Books, Articles and VideosCritical Race Theory: What Christians Should Know. This video was produced by the United Methodist Commission on Religion and Race in July 2021.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=220304656644603&ref=sharing
Here are some questions for reflection as you watch the above video:
When did you first hear the words: "Critical Race Theory"? Who did you hear them from? What do you notice about your reaction to those words now?
What does it feel like in your body to imagine having a conversation about race and racism? (Try and describe bodily sensations as well as feelings. We will practice having compassion towards ourselves with these feelings.)
What thoughts come to you as you think about having conversations about race and racism? What are your beliefs and attitudes about this? What are some of your questions about this?
Now think about your behavior, your actions regarding conversation about race and racism. When did you recall first realizing your own “racial identity”? Describe your action/interaction with different races. What actions are you taking (or would you like to "try on") that you would describe as "anti-racist"?
What learning or re-learning has happened for you as a result of watching the video?
This is referenced in the above video: Bartolomé de Las Casas debates the subjugation of the Indians, 1550 This tract, a summary of a debate concerning the subjugation of Indians, contains the arguments of Bartolomé de Las Casas, the Bishop of Chiapas, Mexico, and Juan Gines Sepulveda, an influential Spanish philosopher, concerning the treatment of American Indians in the New World. Las Casas came to Hispaniola, in the Caribbean, in 1502 with a land grant, ready to seek his fortune. A Dominican friar nurtured Las Casas’s interest in the priesthood as well as his sympathy toward the suffering of the native inhabitants. In 1509, Las Casas renounced his land grant, released his slaves, and returned to Rome to take his religious vows. He returned to Hispaniola in 1512 as the first ordained priest in the Americas and denounced the Spanish exploitation of the Indians and the military conquest of the New World. His efforts to end the encomienda system of land ownership and forced labor culminated in 1550, when Charles V convened the Council of Valladolid in Spain to consider whether Spanish colonists had the right to enslave Indians and take their lands. Sepulveda argued against Las Casas on behalf of the colonists’ property rights. Sepulveda rationalized Spanish treatment of American Indians by arguing that Indians were “natural slaves” and that Spanish presence in the New World would benefit them. Citing the Bible and canon law, Las Casas responded, “All the World is Human!” He contradicted Sepulveda’s assertions that the Indians were barbarous, that they committed crimes against natural law, that they oppressed and killed innocent people, and that wars should be waged against infidels. Las Casas managed to convince the theologians at Valladolid that the Spanish policy was unjust and had to change. However, his victory had no impact on the colonists, who continued to enslave American Indians. Las Casas has been called the “father of anti-imperialism and anti-racism,” and he greatly influenced the drive to abolish the Spanish encomienda system. This article is a prompt for dialogue about the theology that makes supremacy culture possible (or at the very least unquestioned). https://faithandleadership.com/william-h-lamar-iv-its-not-just-the-coronavirus-bad-theology-killing-us Further reading about the theological foundations that support a culture of white supremacy. The Poverty and Justice Bible - World Vision Publication Website - Black Methodists for Church Renewal http://bmcrumc.org Website - United Methodist Church Social Principles https://www.umc.org/en/what-we-believe/basics-of-our-faith/our-social-positions Website - Proposed update to the UMC Social Principles https://www.umcjustice.org/documents/124 The Color of Compromise - Jamar Tisby How to Fight Racism - Jamar Tisby Video: “The Black Church” - Henry Louis Gates Jesus and the Disinherited - Howard Thurman The Cross and the Lynching Tree - James Cone Just Mercy - Bryan Stevenson The Spirituals and the Blues - James Cone Faith after Ferguson - Leah Francis Stand Your Ground: Black Bodies and the Justice of God - Kelly Brown Douglas, Rethinking Incarceration - Dominique Gilliard White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity - Robert P. Jones The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race - Willie Jennings How to Heal our Racial Divide: What the Bible Says, and the First Christians Knew about Racial Reconciliation - Derwin L. Gray Be the Bridge - Latasha Morrison Waking Up White: and Finding Myself in the Story of Race - Debby Irving For deepening your understanding of the way racism functions today at a policy making level. The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America - Richard Rothstein The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness - Michelle Alexander The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together - Heather McGhee How to be an Antiracist - Ibram X. Kendi Race: The Power of an Illusion This Three-Part Film Series answers the question of whether race has any basis in biology (it does not). It covers the history of how the idea of race was created as a justification for subjugation and enslavement. And it covers some of the significant policies in the United States that have contributed to disparities based on race. The DVDs can be purchased online or borrowed from the Grace Church. Articles from the Public Policy and Witness Team for the Florida Annual Conference. These offer some insight into ways the church can raise our voice and advocate for antiracist policy in Florida. https://www.flumc.org/newsdetail/justice-is-what-love-looks-like-in-public-16482741 http://florida-email.brtapp.com/files/fileslibrary/communications/a+theological+statement+on+voter+participation+%26+suppression.pdf Video series “Beyond Fear” produced by Florida UMC clergy. They are conversations on race, racism and the Christian witness. Episode 1: Marxism, Communism & Socialism -- Ways Conversations on Race and Civil Rights are Demonized Featuring: Rev. Dr. Brett Opalinski, Pastor, Christ Church UMC https://player.vimeo.com/video/467496882 Episode 2: Why is it Difficult to Talk about Racism? Featuring: Rev. Dwayne Craig, Pastor, East Naples UMC https://player.vimeo.com/video/473216102 Videos from “Do We Want to be Healed: Racism In the White Church” at Baylor University’s Truett Seminary. Racism in the White Church: "White Evangelicals on Race" with Kristin Du Mez Racism in the White Church: “White Too Long” with Robert P. Jones and Mia Moody-Ramirez Martin Luther King's Vision for Beloved Community - Published by The King Center Click Here to read about what King meant when he talked about building Beloved Community. White Fragility: Why It is so Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo. This book is helpful for a lot of white people as a first read for understanding the way racism is bigger than simply "individuals who consciously don't like black people and intentionally seek to do them harm." This book is helpful for recognizing the way racism is embedded in the institutions and culture of our country in ways that are often unseen and unappreciated by well meaning white people who would not consider themselves racists. This book validates the lived experience of many people of color and seeks to awaken white people to the way the system of racism shapes our lives, how we uphold that system and how we might interrupt it. Here is a book discussion guide for White Fragility.
https://youtu.be/DwIx3KQer54 Connected to this book, Robin DiAngelo has made several short videos which can be helpful for opening up conversation about the (often unconscious) ways white people perpetuate systems of racial oppression. This 20 minute video called "Deconstructing White Privilege" was produce with Robin DiAngelo and the United Methodist Church's Commission on Religion and Race. And this 9 minute video called "Being Nice Is Not Going to End Racism" is a good discussion starter about the deeper work necessary for ending racial oppression. Preparing for Policy Advocacy: 15 Things to Consider for Building a Relationship with Your Elected Leaders. Twelve Books to Help Children Understand Race, Anti-Racism and Protest.
Our Stories of Growth and ChangeIn this section we are posting with permission the stories of people in our congregation and community about what they are learning, re-learning, and doing around racial justice. To submit your story, email Marshia Hewitt, Inclusion Committee Chair. Kelly Hughey's Essay on Understanding Institutional Racism and a second essay on understanding white privilege called "Fish in Water." Pastor David's Hope in the Dark Valley of Racism (8 min video) - This is a response to Ahmaud Arbery's murder while running in Brunswick GA by two white men acting as citizen police. In this essay Pastor David share's some of what he is learning about the way racism (another other forms of oppression) manifest themselves in many different ways and at four levels: Personal, Interpersonal, Institutional and Cultural. Pastoral Letter, June 13, 2020 Prayer of Lament and Rejoicing - This 5 minute video is a prayer of the people - one of lament and rejoicing - led by members of the Grace United Methodist Church Council in St Augustine, FL. This was our prayer in worship on June 14, 2020. This is the text of the prayer. When the System Does My Hate for Me - A personal account of evolution in grace by Pastor David. Peace with Justice and an Economy of Abundance - Theological assumptions in our work for peace with justice by Pastor David Pastor David's Draft Letter Response to SB 148 Pastor David's Good Friday Sermon at St Paul AME St Augustine 2022 - "Father forgive them; they know not what they do."
Community ConversationsCommunity Conversation is a weekly gathering on Tuesdays 12:00 - 1:15 p.m. for on-going education, support and leader development for people who want to learn and use a personal approach to change and equity in their own settings. We utilize the multi-cultural process of change and other tools for diversity, equity and inclusion that are taught by VISIONS, Inc. The group is always open and is currently meeting by Zoom. Please email Peggy Namie for the Zoom link. Click here to see the 2023 organizational goals and objectives for Community Conversation.
For reference, here are some of those tools:
Community Conversation: Origin Story
Conditions Under Which Racial Learning Occurs
Multicultural Process of Change
Multicultural Process of Change (revised)
Three Dimensions of Change and Feelings as Messengers
Feelings - The Fertile Soil of Anti Oppression Work
Understanding Our Multiple Identities
Understanding Your Historically Included and Excluded Identities
Group Identities and Culture Sharing Exercise
How Culture is Like an Iceberg
Understanding Four Levels of Oppression and Change
The Feedback Tool
The Cooperative Process
Understanding and Sharing Culture
Understanding and Fighting Modern isms
"Is Reconciliation Possible - The Question Remains" Lessons from combating "modern racism" in the US and South Africa, Dr Valerie Batts
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