If you’re accustomed to dropping in to whatever class may
fit your schedule on any given day, you may be surprised to see we have a new
offering on Monday nights: Brown and Black Yoga. If you read the fine print,
you’ll see that it’s expressly for folks who identify as a person of color, and
that white folks are asked not to attend.
This may take you aback, if you’ve never been asked to define
and restrict yourself by your race, except for the once-a-decade census form.
Those of us who came of age in the 70s and 80s, in the aftermath of Jim Crow,
largely grew up with colorblindness and desegregation as the values to strive
for. So why segregate by race now?
Consider this: we’ve been offering a Women’s Yoga class for
years. Many gyms and other centers also have special women’s hours or women’s
spaces. Culturally, we seem to understand that the needs of women are
particular, and not always met in mixed-gender spaces. It may be for religious
reasons, or it may be because women have experienced trauma associated with
men, sexual or otherwise, or it may be because the physical and physiological
needs of women are unique, or just that women would prefer to hang out
together.
In addition, yoga is a particularly vulnerable practice. We
move our bodies around in all kinds of ways. We wear snug shorts or tights and
shirts. We sweat, go upside down, and tie ourselves up in knots. Especially
when we are already asked to try new things, challenge ourselves, and leave our
comfort zones, it’s important to be in a space where you feel safe.
For the same reasons women do not always feel safe doing
yoga when men are in the room, brown and black people may not always feel safe
doing yoga when white people are in the room. In the same way misogyny
continues to rage in our society (in the media, on the streets, in the
workplace, economically, politically etc), racism
continues to plague our society through systemic racism. Distinct from
interpersonal racism, systemic racism involves the political, economic,
educational, and social structures that put white people at the top of a racial
hierarchy and keep them there.
These same systems of oppression make it all too easy for microaggressions to occur, no matter
how well-intentioned someone might be. Over time, they accumulate and can
manifest as physical illness and take an emotional toll as depression and
anxiety.
We’re offering Brown and Black Yoga because students have
requested it. They have expressed that they feel more relaxed, less guarded, more
supported, and less self-conscious when they are with each other, than when
white folks are in the room, the same way women may feel more comfortable in a
gender-segregated space. These opportunities are so few and far between that
they are treasured. They give nourishment to more happily face the rest of the
week, when we are all re-integrated into multi-racial, all-gendered spaces.
Let’s support each other in getting our needs met in yoga
class. Let’s respect the needs of others in our community, even if they may be
different than our own. Namaste.
