Thinking and Talking About Racism

Thinking and Talking About Racism:

Why It Matters and Why It’s Okay to Stumble Through It.

Adult Study – Sundays at 9:30 am from April 3 – May 8. Childcare provided.

“Race is about the American story, and about each of our own stories. Overcoming racism is more than an issue or a cause – it is also a story, which can be part of each of our stories, too. The story about race that was embedded into America at the founding of our nation was a lie: it is time to change that story and discover a new one. Understanding our own stories about race, and talking about them to one another, is absolutely essential if we are to become part of the larger pilgrimage to defeat racism in America.”

These are the opening lines of the book we will be using in Adult Study by Jim Wallis, American’s Original Sin. Jim Wallis, pastor, teacher, author, and founder of Sojourners an organization whose aim is to put faith into action.

-       Do you know about “the talk” that people of color often have with their children?

-       What do you think of the description of racism as America’s original sin?

-       Where were you when you heard about the shooting at Mother Bethel Emanuel Church in Charleston and what do you remember thinking?

-       What have been your personal experiences with law enforcement and how have those experiences shaped your perceptions of law enforcement in our country today?

-       Where do you feel the most pain and the most frustration around questions of race?

-       In most of our lifetimes, the majority of Americans will be descended from African, Asian, or Latin American ancestors. It will be the first time that whites will be the minority in roughly five hundred years. Given this, what might “beloved community” look like to you?

These are just a few of the questions we will be reflecting on in our time together. The point of this study is not to force everyone into thinking the same way. It is not to argue or persuade. We will be reading from Jim Wallis’ book - one person’s perspective on our national crisis regarding race and his perspective of how we got to this point. We will be telling our own stories. We will mess up. We will stumble. Because it matters so much, we’ll get nervous and say the wrong thing. And that will be okay.

For six weeks at 9:30 on Sunday mornings, we will create a space and a conversation where we can honor one another, learn together, and from one another. We will tell stories and create new ones. New stories of what it means for us to be church. For us to be siblings to one another and children of God. New stories of how we talk with people that matter to us who have different experiences from our own. New stories about how we participate in dismantling racism so our children and generations to come can live together in new ways.

Reading the book is optional – we will have printed and electronic copies of a few pages available each week. Please join us. And bring your stories.