A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog post about digging up racism. I had written this almost two weeks before George Floyd’s brutal murder.
I can’t stop thinking about this metaphor, even though, like all metaphors, it can only go so far. In light of everything happening now in our country, I felt the need to share a longer version of it on my podcast.
Now, I’m one of those over-achieving-planners. I had 10 other podcast episodes recorded and scheduled for the rest of the summer. But, I’m putting all of those on hold for a bit.
Instead, I want to spend some time on the podcast talking about whiteness, our racial biases and privilege, dismantling white supremacy and systemic injustice, as well as resource us while amplifying important voices and crucial work.
So for the next few weeks, I am going to spend some time talking about this and interviewing a few friends and colleagues.
In this episode, I share a story, give you some resources, and end with a contemplative prayer that lasts 8:46 - the same amount of time that George Floyd spent gasping for breath as a police officer kneeled on his neck.
I think the upcoming episodes will be crucial for us white people who rarely think about our race, worry about police brutality, are unaware of our privilege, or refuse to face the evil and racist systems in our culture.
We need to learn our history, acknowledge the reality, speak up and out, repent, and apologize. We need to name it. We need to call it out. We need to repent. And then, we need to shut up for a while in order to listen and learn. As we do this, we need to find the roots of racism within our own hearts and lives.
Instead of just trying to become woke, we need to become the fixers and repairers.
Instead of unknowingly benefiting from racist systems, we need to become the dismantlers of racist systems.
We need to uproot the entire system and fix it, because we created it.
We need to become anti-racist who are working to create anti-racist policies, systems, culture, and the world.
As I mention in this episode, I have a bunch of resources for you.
If you love podcasts as I do, I recommend: Code Switch, Existential, Momentum, Pass the Mic, Profane Faith, Speaking of Racism, and White Homework.
There are so many incredible books out there. Some of the most impactful to me have been the following: The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, Just Mercy, How to be an Anti-Racist, Stamped from the Beginning, Antiracist Baby, Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You.
I think you should read everything by Ta-Nehisi Coates: Between the World and Me, We Were Eight Years in Power, The Case for Reparations, The Beautiful Struggle, and The Water Dancer. The Cross and the Lynchburg Tree and God of the Oppressed by James Cone are essential.
The Warmth of Other Suns, Slavery by Another Name, The Color of Law, I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness, Tears We Cannot Stop, and Trouble I’ve Seen are all incredible books worth your time.
And for those of us who are white, here are some specific books on whiteness that I recommend: White Fragility, White Like Me, Waking up White, White Awake, Raising White Kids, and Rediscipling the White Church.
I’ve also created a Let’s Get to Work Resource List, which you can download as a PDF. (Oh, and if you subscribe to my newsletter, you’ll get other perks like this once and a while)
It’s time to stand up, declare Black lives matter, grab a shovel, and start digging up the roots of racism because we are 400 years behind on this important work.
