Racial Justice
Continuing the conversation at St. Paul-Ref.
Racial Justice
Continuing the conversation at St. Paul-Ref.
Racial Justice
Continuing the conversation at St. Paul-Ref.
LISTENING AND LEARNING TOGETHER
For the past several years, SPR has been engaged in intentional conversation, work, and self-examination in regards to racial justice. This work is not over, but is ongoing and continues to help us learn, grow, and change as a community that is rooted in Jesus Christ. Working with our Synod, other parishes, and other community groups, we are always looking for ways to expand this conversation, learn more, and work for meaningful change. On this page, you can learn about some of the ways that we have been engaged in this work, as well as finding some resources that may be of help to you on your own journey.
Resources for Learning
There are many resources for learning about racial justice and anti-racism. Likewise, there are many organizations working to help this conversation advance...and tangible, workable goals for racial justice in our city, state, and nation. Here are some of the ways that SPR has been learning:
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White Fragility
by Robin DiAngelo
In this “vital, necessary, and beautiful book” (Michael Eric Dyson), antiracist educator Robin DiAngelo deftly illuminates the phenomenon of white fragility and “allows us to understand racism as a practice not restricted to ‘bad people’ (Claudia Rankine). Referring to the defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially, white fragility is characterized by emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and by behaviors including argumentation and silence. These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium and prevent any meaningful cross-racial dialogue. In this in-depth exploration, DiAngelo examines how white fragility develops, how it protects racial inequality, and what we can do to engage more constructively.
Waking Up White
by Debbie Irving
Waking Up White is the book Irving wishes someone had handed her decades ago. By sharing her sometimes cringe-worthy struggle to understand racism and racial tensions, she offers a fresh perspective on bias, stereotypes, manners, and tolerance. As Irving unpacks her own long-held beliefs about colorblindness, being a good person, and wanting to help people of color, she reveals how each of these well-intentioned mindsets actually perpetuated her ill-conceived ideas about race. She also explains why and how she's changed the way she talks about racism, works in racially mixed groups, and understands the antiracism movement as a whole. Exercises at the end of each chapter prompt readers to explore their own racialized ideas. Waking Up White's personal narrative is designed to work well as a rapid read, a book group book, or support reading for courses exploring racial and cultural issues.
A Good Time for The
Truth by Sun Yung
Shin, Ed.
"Reading this book in community offers some Minnesotans the opportunity to see their experiences broadly shared and others a chance to educate themselves―and to discover ways to act on their convictions."
In this provocative book, sixteen of Minnesota's best writers provide a range of perspectives on what it is like to live as a person of color in Minnesota. They give readers a splendid gift: the gift of touching another human being's inner reality, behind masks and veils and politeness. They bring us generously into experiences that we must understand if we are to come together in real relationships.
Minnesota communities struggle with some of the nation's worst racial disparities. As its authors confront and consider the realities that lie beneath the numbers, this book provides an important tool to those who want to be part of closing those gaps.
With contributions by:
Taiyon J. Coleman, Heid E. Erdrich, Venessa Fuentes, Shannon Gibney, David Grant, Carolyn Holbrook, IBé, Andrea Jenkins, Robert Karimi, JaeRan Kim, Sherry Quan Lee, David Mura, Bao Phi, Rodrigo Sanchez-Chavarria, Diane Wilson, and Kao Kalia Yang
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