<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br clear="all"></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Matthew Baiocchi:</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">> To my white colleagues, it is my greatest hope that you begin, or continue, to learn about our role in systemic racism.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">A follow-on point:</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">How we react to information matters: If we deflect new information rather than absorb it, then what good does all of our reading do?</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">The human mind has psychological defenses against (among other things) information that causes discomfort, and we should not underestimate the strength, tenacity, and opacity of those defenses.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Wikipedia has a serviceable article about psychological defenses in general: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defence_mechanism" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defence_mechanism</a></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">The next time you read an article about systemic racism, pay careful attention not just to the article, but to how your mind is reacting to the article as you read it. How strongly does your mind deny what you are reading? What excuses does it make? What qualifications (in both senses of the word) does it insist on? Which people who are not you does it fix and focus blame upon? What counter-accusations against the writers pop unbidden from it into your consciousness? Where does it wander, and what does it wander to?</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">In short: Are you absorbing what you're reading so you can learn from it or are you deflecting it?</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">To lessen our role in upholding systemic racism requires defeating not just our ignorance, but our mental defenses as well.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Steve</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br></div><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><font face="tahoma, sans-serif" style="font-size:12.8px">--<br></font><div style="font-size:12.8px"><div><font face="tahoma, sans-serif"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;border-collapse:collapse"><b>Steve Casburn</b><br><b>ILS Data Analyst</b></span></font></div><div><div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:small"><b>Office of Project Management & Evaluation (OPME)</b></div><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:small"></span><font face="tahoma, sans-serif"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;border-collapse:collapse">Multnomah County Library</span></font></div><div><font face="tahoma, sans-serif"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;border-collapse:collapse">My schedule: Monday through Friday<br><a href="mailto:stevencm@multco.us" target="_blank">stevencm@multco.us</a><br><a href="http://www.multcolib.org/" style="color:rgb(29,30,206)" target="_blank">www.multcolib.org</a> <<a href="http://www.multcolib.org/" style="color:rgb(29,30,206)" target="_blank">http://www.multcolib.org/</a>></span></font></div><div><font face="tahoma, sans-serif"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;border-collapse:collapse"><br></span></font></div><div><img src="https://multcolib.org/sites/default/files/MultCoLib_2LineLogo_RGBemail_sig2.png"><br></div></div></div></div></div></div><br></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Thu, Mar 9, 2023 at 5:09 PM Matthew Baiocchi via Libs-Or <<a href="mailto:libs-or@omls.oregon.gov" target="_blank">libs-or@omls.oregon.gov</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div>




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<p>My initial goal with these emails was to have a month where, every day, white people learned more about systemic racism and, in the smallest of ways, experienced the daily mental and emotional load BIPOC have to work under. <span style="font-size:12pt">The
 danger, of course, being this is a public space and BIPOC would be negatively impacted by a bunch of white folk learning about </span><span style="font-size:12pt">and discussing systemic racism. </span></p>
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<p>I was told earlier today that I am hurting some BIPOC colleagues, that the pain I am causing in doing this is outweighing any possible good that could come from it. If you don't understand how that could be, read April Hathcock's,
<i>Your Learning Hurts</i> (<a href="https://aprilhathcock.wordpress.com/2020/01/21/your-learning-hurts/" target="_blank">https://aprilhathcock.wordpress.com/2020/01/21/your-learning-hurts/</a>).</p>
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<p>I knew this was a possibility, in fact, it was going to be the subject of an upcoming email. However, given the hurt I am causing, it is  time to stop.</p>
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<p>To my BIPOC colleagues, I am sorry for causing you pain. </p>
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<p>To my white colleagues, it is my greatest hope that you begin, or continue, to learn about our role in systemic racism. Here are some resources:</p>
<p>- <span style="color:rgb(18,18,18);font-family:GuardianTextEgyptian,"Guardian Text Egyptian Web",Georgia,serif,EmojiFont,"Apple Color Emoji","Segoe UI Emoji",NotoColorEmoji,"Segoe UI Symbol","Android Emoji",EmojiSymbols;font-size:12pt">
<span style="font-size:10pt">OLA E</span><span style="font-size:10pt">DIA committee resources, </span></span><a href="https://ola.memberclicks.net/ola-edi-antiracism-committee-training-resources" style="font-family:GuardianTextEgyptian,"Guardian Text Egyptian Web",Georgia,serif,EmojiFont,"Apple Color Emoji","Segoe UI Emoji",NotoColorEmoji,"Segoe UI Symbol","Android Emoji",EmojiSymbols;font-size:17px" title="https://ola.memberclicks.net/ola-edi-antiracism-committee-training-resources
Ctrl+Click or tap to follow the link" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:10pt">https://ola.memberclicks.net/ola-edi-antiracism-committee-training-resources</span></a></p>
<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-size:12pt">-</span> </span><span style="color:rgb(18,18,18);font-family:GuardianTextEgyptian,"Guardian Text Egyptian Web",Georgia,serif,EmojiFont,"Apple Color Emoji","Segoe UI Emoji",NotoColorEmoji,"Segoe UI Symbol","Android Emoji",EmojiSymbols;font-size:10pt">Unpacking
 discussion group resources, </span><a href="https://unpackingdiscussion.weebly.com/resources.html" style="font-family:GuardianTextEgyptian,"Guardian Text Egyptian Web",Georgia,serif,EmojiFont,"Apple Color Emoji","Segoe UI Emoji",NotoColorEmoji,"Segoe UI Symbol","Android Emoji",EmojiSymbols;font-size:17px" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:10pt">https://unpackingdiscussion.weebly.com/resources.html</span></a></p>
<p>- <span> Karla J. Strand, DPhil, MLIS, </span><span>Disrupting Whiteness in Libraries and Librarianship: A Reading List, <a href="https://www.library.wisc.edu/gwslibrarian/bibliographies/disrupting-whiteness-in-libraries/" target="_blank">https://www.library.wisc.edu/gwslibrarian/bibliographies/disrupting-whiteness-in-libraries/</a></span></p>
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<span><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,95,112)">Matthew Baiocchi</span></span><span><span></span></span></p>
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<span><b><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,95,112)">REFERENCE LIBRARIAN</span></b></span><span><span></span></span></p>
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<span><span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(255,108,55)">__</span></span><span><span></span></span></p>
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<span><span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,54,53)"> </span></span><span><span></span></span></p>
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<span><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,95,112)">City of Lincoln City 
</span></span><span><b><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(227,101,65)">|</span></b></span><span><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,95,112)">  Driftwood Public Library</span></span><span><span></span></span></p>
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<span><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,95,112)">801 SW Hwy 101
</span></span><span><b><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(227,101,65)"> |</span></b></span><span><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,95,112)">  PO Box 50  </span></span><span><b><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(255,108,55)">| </span></b></span><span><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,54,53)"> </span></span><span><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,95,112)">Lincoln
 City, OR</span></span><span><span></span></span></p>
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<span><b><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,95,112)">P:</span></b></span><span><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,95,112)"> 541.996.1261  </span></span><span><b><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(255,108,55)">|</span></b></span><span><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,54,53)">  </span></span><span><b><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,95,112)">E</span></b></span><span><b><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,54,53)">:</span></b></span><span><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,95,112)"> </span></span><a href="mailto:mbaiocchi@lincolncity.org" id="m_-7876216211599483979m_-1188274904640732401m_-7904132119415671632LPNoLP" target="_blank"><span><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(5,99,193)">mbaiocchi@lincolncity.org</span></span><span></span></a><span><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,95,112)"></span></span></p>
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<span><b><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,95,112)">W:
</span></b></span><span><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,95,112)">Driftwoodlib.org
</span></span><span><b><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(255,108,55)">| </span></b></span><span><b><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,95,112)">W</span></b></span><span><b><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,54,53)">:</span></b></span><span><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,54,53)"> </span></span><span><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,95,112)">LincolnCity.org</span></span><span><span></span></span></p>
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