introduced Kwesi Aaron, who was the winner of the organization's 2012 Essay Contest.
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Benefit Committee Co-Chairs Kenneth Pritchard & Wilma Holmes Tootle
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 | Essay contest winner Kwesi Aaron accepts the $500 cash prize.
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In addition to being a fundraiser, the Annual Benefits is also an event to raise awareness about the need to create racial equity. All three of the night's honorees have made a significant difference in the fight against racism.
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Dr. Jennifer Mieres, Senior Vice President of the Office of Community & Public Health, accepted the Corporate Leadership Award on behalf of North Shore-LIJ Health System. Dr. Mieres spoke about the need to close racial disparities in health and the efforts by the System to see that every patient is provided with quality care. She explained that even though there have been a number of advancements in public health, "when you take a look at the new statistics release by the Centers for Disease Control, you see that in all of the chronic diseases, people of color are at a higher risk for death and a higher prevalence for such diseases as heart disease, diabetes, and complications related to obesity." Dr. Mieres added, "I applaud ERASE Racism for reminding us and encouraging us to be partners as we work together to eliminate disparities in health care and provide culturally and linguistically appropriate care for all of our citizens."
Click here to see the video of Dr. Mieres accepting the award.
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Joan Saltzman (center) was honored for her life-time commitment to combat discriminatory practices, and strengthen and expand health and human services for Long Island and New York's most vulnerable residents. Ms. Saltzman said, "As a much younger woman, I helped to create Community Advocates, this was more than 40 years ago, and served as its president and CEO. My colleagues and I came into contact with a whole load of bad discriminatory practices, ugly discrimination in hospitals and emergency rooms, in realtors' offices and in our educational institutions...We found discriminatory practices in many local places and businesses...We found many pharmacies that were charging African American customers more for the same prescriptions, on the same day and even on the same hour as they were charging white customers." She added, "We acted. We made change where we could, however, whether we were responding to the blatant racism of pharmacists, other citizens, law enforcement officers or the insidious presence of racism in schools, we needed then, as we do now, the expertise, power and professionalism that ERASE brings to this world."
Click here to see a video of Joan Saltzman accepting the award.
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Dr. Brown captivated the audience with his stories as a Tuskegee Airman and with his advice as a renowned educator. He closed his acceptance speech by saying, "Now excellence in Long Island means that we should have racial diversity and ethnic diversity in every single community; we should have affordable housing in every single community. I know there are some economic challenges there, but the fact is that the research indicates that where you have a diverse company, where you have a diverse community, things will be better for everyone, and that's the message that we want to send when we say "erase racism". It doesn't mean one group being better than another. It doesn't mean groups competing with one another. It means working together for a better community. If Long Island can be the Cradle of Aviation and the home of Grumman, the Republic, the B47, and the place on Roosevelt Field where Charles Lindbergh quested forward, if Long Island can be the leader in that, why can't it be the leader in erasing racism? Think about it. Thank you very much!"
Click here to see a video of Dr. Roscoe Brown accepting the award.
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To see more photos from the Benefit click here. Please visit the video gallery on our website to see videos of all of the acceptance speeches, as well as the entire program and interviews with attendees. |
Youth Roundtable with Dr. Roscoe Brown
On June 12, 2012, 85 students and teachers gathered to speak with Dr. Roscoe C. Brown, a leader in the civil rights movement and one of the last original Tuskegee Airmen. The heroism of the Tuskegee Airmen, America's first black military airmen, paved the way for full integration of the U.S. military. At the Youth Roundtable, Dr. Brown introduced the documentary, Double Victory, about the dual challenge that the Tuskegee Airmen faced by having to fight a war abroad while at the same time confronting segregation and prejudice at home. When asked how one can fight racism today when it is not as overt as in the 1940's, Dr. Brown responded that stereotyping is one of the most dangerous aspects of racism that we face. "The thing about African Americans from my generation was that we really thought that we could do well even though other people didn't recognize it...Today it is different because the laws prohibit discrimination and we supposedly have an equal society, [which leads to] a covert belief that different groups of people can do different things," explained Dr. Brown, adding, "One of the things that I hope this film does is help erase the stereotype threats that are around us all the time. Any one of us can do anything if we put our efforts to it." Dr. Brown further explained that irrational expectations of an individual based on their race influence everything from the sports that a person plays to the career he or she decides to pursue. "We need to challenge those irrational thoughts," Dr. Brown said, adding that the Tuskegee Airmen were so successful in creating opportunities for other African Americans because the quality of their performance was undeniable. "Before other airmen even knew that we were a group of African American pilots they requested to work with us because we developed an outstanding reputation for being loyal and staying with the bombers." explained Dr. Brown. In response to hearing Dr. Brown speak, Jiju Sabu, a student at Elmont Memorial High School, said, "Today we're not educated about very important issues such as this one, that have impacted each and every one of our lives in major ways and it's just a blessing that we can come out and talk to people like this." Olivia Frey, a student at Friends Academy who also volunteers with ERASE Racism, said, "Today it was so amazing to see how far people have come and how far our community has come since WWII, but it still shows how much more work there is to be done. And I'm so happy that ERASE Racism is here on Long Island calling attention to all of these issues. It was so amazing to meet Dr. Roscoe Brown, he's such a pioneer." 
 
To see the full album click here. To see a video of students giving their feedback click here. |
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