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Online Course – Anti-Racism 101: Required Skills for White People Who Want to be Allies

9/2/2020

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Note: This resource is from the United Methodist General Commission on Religion and Race at: https://gcorr.teachable.com/p/antiracism101

Please send us resources from your faith tradition so we can share them across denominations. Each of us must do our part to dismantle over 400 years of entrenched and systemic discrimination and racism, especially those of us who are part of the dominant culture.  We can learn from each others' traditions and accomplish more together.
New Online Course! Available September 1.
Anti-Racism 101: Required Skills for White People Who Want to be Allies
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This online course centers on one big idea: that anti-racism is anything that actually interrupts and dismantles racism. As a 101 course, the content will focus on defining anti-racism, identifying anti-racism, and practicing anti-racism by interrupting racism. The three sessions will roughly fall under these categories: theory (big idea), practice [working with the big idea), and personal (implementing the big idea).
By taking this course, students will:
  1. Learn how to explain anti-racism to your church siblings or family
  2. Build your skills in interrupting racism in real-time
  3. Practice becoming stronger against white fragility – overcome the temptation to give up when the realities of racism become intense
  4. Create a foundational toolbox to interrupt and dismantle racism that will ground any other anti-racism work you do
Anti-Racism 101 is a self-directed course designed for you to take the course at your own pace.

Enroll now! $39.99

Take the course
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Help Refugee Children Here in California

6/24/2020

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Dear Friends:

We are sharing a message from our friend and ally, Fred Morris, a United Methodist Church minister who has long championed the plight of immigrants and refugees.  He has made it his life's work to protect especially children in need of protection from the dangers to their well being in their home countries and now the threats to their lawful status here.  

Last Friday was Juneteenth that we celebrate annually to commemorate the end of slavery and to affirm our belief that all men, women and children are created equal.    Saturday, June 20th, was World Refugee Day.      Let us carry both ideal through our lives by helping raise funds for the children from the San Fernando Valley Refugee Children Center. This is the organization  Fred founded in 2015 to aid the hundreds of children who came to us, unaccompanied, fleeing from gang violence in their home countries in Central America.  
 
With so much going on in the world, we can’t forget that hundreds of children are still fleeing life-threatening violence and traveling to the United States looking for refuge. The Covid-19 pandemic has limited the Center’s ability to raise funds, which means we are struggling to provide children with the resources they need to survive.
 
As a big win this week, the Supreme Court blocked Trump from ending DACA. However, we still have a lot of work to do.

You and I have the influence on social media to bring awareness to this issue and help raise enough funds to help the hundreds of children at the Center. If you’re able to make a donation, please go to tinyurl.com/world-refugee-day to donate, and give a child the support they need and deserve. A donation of even $25 can make a big difference to us. And if you could do that on a monthly basis, it would be even more wonderful.
 
Help us spread the word through social media by sharing the three images attached or click on our Digital Toolkit for suggested copy, videos, more images, hashtags and other ways you can help. #WorldRefugeeDay  #SFVRefugeeChildrenCenter
 
On behalf of the hundreds of children at the Center we thank you for your support.

The Council thanks you for remembering these children.  While we fight for the little ones still locked in cages at our border, let's make sure no other child is further endagered by our fear of "the alien among us".  Please help Fred help the children with care and legal assistance to keep them safe.

Thank you.

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Considering white privilege one right at a time

6/10/2020

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Dear Friends,

The following was created by the daughter of a friend. In the midst of our nation's confrontation with the "original sin" of racism, she deliberated on the facts behind the deaths of many Black people. She considered how she, as a young white woman, could easily do what they had done without being murdered. I find it compelling. We wanted to share it with you.

If you click on the highlighted names, it will take you to Facebook pages others have written about these horrid deaths. You don't need a Facebook account to access the pages.


​
I have privilege as a White person because I can do all of these things without thinking twice about it…

 
I can go jogging (#AmaudArbery).
I can relax in the comfort of my own home (#BothemJean and #AtatianaJefferson).
I can ask for help after being in a car crash (#JonathanFerrell and #RenishaMcBride).
I can have a cellphone (#StephonClark).
I can leave a party to get to safety (#JordanEdwards).
I can play loud music (#JordanDavis).
I can sell CD’s (#AltonSterling).
I can sleep (#AiyanaJones)
I can walk from the corner store (#MikeBrown).
I can play cops and robbers (#TamirRice).
I can go to church (#Charleston9).
I can walk home with Skittles (#TrayvonMartin).
I can hold a hair brush while leaving my own bachelor party (#SeanBell).
I can party on New Years (#OscarGrant).
I can get a normal traffic ticket (#SandraBland).
I can lawfully carry a weapon (#PhilandoCastile).
I can break down on a public road with car problems (#CoreyJones).
I can shop at Walmart (#JohnCrawford) .
I can have a disabled vehicle (#TerrenceCrutcher).
I can read a book in my own car (#KeithScott).
I can be a 10 year old walking with our grandfather (#CliffordGlover).
I can decorate for a party (#ClaudeReese).
I can ask a cop a question (#RandyEvans).
I can cash a check in peace (#YvonneSmallwood).
I can take out my wallet (#AmadouDiallo).
I can run (#WalterScott).
I
can breathe (#EricGarner).
I can live (#FreddieGray).
I can ask someone to put a leash on their dog when it is required in the public park we are in (#ChristianCooper).
I CAN BE ARRESTED WITHOUT THE FEAR OF BEING MURDERED. #GeorgeFloyd)
 
White privilege is real. Take a minute to consider a Black person’s experience today and read their stories.
#BlackLivesMatter
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Please share this with others who might either understand - or need to.

Thank you.

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The Arc of Justice in an Age of Extremism: Which Side Are We On?

6/3/2020

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Dear Friends:

Sacramento is under curfew.  The National Guard is in our streets.  Glass still litters our sidewalks, and a friend dubbed the Sacramento downtown "Plywood City". .The whole city is in mourning, over 130 businesses shattered by violence. The original protests for justice have been overshadowed by mindless rampages not from within the protest but inimical to it. 

These scenes are being played out across California and also across our nation. 

We are under siege and have not seen the likes of this since the end of the Civil War. 

The protests against police violence that kills and harms so many Black and Brown people are not the cause of but the excuse for the violence sweeping our land. By and large the rioters seem to be white, have their own nihilistic agendas. They pay no attention to Black community leaders trying to keep their movement peaceful, the issue focused on harm to people of color by excessive police actions. 

The rioting has its own momentum, takes no heed of anyone.  Too many times the community has found neo Nazi graffiti, anti -"Black Lives Matter" slurs, hate messages against many groups. It's not clear who is behind the violence at all. And yet the White House and media keep referring to the protest on racial justice as the source.  It is not. It is just the extremists' excuse.

There are now threats from the White House that active military will be sent to places with unchecked rioting and looting. The president told Governors on a conference call Monday  that he would use the Insurrection Act to bring control. The threat is horrifying. Yes, this happened in limited ways during the 1950s school desegregation uproar. Again it was applied during the Los Angeles riots of 1992. It has never before been threatened against an entire nation. 

The laws are clear: the 1807 Insurrection Act can be triggered by civil unrest, but only with the consent of Congress who are not likely to give it.  That was briefly changed in 2006 giving more unilateral power to the president, but the provision was repealed in 2008 thus restoring the original meaning of  the dominant Posse Comitatus Act (1878) that limits federal power over troops on domestic soil and removed the president's unilateral authority from the Insurrection Act.  No one person can order the placement of active military into our communities, our states, our lives.


Following  the phone call with Governors. we witnessed active military from Fort Bragg, NC arriving in Washington, DC. The District of Columbia is the one place troops can be placed without Congressional approval since it is federal jurisdiction.  At their arrival, the president directed that protesters be tear gassed and removed from the White House area despite the fact they were peacefully standing and sitting, nothing else.  In the ensuing assault,  clergy at nearby St. John's Episcopal Church, compiling medical kits for the protesters, were also gassed and driven off their property. The president then walked from the White House to the church to simply hold up a Bible for a photo op. 

This, according to analysts who understand the symbolism, was not just an odd public relations moment. This gesture was an affirmation to ultra conservative Christians that the actions the president was taking were being done under the rubric of fundamentalist Christianity. He was signaling his belief he would be both king and prophet, bringing End Times and the Second Coming through his work. It was affirmation to his followers that he was indeed acting our their version of the Lord's business as read by them in prophecy.  It was a sign he is the "Chosen". He is their man.

But that vision is not ours. It also isn't that of our members in the Episcopal Church. where he stood.  Bishop Mariann Budde of the District of Columbia dioceses was infuriated. She denounced both his use of force against protesters and clergy and his use of St. John's without anyone's permission.  She said it was craven and that they at St. John's were on the side of the protesters seeking justice for people of color. 

And here is where we are. We are called to respond to the great schism of today.   Which side are we on?  We at the Council have long embraced the principles of justice, of equality and equity, of love and compassion, care for our fellow humans. We seek to Bend the Arc toward Justice not capitulation to the anger of either mobs on one hand or tyranny on the other.  Which side are we on?

We have military in our streets,  troops in DC and National Guard elsewhere.. We still have Black men and women, elders and children begging America to respect their worth and protect their lives while seeking justice, seeking changes in policing, seeking safety in our society.  Which side are we on?

These are dark days. Choices and actions will have to be taken by us individually and by us together.  Which side are we on? 

We at the Council stand with those in pain, those who are hurt and left behind by our society. We stand with justice and love and community. We stand with joy and laughter and kindness.  We stand with all good people of good heart whoever they may be, protester and police officer alike.

We stand for what Jesus taught us in the two commandments. Love thy God and Love Thy Neighbor.  They are equal in our lives.

We will stand by that. We hope our nation will do the same.

May God shed blessings on this nation to be what our Constitution promises and upon us all to have the strength to carry that promise to fulfillment.

Thank you. 


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How can we be non-complicit in an age of hate?  Some suggestions

5/27/2020

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Dear Friends:

Our post yesterday about the hate incidents and crimes we've seen unfold via internet links calls for suggestions on how to be a witness for equity and justice.

We see today that last night the police in Minneapolis, MN drove people protesting the death of George Floyd into the streets with tear gas and rubber bullets. Mr. Floyd is the man who apparently died when a police officer knelt on his neck for what witnesses said was several minutes.  The crowds that came to protest were very diverse, many people outraged by this death. That diversity did not stop the use of force by the Minneapolis police.  We have no knowledge of what transpired last night, but we do see that for once people's 'whiteness' did not confer privilege. Yes, there are risks to standing for justice no matter who you are.

So we are confronted as well by our own apprehensions and fears if we, no matter who we are, stand up to power, speak truth to power.  What can we do if we are of brittle bone and unfirm stance but still wish to make our anger and our anguish known on these issues of injustice?  More to the point, how can we be proactive in preventing hate actions rather than reactive to them?  I once said I'd never again go to a candlelight vigil for victims of hate. My work in life was to create whatever conditions I could to assure we didn't need them. That work goes on.

If we genuinely wish to stop acts of hate, we need to begin with opposing it. We need to attend city and county public meetings, generally safe spaces, to raise our voices. Silence implies indifference if not actual consent to crimes against people under "color of authority".  This is where we can make sure that's not swept under the rug, where we demand that our officials act with decency.

But this is a long process that needs, once again, to interrupt "common sense" bigotry at the start.  Yes, it's true hate is not inborn but taught. We can reverse that process.  In 2000 I was living in Yolo County, CA, a fairly rural community but a diverse one.  It's also the home of University of California, Davis making Davis a pretty liberal town in a fairly conservative county.  Nevertheless, Yolo has been a leader in confronting hate crimes.  The county obtained a grant from the Southern Poverty Law Center to have a three-year program implementing their excellent program, "Teaching Tolerance".  There was a wonderful man from the Sheriff's office whose sole job was to go from school to school with this program.  He was welcomed in every school but one, and over the course of time, hate crimes dropped off, and bullying subsided.  Of the crimes or incidents that did occur, the perpetrators could all be traced to the one school where the "Teaching Tolerance" curriculum had not been used.  You rarely get data that are this blatant, but the experience served to show how important education of young people can be to ending hateful behavior.

As adults move to make their voices heard by public officials, we can simultaneously educate our young people.  Denominations, interfaith groups, youth ministries as well as civic organizations and school districts can access "Teaching Tolerance" curricula including online resources. Grants are available with simple, clear guidelines if personnel are needed to implement an extensive program.  For more information on where to start, you can go here

For specifics on interfaith understanding, don't forget our "oldie but goodie", Building Bridges of Understanding.  Produced by California Council of Churches in the wake of 9/11 and the uptick of anti Muslim hate (that is once again revived), you can self instruct via our online and downloadable study guide.  For a copy of the guide, please go  here  Building Bridges is at the bottom of the list.  The video that accompanies the guide is in very short supply, so please let us know by return on this email if you're interested, and we will try to ferret out a copy.

For combating anti-LGBTQ hate, also on the increase, that same link can take you to our study guide, Living Lovingly.  With all our study guides, directions on how to lead study circles and to engage conversations are given.  We see these as ways to interact with people who are uncertain about how our faith principles dovetail with justice issues, how to give safe space for hard discussions and meaningful resolutions.  

This is how we start. We need the commitment and the will.  We don't have to be maced to make a stand. 

Do whatever you can, however you can, for as long as you can.   It all counts.

Thank you. 

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bbu-edition2.pdf
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Challenges to being a non-complicit white person in the age of hate

5/27/2020

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Dear Friends,

Three deeply troubling events have occurred recently. There are three very public acts of deeply racist violence we have almost no words.

Ahmaud Avery was gunned down in Georgia, his assailants left free for way too long.

An affluent white female business executive threatened the very life of a Black man who'd told her to leash her dog in Central Park.

A Black man, a possible - POSSIBLE - suspect in a forgery was killed in front of our eyes by the arresting officer who knelt on his throat until he died.

Those of us in the faith community are sickened by such actions in no small part because while they were all recorded on video, the perpetrators acted with impunity, free in their own minds to carry on despite being recorded.  Where does such entitlement and hate come from?

Because we have no words, we are linking you to John Pavolovitz whose essays often do find the words.  

"Prolific Racism Needs Complicit White People" is his post today.  He speaks to us eloquently of how we got to such a place and how we need to challenge it.

Please link to his essay here.  

Even in the Age of COVID, we can practice peace, practice justice, practice humanity, practice love.  Let's have these things be our legacy of these hard times.

Thank you.

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    The Rev Dr Rick Schlosser

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