[sudo-discuss] a very racist encounter from a man named Rob

[robb]

Scott,
You appear to have several facts confused. When I answered the door after
hearing one long super annoying incessant ring on omni's doorbell as i
walked up all the way from the basement to answer, i opened it with
"please, don't ring our fucking doorbell like that." I didn't know who was
at the door but it's my responsiblity to make sure make sure they are a
member of a collective, a guest of a member of a collective or attending an
event. The man refused to identify himself & said he knew Needa B (Needa
has an agreement with Omni to use the Omni office, but the Village is not a
member collective at Omni & no other members of Needa's group use the omni
aside from the donation pile in the basement which hasn't been touched in a
very long time) but i had never seen him at an Village workparties or
actions & i was unable to even confirm with Needa as he refused to give me
his name.

i did say, at one point as i was annoyed, "learn how to ring a doorbell
like a normal human" but i would have said that to anybody under similar
circumstances regardless of ethnic background.

i've agreed to mediation but so far all that's happened are two messages,
one yours & one Needa's, to very large groups. we have a mediation list
mediation at lists.omnicommons.org for actual mediation coordination & a
process defined on our wiki.

i have stopped answering the door altogether



On Sun, Jun 30, 2019 at 10:00 AM robb <sf99er at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> On 6/28/19, D. Scott Nanos <scott.nanos at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> > Basically, Deon is friends with Phat Beets and Food First, and has been
>> > frequenting the Omni in order to do work and access the community
>> resources
>> > that are available. To my understanding, he often works in the Sudo room
>> > space. Although this should not need to be said, I can personally vouch
>> for
>> > Deon as an upstanding and generous member of the Oakland community.
>> >
>> > Deon was having trouble accessing the space the other day and rung the
>> Omni
>> > doorbell several times, at which point guy named Rob opened the door and
>> > started cursing at him and being very aggressive. After Deon was able to
>> > enter Omni, Rob then started following him around and harassing him,
>> acting
>> > like a cop. Although this is egregious in and of itself, and a terrible
>> > counter-representation of the Omni's values, this all came to a head
>> when
>> > Rob accused Deon of not being "an actual, normal, human being". Whether
>> or
>> > not this was intentional, it evoked longstanding racist attitudes that
>> > black folks have been subjected to, suggesting that Deon was less-than,
>> or
>> > sub-human. Deon was so offended that he promptly left the Omni and has
>> not
>> > been back since.
>> >
>> > Besides this very loaded and hateful comment, this general kind of
>> > treatment and attitude, overall, is the EXACT opposite of the way black
>> > folks should be treated when interfacing with the Omni. Rob's actions
>> are
>> > not okay, at all, and I strongly feel that a serious accountability
>> process
>> > should be implemented for this incident. This is not a small matter.
>> I've
>> > spoken with Deon, and he has agreed to participate.
>> >
>> > I've also heard that this type of incident has happened before at the
>> Omni,
>> > specifically involving Rob. Correct me if I'm wrong, but apparently, the
>> > attitude that was expressed to Deon was that Rob is one of the main
>> people
>> > that operates (i.e. helps to reproduce and sustain,) the Omni, and as
>> such,
>> > people basically go along with what he says and does. If this is in fact
>> > the case, then an accountability process is even more imperative. In no
>> way
>> > should labor, and by proxy, "power" derived from labor, enable a person
>> to
>> > act with racism against members of the Oakland community. I think it's
>> in
>> > the best interest of the Omni to address this issue immediately, for
>> Deon,
>> > for the Omni, and for the Omni's relationship with the greater
>> community of
>> > Oakland.
>> >
>> > I believe Marc was present for part of this incident as well, and
>> although
>> > I know, Marc is so busy doing vital work for Sudo and Omni, it might
>> > behoove him to also participate in this process, as a witness.
>> >
>> > I am writing this email not because I am trying to "cancel" or ruin
>> anyone,
>> > but because I care about Deon, The Omni, Sudo, and the Oakland
>> community at
>> > large. This issue seems indicative of larger problems, and if addressed
>> > with love and respect and accountability, could seriously benefit all
>> > parties listed above, and improve the Omni and it's relationship with
>> > Oakland.
>> >
>> > I'm not sure where to take it from here, as I am personally extremely
>> busy
>> > with other community-based activities in Oakland right now, but a
>> > mediator/facilitator should be sought out, ideally a black person, but
>> at
>> > the very least, a non-black poc, and probably someone that isn't
>> personally
>> > involved in the day-to-day operations at Omni, sudo etc. If i am able, I
>> > could possibly be this mediator, but I hope other options are sought out
>> > first, because a.) I'm a non-black, mixed race poc, and b.) I have very
>> > little capacity at the moment.
>> >
>> > But please keep me in the loop regarding an accountability process for
>> Rob,
>> > and I'll do whatever I can to help move this along and reach a fair and
>> > just conclusion.
>> >
>> > Sorry to bring such difficult news to you all, but I could not stay
>> silent.
>> >
>> > With love and Solidarity,
>> >
>> > Scott
>> >
>> _______________________________________________
>> sudo-discuss mailing list
>> sudo-discuss at lists.sudoroom.org
>> https://sudoroom.org/lists/listinfo/sudo-discuss
>>
>
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