If we want to understand racism in the U.S., as uncomfortable as it might be for us, we have the moral responsibility to open our eyes and see our society more truthfully, and to become more receptive to what it is like to be black in the U.S. Here are some astonishing statistics that may […]
We have the moral responsibility to open our eyes and see our society more truthfully Read More »
Our response is framed by seven core convictions that we believe are foundational to a constructive engagement with the work of reparations. The first regards the nature of racism itself. Before proceeding, we should briefly state that racism, as used in this book, has three elements to it. First, classifying human beings into distinct “races”
Most Euro-Americans were not, and would likely never be, the wealthy aristocrat who had every social and economic privilege in Europe. Eternal slavery provided a new caste that even the poorest white-skinned person could hover above and define himself against. Just imagine the psychic benefit of being elevated from the bottom of a rigid class
As blacks began to pour into northern cities to escape oppression in the South as part of the “great migration” in the early nineteen hundreds, the Catholic Church responded by modifying its long-standing policy of assigning Catholics to parishes based on where they lived. In his 1970 book Black Priest, White Church:Catholics and Racism, Father
I do not presume to have arrived on the issue, or to be “woke.” I simply want to share with you what I have discovered on my own journey toward greater awareness of racism in America, and with my own participation in systems, both visible and hidden, that perpetuate it. I want to begin with
Greater awareness of racism Read More »
Opposing racism but not being active in combatting it sounds rather benign. Forfeiting opportunities to act creatively for race relations may be the greatest contributor to racism’s malignant persistence in society. I believe Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel was right when he said: “In a free society, some are guilty, but all are responsible.” All of
The transformation of hearts is essential Read More »
Like the famous question about the chicken and the egg, the answer is less important than the cycle it describes. Racist ideas make people of color think less of themselves, which makes them more vulnerable to racist ideas. Racist ideas make White people think more of themselves, which further attracts them to racist ideas. I
The cycle hardened the racist ideas inside me Read More »
Learn more and register here: http://raf2021.eventbrite.com/ On Saturday October 16, 2021, people across the globe are invited to come together in unity to experience a festival designed to help average people develop greater racial awareness and a deeper reflection on the harmful and sometimes unconscious effects of lingering racial disparities and racist systems in U.S.
Racial Awareness and Mindfulness Festival 2021 Read More »
Though we intend for this book to be introductory, we also hope that it will make substantive contributions to larger conversations regarding reparations both inside and outside of communities of faith. Even as we introduce some of our readers to the topic of reparations, we also hope to engage with scholars, theorists, and practitioners of
Contributions of this book Read More »
The Baptist denominational history is not unique in American Christianity. Virtually all of the major white mainline Protestant denominations split over the issue of slavery. For example, Northern and Southern Methodists parted ways in 1845, the same year as the Baptists, producing an additional spark for the tinderbox of Southern political secession. Whilte they disagreed
They refused to integrate Read More »
Americans are good. In his July 2019 newsletter to his followers, evangelical leader James Dobson described a visit to the southern border of the United States during what can only be called an immigration crisis of epic proportions. After stating that many of the “illegals” who cross the border are “illiterate and unhealthy” and will
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/aug/18/evanston-illinois-reparations-plan-cautionary-tale
Illinois city’s reparations plan was heralded – but locals say it’s a cautionary tale Read More »
Stop AAPI Hate documents 9,081 reports since March 2020, including harassment, shunning and physical assault https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/12/anti-asian-stop-aapi-hate-covid-report
More than 9,000 anti-Asian incidents reported in US since pandemic started Read More »
Americans have never had a monolithic view of Jesus, nor have they had a monolithic understanding of what Christianity is. In fact, so-called liberals and conservatives are miles apart when it comes to race. While it does not seem to be the case that evangelical conservative Christians are all Christian nationalists, what is clear is
What are we going to do about it? By Adam Harris https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/09/the-end-of-affirmative-action/619488/
This Is the End of Affirmative Action Read More »
Baltimore, Ferguson, Charlottesville, Charleston. Trevon, Tamir, Sandra, Philando, and Freddie. Kaepernick, Serena, Barkley, and Lebron. White supremacy, white privilege, white fragility, and woke. “Hands up, don’t shoot.” “I can’t breathe.” Black Lives Matter. These are just some of the people, places, controversies, and catchphrases that have come to define the complexities of today’s conversation about
How can we talk about race without the defensiveness, reflexivity, and scapegoating? Read More »
Recently my husband and I found ourselves as the only Black couple on a sea and land tour to Alaska and northern Canada. As retirees of the US government and academia respectively, we were quite accustomed to being “the only ones,” meaning being the only people of color in meetings, talks, and conferences. Yet what
White Surprise and More Read More »
https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/2021/07/29/oregon-nez-perce-tribe-celebrate-reclaimed-reservation-land-history-treaty-chief-joseph-amsaaxpa/5424269001/
“We must put drug abuse on the run through stronger law enforcement,” Reagan said in the Rose Garden. It wasn’t drug abuse that was put on the run, of course, but people like me, born into this regime of “stronger law enforcement.” The stiffer sentencing policies for drug crimes – not a net increase in
“Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.” Read More »
All progress we have made in the realm of civil rights has been accomplished through identity politics: women’s suffrage, the American with Disabilities Act, Title 9, federal recognition of same-sex marriage. A key issue in the 2016 presidential election was the white working class. These are all manifestations of identity politics. Take women’s suffrage. If
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/27/indigenous-americans-protesting-brutal-colonial-history
Indigenous Americans demand a reckoning with brutal colonial history Read More »
