There is a significant difference between being born “white” and “whiteness,” according to author Kerry Connelly, and she discussed that and other white supremacy concepts during a recent webinar presented by the Presbyterian Outlook and sponsored by the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation.
For many in the United States, the summer of 2020 served as a moment of renewed attention to the disease of racial inequality and injustice in our country. But in order to look forward in our pursuit of antiracism, we must also look back and acknowledge our history. To help churches address the difficult work of examining the history of American slavery, Cheri L. Mills offers her new Lenten devotional, “Lent of Liberation: Confronting the Legacy of American Slavery.”
Ahead of a Thursday afternoon “Power and Privilege” report delivered by consultant Marian Vasser, the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board broke into two virtual groups — board members of color and white board members — to discuss in closed session ways the Board might better serve people of color as it does its work overseeing and supporting the mission agency.
There is a significant difference between being born “white” and “whiteness,” according to author Kerry Connelly, and she discussed that and other white supremacy concepts during last week’s webinar presented by the Presbyterian Outlook and sponsored by the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation.
So many white people — good intentioned, Christian white people — believe that they live outside of racism or do not see the racist system at all. In doing so, they remain complicit in it. In order to break free and to find justice for our Black siblings in Christ, white Christians must wrestle with their white identity to find their anti-racist selves beneath.
“Racial Justice Resources,” what is for now a one-page list of resources to help bring about racial justice in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the wider world, is now available. Click here to view what’s currently offered. The list of resources will grow as more resources are developed.
When it comes to race, most white Americans are obsessed with two things: defending our own inherent goodness and maintaining our own comfort levels. Too often, this means white people assume that to be racist, one needs to be openly hateful and willfully discriminatory — you know, a bad person. And we know we’re good people, right? But you don’t have to be wearing a white hood or shouting racial epithets to be complicit in America’s racist history and its ongoing systemic inequality.