A Conversation about Racism
Small Group Conversations About Racism
Scroll to See a Curated List of Helpful Recommended Resources
Christianity Today published a helpful interview between Biola University communications professor, Timothy Muehlhoff and Isaac Adams, author of Talking about Race: Gospel Hope for Hard Conversations and pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church, in their July/August 2022 issue. In it, Adams states:
“The fruit of the Spirit is not racially biased. All of God’s people are to be loving, patient, kind, gentle, and faithful. I don’t want to frame these things only in terms of power dynamics or cultural embeddedness because the Bible transcends culture. It transcends time. God wanted his people to be kind and gentle in the first century, and he wants the same thing in the 21st century. And I just can’t get around that. That’s why I emphasize, in the book, that the Word of God is the lamp to our feet, the light to our path. It’s not that I don’t think statistics and cultural analyses are helpful. But we need to remember that there’s a higher authority.”
NEWIM’s conversations about race place the Scripture at the center and encourage all of us to converse with love, patience, kindness, gentleness and self-control. Please join us.
Six Sessions
Session 1: Welcome and Introductions
Session 2: The Danger of Silence
Session 3: The Bias Factor
Session 4: Evangelical Deconstruction Project
Session 5: Up to the Group
Session 6: Christian Values and Conclusion
A small group of women of various ethnicities will be having semi-monthly conversations about racism measured against God’s Word so that we can better understand each other. We know that our experiences are not the same. We’ve agreed to enter into these awkward conversations because we want to make a difference. We want to address the negative impact that racism is having on the Body of Christ. We agree that love is the foundation of unity among diverse people (I Cor. 12:12-13) and practicing sacrificial Christ-like love begins with each one of us.
The Conversation
We all have questions and comments about racism. Our “gentle ground rules” require that we listen to each other and treat one another with respect, discern the difference between opinion and fact regarding what we share, not be too shocked when someone says something that is different from our perspective. The conversation will be awkward at times and we will have some missteps. We will be challenged and annoyed by each other as we will learn to see things from a different perspective. We’ll learn, grow, and cry together. There will be plenty of grace to go around.
As reconciled sisters in Christ, empowered by the grace of God through his Spirit who lives in us, we are called to become transformed Kingdom women who desire to understand one another (1 Pet. 3:7) and live together in harmony (Rom. 12:16). We are committed to continual personal growth and education as we seek to embrace our unity and our diversity, standing with Christ and our sisters to seek a more just society (Taken from Biola University’s Theological Statement on Diversity).
Let us know you are interested
We will email you when we are forming the next cohort.
Anne Barbour
Facilitator: June Chambliss Turner
June Chamblis Turner has a masters degree in Women’s Ministries from Talbot School of Theology. In 2013, she began Women Who Matter Too, a ministry devoted to providing strategic support to women who are currently in ministry (teachers, preacher, mentors, counselors). June serves on the NEWIM Board as the Director of Leadership Training and Development.
Resources We’ve Found Helpful
Wondering Where to begin?
There are many resources linked below. Here are suggestions for where to begin.
If you only have an hour, I'd recommend Jennifer Eberhardt's interview on her book, Biased -- I've found them fascinating AND helpful in answering the question: Why are there so many people (including politicians, police, friends) who don't seem to be racist, acting like racists? Racism and social injustice persist in our American society. Why? (See links below.)
If you only have 2 hours, I'd HIGHLY recommend listening to Letter from Birmingham Jail. Dr. King is so compelling—he's leading peaceful marches so that Americans are allowed to vote and anti-segregation laws will be enforced. How can Christians oppose this? Yet eight White clergy/friends in Birmingham purchased a full-page ad in the Birmingham newspaper to condemn Dr. King's protest marches. This letter is written by Dr. King to Christians and is as important today as it was fifty years ago.
If you don't know why people say that there's systemic racism in America, Holy Post is excellent. In 17 minutes, you'll understand why.
If you don't know what to think about non-violent protests, listen to Letter from Birmingham Jail. If you'd like to understand how Dr. King looked at riots, his article, “Crisis in American Cities,” is very helpful. He deplores violence but upholds the need for civil disobedience and shows how injustice is complicit.
If you prefer to read: Tim Keller wrote an excellent series of articles that talk about racial injustice from a theological perspective. *The Bible and Race, The Sin of Racism, A Biblical Critique of Secular Justice and Critical Theory and Justice in the Bible. If you would like to know more about the distinctions between the worldview of “social justice” compared to the worldview of “biblical justice” that Tim Keller is addressing, listen to this podcast from 2018 by Thaddeus Williams (Associate Professor of Theology, undergraduate division at Talbot).
I was also fascinated (but in a negative way) with a video I watched of Robin D'Angelo talking at the Seattle Public Library about her book, White Fragility. Read the work of George Yancy (he is in the same field as Robin D'Angelo). He disagrees with Robin's approach and says that mutual alienation is never going to fix anything. Empathy, he says, will make the difference. His article is important if you are puzzled by the book, White Fragility.
If you’d like to take a course for pastors and lay people see Seminary Now’s offering, specifically the courses offered by Esau McCaulley (Wheaton New Testament professor on Bible Interpretation), Brenda Salter McNeil (Reconciliation), Antipas Harris (American History), Dominique Gilliard (Incarceration). Each addresses topics of race and racism. Previews and the first week of using Seminary Now are free, then there is a monthly subscription cost.
Looking for solutions: See George Yancy, Jennifer Eberhart's work, and Baratunde Thurston’s TED talk.
The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) offers a curated list of resources.
Annotated List of Resources
WATCH: Videos to watch or listen to
*Holy Post: Race in America. 17 min. video by Phil Vischer (creator of Veggie Tales).
Why are people angry? Why so upset? Didn't we elect a black president? Pass civil rights laws? Isn't racism illegal now? Why are people still angry? Let's take a look at race in America...
Luann: A fast moving overview of why people think there are policies in place that create systemic, social injustice in America.
*Letter from Birmingham Jail. 48 min. Listen to the letter read while viewing photographs of the Civil Rights Movement
Dr. King’s response (from his jail cell) to 8 White pastors/friends who took out a full-page advertisement in the Birmingham newspaper to denounce the protest marches in their city. This letter is Dr. King’s response.
Luann: Dr. King is writing to the church, to us. I think these are the most important words for us to receive. He explains “just” and “unjust” laws, imploring us to engage in working nonviolently to change laws and policies that we know are not right in the eyes of God. As Christians, we believe without a shadow of doubt that all men are created equal, so how can we oppose what we know is right? We believe that God is just and he requires us to be just. Dr. King convicted me. I’ve had to ask myself, Why have I been silent for so long?
*Jennifer Eberhardt , Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice that Shapes the way we see, think, and do.
*An Introduction to Biased. 3 min video.
"Implicit bias is a kind of distorting lens that's a product of both the architecture of our brains and the disparities in our society." If we have a brain, we have bias. It’s how we are designed to make sense of the world by constantly categorizing information we take in. This 3-minute video is a great introduction to Dr. Eberhardt’s research.
Interview with Daniel Pink about her book
*Part 1 Focuses on understanding the pervasiveness of implicit bias. 30 minutes
*Part 2 Focuses on how police and social platforms are using the research to effect positive change. 30 minutes.
Dr. Eberhardt is widely considered one of the world’s leading experts on racial bias. Daniel H. Pink is the author of six provocative books about business and human behavior. Interview was conducted in June 2020.
Luann: I found these interviews to be fascinating because they helped me to understand how we can unintentionally be engaging in racist behavior even though we don’t consciously think we are racist. Having bias doesn’t make you a bad person, it makes you human. Understanding bias and how it influences our behavior can help us to consciously make decisions that significantly reduce racist behavior. Her personal stories of how her own children were influenced by biases they absorbed from being in our culture were eye-opening for me. She has worked with the Oakland and Richmond police departments, as well as NextDoor Neighbor and Airbnb, implementing changes to reduce racial profiling and “othering” with great results. If you aren’t sure you want to invest an hour in the interviews, watch her 3 minute video, then decide. She also has a series of other short videos on the same topic.
Dr. Tony Evans, Oneness Embraced. Playlist - a 6-video Bible study series by Tony Evans. Approx. 45 min. each
Evans’ description: “Black/white relations in the culture at large and in the church, in particular, continue to be a stain on America's respectable reputation. The church has clearly failed and must seek to function by God's kingdom perspective. In this series, Tony Evans seeks to promote a biblical understanding of the kingdom foundation of oneness by detailing why we don't have it, what we need to do to get it, and what it will look like when we live it.”
Luann: I’ve appreciated Dr. Evans’ Bible Study looking at various passages of Scripture to see what they can teach us about a biblical perspective on racism and social justice that is not partisan but Christian.
Undivided: Your Church and Racial Reconciliation. Free, 5-week video series and discussion guide
Pastors J.D. Greear and Dhati Lewis unpack what it looks like to move your church toward genuine gospel community across racial lines.
Anne: This was a serious confirmation for me as I was writing about my own unconscious contribution to racism.
Justice - 6 min video from the Bible Project.
From their description: "Justice" is a felt need in our world today and a controversial topic. But what is justice, exactly, and who gets to define it? In this video, we'll explore the biblical theme of Justice and discover how it's deeply rooted in the story-line of the Bible that leads to Jesus.
Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man - 10 min inaugural episode
Emmanuel Acho. In this series he sits down to have an “uncomfortable conversation” with white America, in order to educate and inform on racism, system racism, social injustice, rioting & the hurt Black people are feeling today.
How to Deconstruct Racism, One Headline at a Time | Baratunde Thurston. A TED Talk.
Baratunde in an engaging TED talk describes the problem of police interactions becoming violent and recommends that before we dial 9-1-1 because we feel uncomfortable, we ask ourselves if the situation really requires a response from the police.
Playlists of Videos to Watch or Listen to
WATCH NOW -NEWIM’s Playlist of videos addressing racism and racial injustice in America, mostly from a Christian perspective. Here you’ll find in one place several of the video resources listed above, include a reading with photographs of Dr. King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail, Holy Post about Race in America, an interview about racial justice, and Dr. Jennifer Eberhardt’s 2-part interview with Daniel Pink on her book, Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice that Shapes the way we see, think, and do.
Podcasts to Listen to
2020 brought to light the growing inequality in the United States. We're seeing huge gaps in income, access to healthcare, and quality of education across the country. Bill Gates and Rashida Jones are joined by economist Raj Chetty on the Big Questions podcast to talk about his groundbreaking research on opportunity in America. Then Mayor Aja Brown joins the conversation to talk how about the city of Compton has made progress in trying to level the playing field. Listen to the Big Questions podcast, Episode 2, available on Apple Podcasts.
READ: Articles
*The Bible and Race, The Sin of Racism, A Biblical Critique of Secular Justice and Critical Theory and Justice in the Bible by Tim Keller. 4 Articles.
Luann: I loved reading these articles. Tim Keller is helping to give me words as he articulates so beautifully (and humbly) things I've been learning and thinking.
*Not White Fragility but Mutual Responsibility by George Yancey. Article.
Luann: George Yancey, a fellow sociologist, disagrees with Robin D’Angelo’s (White Fragility) approach to racial reconciliation. I resonate with his approach. He writes that if we can empathize with the lived experiences of other Americans we will be moved to make positive changes—the best way forward is not mutual alienation but mutual responsibility and accountability.
Statement from Yancey’s website: I am a professor of sociology with an academic interest in race relations and anti-Christian attitudes in the United States. Concerning racial issues I have developed a Christian model for race relations that can take us beyond colorblindness and anti-racism. I covered this model in my book, Beyond Racial Gridlock. While my early academic career dealt largely with racial issues, I have lately focused on issues of Christianophobia. Many of the lessons I learned dealing with racial issues also apply as it concerns anti-Christian bias. The results of my work can be found in the books I have written and in my Patheos blog at Shattering Paradigms.
If we Lose the Meaning of Justice, we Lose the Gospel by Amy Hall. Article.
Luann: This article is on the Stand to Reason website which supports using the term “justice” but believes that the term “social justice” has an anti-Christian agenda. (Not all Christians will agree with articles posted on their website.)
Paul’s Word to the Police: Protect the Weak, by Esau McCaulley. 8 pg article published in Christianity Today, Sept. 2020.
A helpful article written by a Wheaton professor and priest in the Anglican church: "As a country trying to come to terms with our view of policing, we turn to books, podcasts, conversations in the public square, and projects in our communities. That's all fine and good. But as believers, we must turn our eyes to Scripture, not in order to "proof-text" but in order to think theologically about how the state polices its residents...”
Racial Injustice and Broken Systems. Article.
Cathleen: In working with the Center for Community Transformation at Fresno Pacific University, we partner with The Chalmers Center on various programs. This is a good article they wrote.
*The Crisis in America’s Cities, by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Article in The Atlantic, published 1967.
Dr. King’s article on the causes of the 1967 Detroit Riots.
Luann: I found Dr. King’s article relevant not to just understand why people were rioting in Detroit fifty years ago but to understand the riots that took place in American cities recently. Dr. King condemns violence. He says it’s deplorable. However, he advocates for civil disobedience and aggressive non-violent ways of disrupting the city in protest so that the status quo is upset. Then, he says, meaningful change to policies that perpetuate injustice will take place. Read the article to understand why civil disobedience is integral to change.
Tulsa Race Massacre, 1921, Library of Congress with 4 min video by Emory University.
In the wealthy African American area of Tulsa, Oklahoma, known as Black Wall Street, Blacks were living the American dream. A young Black courier needed to make a delivery to a third-floor business. The White woman operating an elevator yelled, “Rape.” The Black man was arrested. Tensions escalated between Whites and Blacks. Over two days, White people bombed, looted, set on fire and completely destroyed 35 blocks, along with more than 1,200 homes. Blacks were brutalized and murdered; some 300 people died, mostly Blacks. Read a first-hand account.
READ: Books
Birmingham Revolution - Martin Luther King Jr.'s Epic Challenge to the Church by Edward Gilbreath.
Luann Budd: I loved this book as it helped me to understand the context of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail. I didn’t know that “Martin Luther was on a mission to restore righteousness to the church.” (pg. 9) I didn’t know about Dr. King’s kitchen table vision. I didn’t know that Dr. King was a man of prayer. I didn’t know that when people asked him how he was able to accomplish all that they did in Montgomery, he said, “It was a movement of prayer.” I didn’t know that he said, “God’s companionship does not stop at the door of a jail cell. God had been my cellmate.” There is so much about Dr. King, the Letter from Birmingham Jail, the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s, and social injustice in American that I don’t know. And I’ve come to the conclusion that I’ve got some catching up to do. If God helped Dr. King write the Letter from Birmingham Jail, perhaps I should read it and let it inform and change me.
Letter from Birmingham Jail - listen to Dr. King’s letter being read. Luann: I find the last 30 minutes especially compelling as Dr. King shows the pastors he is addressing why he disagrees with them. This letter is as relevant today as it was when he wrote it.
Discussion Guide from Intervarsity Press.
Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice that Shapes the way we see, think, and do. by Jennifer Eberhardt.
Jennifer L. Eberhardt is widely considered one of the world’s leading experts on racial bias. She is a professor of psychology at Stanford. She has a Ph.D. from Harvard, and is the recipient of many prestigious awards, including a 2014 MacArthur “genius” grant. She has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and was named one of Foreign Policy’s 100 Leading Global Thinkers.
READ: Blog Posts
Anne Barbour’s Blog. Posts: “I’d like to Stop Being Part of the Problem,” “What is the Main Thing?”
WATCH: Movies
PBS Documentary: Eyes on the Prize.
Let us know you are interested
Email Info@newim.org to let us know you are interested in Conversations About Racism. We will email you when we are forming the next cohort.