Racism
Anti-racism
Every person is created in the image of God, wholly equal and entitled to equal life in our churches and communities. Race and racism are social constructs created and sustained for the benefit of some and the marginalization of many. The church is meant to be the manifold witness of unity among those of diverse ethnic backgrounds. Through discipleship churches strive for reconciliation and solidarity.
Racism Resources
Definitions
Race – A social construct based on the colour of one’s skin and other perceived physical attributes. Race is a category created to classify people for political, social and economic reasons.
Ethnicity – Culture of origin or identity, based on traditions, language, nationality or heritage.
Racism – The oppression of any person or people group based on their perceived race. Racism is embodied in policies, ideas and actions. It is individual and systemic. It is the belief that perceived racial difference makes any group superior or inferior to another. Racism is sin.
Antiracism – A movement of solidarity with those subject to racism and an intentional challenge to systemic racism. To be antiracist is to see all people in all their differences as equal. There is no neutrality with respect to race. Antiracism confronts racial inequalities.
White Supremacy – A description of the “white” cultural ideal of Western society. “Whiteness” has become the standard by which elements of society are judged. White supremacy, in this context, refers to systems that shape our society. Its most extreme is exemplified by radical groups like the KKK, but it is also subtly embedded in Western culture.
Black Live Matter – BLM – A movement that protests the disproportionate impact that racism has on Black people and communities. It is a decentralized movement responding to police brutality and racially motivated violence against black people. By extension, it is a protest against racism in all its forms and a movement of anti-racism.
BIPOC – Black Indigenous People of Colour – This acronym was created to represent the diversity of histories among those who experience the effects of racism is our society. The experience of each group is analogous but importantly distinct.
Books
Mark Charles & Soong-Chan Rah, Unsettling Truths
Robin J. Diangelo, White Fragility
Wayne Gordon & John M. Perkins, Do All Lives Matter?
Grace Ji-Sun Kim & Graham Hill, Healing Our Broken World
Daniel Hill, White Awake
Daniel Hill, White Lies
Ibram X. Kendi, How to Be an Antiracist
John M. Perkins, One Blood
Soong-Chan Rah, The Next Evangelicalism
Emmanuel Katongole & Chris Rice, Reconciling All Things
Layla F. Saad, Me and White Supremacy
David W. Swanson, Rediscipling the White Church