Racism kills. It dehumanizes us all, telling some of us we are less than human and rendering others of us incapable of having a decent conversation about it. It takes our best intentions and misshapes them beyond recognition; no matter what we do or what we mean to do, we
MoreA Theological Reflection Why can’t white folks in general – and white Christians in particular – be rid of the problems of white privilege and racism? Why can’t a board, a vestry, a session, or pastors and Christian Educators simply do the things necessary to solve the problem of ‘race
MoreIn Zora Neale Hurston’s 1928 essay, “,” she writes about her lived experience as a black woman in the South. She talks about her racial awakening, describing it as “the day I become colored.” She uses many metaphors to talk about race, including calling herself a “brown paper bag” alongside other bags
MoreA Dialogue Between Two Generations of Black Presbyterians This article originally appeared in the May/June 2002 issue of Church & Society (Vol. 92, No. 5) “The Hope and Challenge of Reconciliation Today”. Rev. Curtis A. Jones interviewed Dr. Gayraud S. Wilmore reflecting on the Confession of 1967, 35 years after
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An Opening Editorial Yes, you read the title right. I am racist, and so is the majority-white denomination I serve, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). I’m not particularly happy to admit this about myself or my Church. True, I have never engaged in explicitly hateful actions based on a person’s race
MoreA longer version of this article originally appeared in Doing Justice, Loving Kindness, and Walking Humbly: The Witness of Some Southern Presbyterian Pastors for the Cause of Racial Harmony in the 1950s and 1960s, compiled by James S. Currie. All rights remain with the original publisher. In 1953, the Little
MoreBroken Places in our Education Systems Public Schools and the Public Good: The Social Contract We Have ‘Left Behind’, Jan Resseger “In a democracy, we are responsible, through our elected representatives, for ensuring that our public institutions distribute opportunity to all children, not just to some.” Read Article sdf Brown
MoreThe Social Contract We Have ‘Left Behind’ Consider this definition of justice from the Rev. J. Philip Wogaman, the retired pastor at Washington, D.C.’s Foundry United Methodist Church: “Justice is the community’s guarantee of the conditions necessary for everybody to be a participant in the common life of society… If
MoreDo you have a teacher story? It seems to me that most people do. Many of us, when asked, can easily recall a story of a mentor figure who encountered us at just the right moment in our lives, the teacher who taught us a lesson much more important and
MoreFrom Admiration to Action Five children (4 girls and 1 boy, who departs in the opposite direction halfway down) are walking down steps of the 16th Street Baptist Church. They are discussing typical girlish things. “I got my hair pressed that morning, and it was wasted when I hit the
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