Race and Faith Conversation 2021
Goals
To introduce some common terms in the race conversation
To see history of racism and current systemic racism
To learn from Christians who are wrestling with racism and racial identity
Preparation
Please watch, listen read the assigned materials, and think about the questions listed below before coming to each of the sessions.
For Session One, February 10, “In the beginning, slavery”
Watch sermon by Lisa Sharon Harper : “Four Words that Changed Everything” (35 minutes) [Or listen to audio track]
Reflect on the following questions:
This is a sermon. What struck you as “the word of the Lord”?
How does Harper relate the “image of God” in Genesis to historic and systemic racism? How is this an abuse of God-given “dominion”?
What struck you about the story of Harper’s great, great, great grandma Leah?
Watch PBS episode by Danielle Bainbridge: The Origin of Race in the USA (10 minutes)
Questions for the The Origin of Race in the USA video
What did you learn about the “evolution of race”?
What is the relationship of “race” and the development of “global capitalism”?
How was pseudo-science from the Enlightenment used to create “race”?
How was the category of “whiteness” modified to include or exclude various ethnic immigrant groups?
For Session Two, February 24, “POC in a White World”
Listen to podcast by Brian Bantum: “Faith & Race: A Reflection” (24 minutes) [Or listen on Spotify]
Questions for Faith & Race podcast
This podcast is an example of framing the race conversation from the perspective of a person of color. Bantum talks about black and brown life in a racialized racist world. He spoke of feelings of alienation and loss, of being overwhelmed to learn about violence, lynching and segregation. But he also spoke of finding life and community, being part of and creating these kinds of spaces for others. What did you identify with? Was there something new that you saw from the perspective of a person of color after listening to Bantum’s reflection even if you have not experienced it yourself, or to the same degree?
Watch Tim Wise on Everyday Inequality: Redlining (8 minutes)
Questions for Redlining video:
What is redlining? How does it help some create wealth and keep others poor?
If you didn’t know about redlining, how would you explain why a poor neighborhood is black and brown?
For Session Three, March 3, “White, Whiteness, and White Supremacy”
Look through these Slides Jonathan Tran created for this session. They are the basic rubric we will be using to explore white, whiteness, and white supremacy within the construct of race. Where did the white race come from? How and why was it established? What purpose does it serve?
Read this excerpt from The Hidden Wound by Wendell Berry.
How do you see white supremacy at work in Berry’s story of his family?
What do you think Berry means when he says at the end of the first paragraph on p. 9 that “the wound has lived beneath the skin?”
Note we received copyright permission for this excerpt for our congregation, but please do not share widely. Copyright © 2010 by Wendell Berry, from The Hidden Wound Reprinted by permission of Counterpoint.
Watch this video clip (10 minutes): Tim Wise: On White Privilege
How does the racial construct that created white privilege harm those who are considered white? How does it harm those who are not considered white? How does it harm a community as a whole, like New Orleans? How do you see this at play in our communities?
What hope surfaces if white folks are able to be delivered from white supremacy and be in solidarity with the poor across races? How might this be a picture of the gospel?
Bonus Material:
Read this Excerpt from Killers of the Dream, by Lillian Smith. This book was published in 1949, before the Civil Rights movement. In story form, Lillian describes the consequences of white supremacy on her community in the south. Note we received copyright permission for this excerpt for our congregation, but please do not share widely.
Listen to Seeing White, Season 2, Episode 3, This more fully tells the history of indentured servants and the building of the construct of white supremacy. Seeing White, a series of Podcasts by By John Biewen, with guest Chenjerai Kumanyika is a helpful resource overall.
For Session Four, March 17, “Brown Church”
Watch webinar by Robert Chao Romero: “Brown Church Webinar” (First 32 minutes; the Q&A is optional)
Outline main section
0:00 Introduction
4:00 Intro to Robert Chao Romero and his book, "Brown Church"
7:30 Continue on passion of holding faith/ministry together with academic/history
11:36 What is "brown church"? First definition: 500 years of Latin American social justice and theological tradition
14:04 What is "brown church"? Second definition: Metaphor for racial liminality; in the United States, the space between black and white.
19:34 Story of Mission Integral of the 70's and 80's
25:30 Is Christianity the colonizer's religion? Who is Jesus?
Outline for Q & A Section
33:00 How would a millennial bring about the conversation in a transgenerational church?
39:00 How have Asians received your definition of the brown church?
41:30 Where in this book do you touch on theology from the margins, especially Latinx immigration?
50:45 What are two or three things in the book you would say, make sure you focus here?
54:30 How do we do justice work and not feel like church thinks we are anti-Jesus?
1:01:00 Brown Church Poem
Questions for Brown Church webinar:
From the section starting at 7:30, how does Chao Romero hold in tension faith/ministry and academic/history? He also talks about the disconnect between the Latinx church and social justice, whereas the gospel is both “personal transformation” and “social transformation”. Do you also experience this tension? What has been your experience?
From the section starting at 11:36, Chao Romero gives a long list of Latinx faith and social leaders. All this together is 500 years of Latin American faith and social justice, his main definition of “brown church”. What have you learned about the history of Latin America? How do you view these social and political events and the church?
From the section starting at 19:34, the story of Mission Integral is a story of how the Latinx church has learned from the Western church and adapted to their own context of dictators, disappearing, and injustice. What struck you from this story? How does it help you practice faith/evangelism and justice/social transformation?
Bonus Material:
Mark Charles on Abraham Lincoln (8 minutes)
What did you learn about Abraham Lincoln in this video?
What practical concerns did Lincoln have in his actions and policies toward indigenous people?
Mark Charles calls Abraham Lincoln racist. On what basis?
For Session Five, March 24, “Asian American Church”
Listen to Daniel Lee and Kevin Doi talk about: Do We Need Asian American Churches?
Kevin and Daniel talk about the pressure for churches to be superficially "multi-ethnic", the need for ethnic-specific Christian spaces, and how Asian American faith can paint "a portrait of heaven" just as much as an overtly multi-cultural church.
Questions for Asian American Church podcast:
[2:16] gives 20/80 technical definition of “multracial church”. What racial dynamics does Daniel Lee point out when the 20% or 80% are White, Black, Hispanic, Asian American, or something else?
[6:41] How is King’s statement about the most segregated hour in America been used as “cultural propaganda”?
[10:15] How were Japanese American churches harmed through the Methodist churches campaign to “desegregate”?
[17:22] Why was Kevin’s church put at the Asian American table instead of the multi-ethnic table? Why were the white pastors of churches with only 20% non-white put at the multiethnic table?
Bonus Material:
Read Why the Children of Immigrants Are Returning to Their Religious Roots
Read The Multiethnic Church Movement Hasn’t Lived up to Its Promise
Read How Japanese and Mexican American farm workers formed an alliance that made history
Watch Tim Tseng on Panethnicity and the Asian American Church (AAPI Heritage Month 2020) (10 minutes) [Or listen to Audio track]
Questions for Panethnicity video:
What did you learn about the history of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders?
Describe each of the following: (a) “imposed panethnicity”; (b) “assimilated non-ethnicity”; and (c) “reformist panethnicity“.
What political role can AAPI play?
Listen to host Irene Cho and worship leaders Angie Hong, SueAnn Shiah, and Julie Tai on Decolonizing Worship for Asian Americans (37 minutes)
Questions for Decolonizing podcast:
Did you identify with something that one of the panelists shared? What did you identify with?
What was it like for these worship leaders to be the “Asian American” leader of a multiethnic worship platform?
What practical advise did they give for Asian American leaders?
Session Six, April 7, “Where Do We Go From Here?”
Listen to Living God’s Future Now Conversation No. 11 with Revd Dr Sam Wells and Dr Jonathan Tran
Notice what Jonathan says about the nature of God’s ecology, the centrality of the Church, and the nature of racism. Notice how he places Redeemer in this conversation. How is Redeemer already anti-racist? How might Redeemer continue to lay claim to what God is already doing in our church, our church’s partnerships with Rise and Dayspring, our neighborhoods, our workplaces, and beyond? How might we continue to participate with Christ as he redistributes grace in a graceless world?
Bonus Material:
Listen to Jonathan’s Sermon, “The Church as Anti-Racism” at the Palo Alto Vineyard (Sermon starts at about 28:40)