The Work of Anti-Racism
Resurrection Hope and the Call to Heal Our Culture
What is “the work” of anti-racism? If we open our eyes / have our eyes opened (at least in part) to the systems of racism and white supremacy all around us, what can we do? What will we do?
In the Christian church specifically, how are we responding to ongoing racial segregation in our culture?
These are quotations from the book Resurrection Hope: A Future Where Black Lives Matter by the Very Rev. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas we discussed today in our ACE Adult Sunday Class at Caldwell Presbyterian Church in Charlotte.
Recent studies have revealed the harsh reality that 75 percent of white Americans have “entirely white social networks without any minority presence.” Of the 25 percent that are not homogeneous, their social circles are still 91 percent white.32 It is no wonder, as we have seen, that Black and white people have widely different views of reality—concerning for instance the impact of systemic racism or of policing in this country.
and
While there has been some improvement since the time of his observation more than fifty years ago, “research ‘reveals’ that 8 in 10 (86%) have congregations with one predominant racial group.’” As one religious reporter put it, “Christian America has become ironically inseparable from a theology of division and racial segregation.”
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When I have been involved in these types of encounters, I have often felt like the Black experience is on display as in a zoo, and that I am there to provide the intellectual performance the white visitors demand of me. The point here is that these types of programs entail white people comfortably passing through the Black experience in which I live.
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Re-imaging policing requires first and foremost a commitment to establishing just communities. Just communities are safe communities. They are free from the violence that destroys Black life. This is the violence of poverty and its crucifying comorbidities: indecent housing along with the lack of educational, employment, health care, and recreational opportunities.
Rev Douglas is calling us to a broad-based, cultural response to white supremacy. I articulate this as, working together to “heal our culture.”
See my article, “Kelly Brown Douglas on Resurrection Hope” on the #HealOurCulture Substack for videos and podcasts by Rev. Douglas discussing this book and its themes.