- há 2 dias
An exploration of the historic roots and ongoing relationship between racism and American Christianity.
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00:01:00Most of our nation's most complex social issues continue to revolve around race.
00:01:06Why is this such a stumbling block for us?
00:01:09What will it take for us to finally come together?
00:01:12Can the issues of race ever truly be overcome?
00:01:15Or is it just human nature to divide ourselves along racial lines?
00:01:20There are a lot of people who believe that racism is there.
00:01:23It's always going to be there.
00:01:24There's nothing you can do about it.
00:01:26You know, you are the race.
00:01:27You are blah, blah, blah.
00:01:29And I say, no, this is something we made up.
00:01:33Wait, what?
00:01:35This is something we made up.
00:01:37So if we made race up, what's the story?
00:01:40A closer look at history reveals that the story of race is a story of labor.
00:01:47Most of us were taught that North America was initially colonized by those seeking religious freedom.
00:01:53But in fact, most Europeans, including the pilgrims, came for land and economic opportunity.
00:01:59At that time, there was no concept of race as we know it.
00:02:03No one identified by the color of their skin, but by their country of origin.
00:02:08French, English, Dutch, Spanish.
00:02:12By the early 17th century, the colony's plantation economy was booming.
00:02:17This created a massive need for cheap labor.
00:02:20A need largely filled by poor European immigrants.
00:02:23Some landowners also used enslaved people from African nations.
00:02:27But at the time, an enslaved person's status was not lifelong.
00:02:31One could gain their freedom.
00:02:33However, in 1676, enslaved Africans joined with European indentured servants in a large rebellion against the colonial government in Virginia.
00:02:44Alarmed by the natural alliance between the indentured and enslaved,
00:02:48the ruling class passed a series of laws that segregated and permanently enslaved those of African descent,
00:02:55while also giving their European counterparts new rights and status.
00:02:59This divide-and-conquer strategy paved the way for what would become an organized system of racial chattel.
00:03:07Slavery.
00:03:08And that was how you kept a system in place, was, and why you had white people who were poor
00:03:14not challenging the system,
00:03:15because they were sold a bill of goods, that somehow whiteness was going to include them in all the benefits
00:03:22of society.
00:03:23The first legal use of the term white appeared in 1691 in a document created by the colonial government of
00:03:30Virginia,
00:03:31used intentionally to differentiate people by the color of their skin rather than their nation of origin.
00:03:37In 1790, Thomas Jefferson put forth the first U.S. National Census,
00:03:43which placed the population into the categories of free white males, free white females, and all other free persons.
00:03:52Enslaved black people were counted as well, but only as three-fifths of a person.
00:03:57Native Americans weren't counted at all.
00:04:00And at its first seating, Congress passed the Naturalization Act,
00:04:04which stated that only free whites could become United States citizens.
00:04:09You have to be white. That was the first thing they said.
00:04:13The very first thing. You have to be white.
00:04:16What humans have done is ascribe meaning and difference to skin colors,
00:04:21and then use those meanings to create hierarchies.
00:04:25And so when we say race is socially constructed,
00:04:28it's about the ways in which humans have created hierarchies related to racial difference.
00:04:34The construct of race as a way to assign value to human beings
00:04:39became woven into the structures of this new nation,
00:04:42with white people valued above all others.
00:04:46This ideology has been upheld and reinforced throughout our country's history,
00:04:51continually seeking legitimization through pseudoscience,
00:04:56civil policy, and bad theology,
00:04:58all examined through a white lens.
00:05:01White supremacy is the idea that not only is it great to be white,
00:05:06but it's better than anybody else.
00:05:09It's better than any other color.
00:05:10It is the best.
00:05:12The way that white folks do things,
00:05:14the way that white folks think,
00:05:16the way that white folks do church,
00:05:19the way that white folks write and talk about God,
00:05:22it's better than anybody else.
00:05:24As a person of color, I notice this when I walk into denominational headquarters,
00:05:29or I walk into seminaries and Christian colleges,
00:05:33and I look at all the important people of that denomination,
00:05:36and they're old white men,
00:05:38and it's telling me that for the history of this denomination,
00:05:41or for the history of this Christian college or university,
00:05:43they believe that the only important people to put up on the walls are old white men.
00:05:48That implicitly is affirming or asserting white superiority.
00:05:53Whiteness became a culture in and of itself,
00:05:56to be defended at all cost.
00:05:59In the 19th century,
00:06:01Chinese immigrants became another target of racially biased policies.
00:06:05And because there was this fear that these Chinese laborers were stealing good white men's jobs,
00:06:11jobs, as if those jobs belonged to them,
00:06:14this sentiment kind of emerged and swelled and ultimately led to the Chinese Exclusionary Act.
00:06:20The one and only time we excluded an entire group of people from being able to immigrate into our country
00:06:25just missed off their ethnicity.
00:06:28The Exclusionary Act starts as a 10-year act,
00:06:30but it ultimately is extended for 60 years.
00:06:33European immigrants, such as the Irish, Italians, and Germans,
00:06:37were also initially viewed as a threat and were often persecuted.
00:06:42But they had one distinct advantage.
00:06:44They were light-skinned.
00:06:46So, over time, by stripping away or hiding their ethnic heritage,
00:06:51eventually, they could assimilate and become white.
00:06:54The United States has been referred to as the melting pot,
00:06:58a metaphor for the fusion of nationalities, cultures, and ethnicities.
00:07:03I've never really liked the term melting pot,
00:07:06because it just means that it's going to become one thing.
00:07:11And so, who decides what the one thing is?
00:07:14When you're the minority, that means that everything of yours is lost.
00:07:18It seems the metaphor of the melting pot, in truth,
00:07:22is a push for white homogeny, rather than an embrace of diversity.
00:07:27My own children are way lighter-skinned than I am.
00:07:31And what's happened, I think, even with my children,
00:07:34is that our celebrations and our language are slowly dissipating and disappearing.
00:07:41And I wonder what my grandchildren will be like.
00:07:45Like, they'll be, and I keep thinking, they'll be the next white generation.
00:07:50Today, the concept of race and the structures that hold up whiteness as the norm
00:07:55have become so embedded in our culture
00:07:57that it's extraordinarily difficult for most white people
00:08:01to see the ways they influence life in this country.
00:08:04Because being white is what's normal.
00:08:07And it's normal for everybody.
00:08:09It's just what it means to be human.
00:08:12We don't think of it in racial terms.
00:08:14And so my question's always been like, what is white culture?
00:08:18Let's talk about that.
00:08:20And that's hard to define,
00:08:22because really what they might be alluding to is white supremacy.
00:08:29We don't see the advantages.
00:08:30And we usually only recognize it when we are with persons of color
00:08:34and they get treated differently than us.
00:08:36What we think is as normal is really an advantage.
00:08:41And the advantages are often stark.
00:08:44A 2016 national study of household wealth
00:08:47found that the median net worth of white families
00:08:50was eight times higher than that of Hispanic families
00:08:53and ten times higher than that of black families.
00:08:58Another 2016 study revealed that black, Hispanic, and Native American children
00:09:04are more than twice as likely as white children
00:09:07to be living in low-income homes.
00:09:09When we focus on what makes us, quote, the same,
00:09:13it denies the fact that our lives are not the same.
00:09:17And we live in different worlds with different realities.
00:09:20And so when we focus on the things that make us the same
00:09:25and we can't agree on humanity.
00:09:26I think what we have done with race is evil.
00:09:30I mean, I'm of the belief that difference is not evil.
00:09:35You and I did not start this system of race and white supremacy.
00:09:38But if we do not actively work at uncovering our own inherent bias
00:09:43and tearing down the system, we are guilty still of supporting it.
00:09:48We need to recognize that we do live in a society
00:09:53that is oppressive to people of color
00:09:56and has a long history of white supremacy.
00:09:59This has always been who America is,
00:10:02the dissolution of the American exceptionalism dream.
00:10:07We're realizing sort of in our collective consciousness
00:10:10that we're no better than any empire that's ever come before.
00:10:27We've been taught that the United States was founded on religious liberty,
00:10:31which means the history of the American church
00:10:34is tightly bound to the history of American culture,
00:10:38including colonialism, racism, and white supremacy.
00:10:43But how is it possible that a religion founded
00:10:47in the boundless love and compassion of Christ
00:10:49could ever align itself with the ideologies that have only brought harm?
00:10:55It's all in the interpretation.
00:10:58There is no concept of race in the Bible
00:11:00because race is a thoroughly modern construction.
00:11:04There are, though, a lot of things that look like race in the Bible.
00:11:07In the Old Testament, a great deal of focus is placed upon a concept of people,
00:11:13translated from the Hebrew word am.
00:11:16People, in this instance, are God's chosen people, the Israelites.
00:11:21Those who are not a part of Israel are referred to as the nations.
00:11:26The nations shared a common ancestry with Israel,
00:11:29but worshiped different gods.
00:11:30It does not involve facial features, skin tone,
00:11:37things that are physical characteristics.
00:11:40In the New Testament, we find a similar divide
00:11:43between Jewish people and non-Jewish people,
00:11:46who are called Gentiles.
00:11:48And so while there are components of national identity,
00:11:54components of cultural identity,
00:11:56they're all subsumed under this question of
00:11:58what's your religious identity?
00:12:01The white church in the U.S. would often interpret these passages
00:12:04about ancient religious divides
00:12:06as parallels to the racial divides
00:12:09that were deemed essential to the success of the American experiment.
00:12:14In American theology, that divide then gets applied
00:12:17white versus other.
00:12:20Israel equals white Americans.
00:12:23The nations equals the others.
00:12:27In the book of Joshua, we see the Israelites invading,
00:12:30and eradicating many nations.
00:12:33The Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites,
00:12:37the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites,
00:12:40and the Jebusites,
00:12:42all in order to claim the land God had promised them.
00:12:45In the age of colonization and westward expansion,
00:12:49North America became the promised land.
00:12:52The pilgrims, the Puritans, and the pioneers
00:12:55became God's chosen people.
00:12:58And the nations they were subduing
00:13:00were the many indigenous tribes.
00:13:02The Seminoles, the Algonquin,
00:13:05the Cherokee, the Choctaw,
00:13:07the Iroquois, the Chickasaw,
00:13:10and many, many more.
00:13:12In the case of slavery,
00:13:14we can trace the progression of this race-based theology
00:13:17through colonial law.
00:13:20In 1656,
00:13:22an enslaved woman of African descent
00:13:24named Elizabeth Key
00:13:25won her and her infant son's freedom in court,
00:13:29partly on the grounds that she was a baptized Christian.
00:13:31At that time,
00:13:33it was English law that a baptized Christian
00:13:35could not be enslaved.
00:13:37Shortly after Key was freed,
00:13:39a new colonial law was passed
00:13:41that eliminated this loophole,
00:13:43clearly stating that baptism
00:13:45did not equate freedom from the bonds of slavery.
00:13:47If you already think
00:13:49that slavery is an institution
00:13:51that needs to continue
00:13:52for your economic survival,
00:13:54you go to Ephesians and you say,
00:13:56Paul says,
00:13:58slaves obey your masters.
00:14:00And the problem with this
00:14:01is it's an incredibly decontextualized reading.
00:14:04It was the Christian church
00:14:07that baptized Africans
00:14:10as they left the shores of Africa
00:14:13into slavery
00:14:14and gave them Christian names
00:14:17or English names
00:14:19to replace their African names.
00:14:21The ability to be a Christian
00:14:23and still be a slave owner,
00:14:25which I think most of us today
00:14:27would say is completely contrary
00:14:28to the scripture that we read,
00:14:30that foundation was built
00:14:32by white theologians
00:14:34who, in a sense,
00:14:37manipulated the text.
00:14:38Even as slave owners
00:14:41used the Bible
00:14:42to justify and sanctify
00:14:43the ownership
00:14:44and oppression
00:14:45of other human beings,
00:14:47the enslaved Africans
00:14:48embraced biblical narratives
00:14:50of justice and freedom,
00:14:52finding hope
00:14:53in the story of God's promise
00:14:54to deliver an oppressed people.
00:14:56And so we see
00:14:57enslaved Africans
00:14:59taking Old Testament stories
00:15:01of Israelites
00:15:02and using that
00:15:04to connect with, right,
00:15:06to understand that
00:15:07that there were enslaved people
00:15:08in the Bible
00:15:09and God freed them.
00:15:11We also see enslaved people
00:15:13contesting the ways
00:15:16in which masters
00:15:17used the Bible
00:15:19to subject them
00:15:20and saying this is morally wrong
00:15:23and morally corrupt.
00:15:24The Bible has long helped
00:15:26fuel black people's fight
00:15:27against injustice
00:15:28in the United States,
00:15:29from the abolition of slavery
00:15:31to securing the right to vote
00:15:33to ending Jim Crow laws
00:15:35and on into today.
00:15:37When I think about
00:15:38the story of Jesus
00:15:39and connecting it
00:15:41to enslavement,
00:15:43to the history
00:15:43of African Americans,
00:15:44it's always being
00:15:46on the side
00:15:47of those who are
00:15:48most marginalized
00:15:49and trying to transform society
00:15:52to respond to those people.
00:15:54So you look at the Bible
00:15:55and you read
00:15:56the first century church
00:15:58and how the church was formed.
00:16:00It was formed
00:16:01in Jewish communities
00:16:02and Jews in the first century
00:16:04were an oppressed
00:16:05ethnic and religious minority.
00:16:07So the church, though,
00:16:09that came to the United States
00:16:10came from Europe
00:16:11and it was a church
00:16:13built on colonialism
00:16:15and white supremacy
00:16:17was interwoven.
00:16:18And so what we received
00:16:21was a European form
00:16:23of Christianity
00:16:24that was very different
00:16:26than what you read about
00:16:28in the pages of the Bible.
00:16:30Even as our theological
00:16:32frameworks have expanded
00:16:33to reflect the experiences
00:16:35and theologies
00:16:36of Christians
00:16:37around the world,
00:16:38the bedrock
00:16:39of white supremacy
00:16:40still shows
00:16:41through our language.
00:16:42When we talk about
00:16:43Western theology,
00:16:44we don't say
00:16:45this is actually
00:16:46Swiss theology
00:16:47or German theology
00:16:49or specifically
00:16:50American theology.
00:16:51We just say
00:16:52it's theology.
00:16:53We centralize
00:16:55Western theology
00:16:56by just calling it theology
00:16:57and all the others
00:16:59are on the periphery.
00:17:00Black theology,
00:17:01womanist theology,
00:17:02liberation theology.
00:17:03And we've created
00:17:05anotherness
00:17:05because we're saying
00:17:06you're not the norm.
00:17:08My entire experience
00:17:09in seminary,
00:17:10we're going to assimilate you,
00:17:12we're going to teach you
00:17:13good theology,
00:17:14we're going to teach you
00:17:14the way that we do it
00:17:15and then we're going to
00:17:15send you out there, right?
00:17:17It's the way we think
00:17:18about how we're going
00:17:19to bring our good
00:17:20American or Western
00:17:22progressive theology
00:17:23to a world
00:17:25that doesn't know
00:17:25any better,
00:17:26to say we're going
00:17:27to go to Africa
00:17:28and fix their theology
00:17:29for them.
00:17:29We're going to go to Asia
00:17:30and fix their theology
00:17:31for them.
00:17:32I think that assumption
00:17:33of the superiority
00:17:35of one culture
00:17:36or one people group
00:17:37over against the other
00:17:38is much more common
00:17:40than we realize.
00:17:41If you're not willing
00:17:43to submit to the leadership
00:17:45of a local leader,
00:17:48an indigenous leader,
00:17:49a leader of color,
00:17:50then you're not actually
00:17:51coming in to do ministry.
00:17:53You're actually going
00:17:53to be manifesting colonization.
00:17:56Just the way that
00:17:57I saw missions being worked
00:17:59in our communities of color
00:18:01here in Chicago as well,
00:18:03seeing how white churches
00:18:05that had money
00:18:06would come in,
00:18:08the thought that
00:18:09there wasn't Jesus here
00:18:10until they came,
00:18:12that they were bringing
00:18:12Jesus into our city.
00:18:15And I'm like,
00:18:15Jesus is already in this city.
00:18:17Jesus is already working
00:18:18through plenty of us
00:18:20that are doing this work.
00:18:21The Eurocentric roots
00:18:23of the American church
00:18:24have created structures
00:18:26that focus on the experiences
00:18:28and perspectives
00:18:28of white people.
00:18:30A focus that creates
00:18:31all kinds of unseen biases.
00:18:34I'll be honest,
00:18:35I know I have plenty of bias.
00:18:36I have plenty of things
00:18:37that I assume
00:18:38about other people.
00:18:39And so I think
00:18:41it's not a question
00:18:42of not having assumptions.
00:18:44I think it's a question
00:18:45of what do you do with them?
00:18:47And are you aware of them?
00:18:48I think the most important thing
00:18:51that we can do
00:18:53is to get out of the way
00:18:55in the sense that
00:18:56there are people
00:18:57in the United States
00:18:58and people around the world
00:18:59in immigrant communities,
00:19:01in global Christianity,
00:19:02who are reading the Bible
00:19:04very differently than we are.
00:19:06And by having folks
00:19:08speaking for their own communities,
00:19:09speaking of how
00:19:10they interpret the scripture,
00:19:12we now have a counter-narrative
00:19:14that can be put in conversation
00:19:17with our traditional narrative.
00:19:19The diversity of voices
00:19:21around the world
00:19:21serve to remind us
00:19:23that the word of God
00:19:24carries a core message
00:19:26of inclusion
00:19:26and that God cannot be limited
00:19:29to one cultural expression.
00:19:45There is a popular story
00:19:47of race in the United States
00:19:48that goes something like this.
00:19:50The United States of America
00:19:52is the land of opportunity,
00:19:53a melting pot
00:19:55where people from all over the world
00:19:56come to live in freedom,
00:19:58to escape repression,
00:19:59to share in the American dream.
00:20:02This is a familiar story,
00:20:05one we've all heard many times.
00:20:07It is the story
00:20:08of American exceptionalism.
00:20:12This story is about
00:20:14a noble war to end slavery
00:20:15in the United States
00:20:17and extending the right to vote
00:20:19to formally enslave peoples,
00:20:21of banding together
00:20:23to win a world war,
00:20:25twice.
00:20:26A story of civil rights earned,
00:20:28equality before the law
00:20:30and equality at the ballot box.
00:20:33This is a story of progress.
00:20:35In this story,
00:20:36there is no organized effort
00:20:38to harm black people
00:20:39by white people.
00:20:40The truth is,
00:20:41there is no organized effort
00:20:43to harm black people
00:20:44by white people.
00:20:45That doesn't exist here.
00:20:48See?
00:20:49There is, however,
00:20:51a counter-narrative
00:20:52of our nation's history.
00:20:53There are these huge gaping holes
00:20:56in what we call U.S. history
00:20:57because it's not told
00:20:59from the perspective
00:21:00of people of color,
00:21:02because it's not written
00:21:03or institutionally affirmed
00:21:05by people of color.
00:21:07Filling in the gaping holes
00:21:08of U.S. history
00:21:09paints a very different picture
00:21:11of what it means
00:21:12to celebrate the United States.
00:21:13This story includes
00:21:15the beginning
00:21:16of the transatlantic slave trade
00:21:18and the growth of slavery
00:21:19across the English colonies.
00:21:21This story recognizes
00:21:22the resistance to evil
00:21:24among those who were enslaved
00:21:25and the commitment to slavery
00:21:27among white people.
00:21:29This story is characterized
00:21:30by the violence
00:21:32against black and brown bodies
00:21:34and born out of
00:21:35white supremacist theology,
00:21:37racist laws,
00:21:38and cultural oppression.
00:21:40One that celebrates
00:21:41black achievement
00:21:42in the face of such oppression
00:21:45and confronts violence always.
00:21:48White Americans have never needed
00:21:50to tell this other story.
00:21:52The narrative of white supremacy
00:21:54makes it possible
00:21:55to see only the story of progress.
00:21:57I think white folks
00:21:59don't need to imagine it
00:22:00or thought they didn't.
00:22:01If you're not thinking
00:22:03about black folks 24-7,
00:22:05and by black,
00:22:06I mean people of color.
00:22:06I mean,
00:22:08you can spare yourself.
00:22:11You can read books.
00:22:12You can watch TV shows.
00:22:15But at the end of the day,
00:22:17you can go back to being white
00:22:19and be spared.
00:22:22When I served in rural Ohio,
00:22:24we were the only black family
00:22:28in the town that we lived in.
00:22:31And it was about
00:22:33as challenging
00:22:36as you can imagine.
00:22:37I just had another baby.
00:22:40That was our youngest.
00:22:42So I'm at home
00:22:44and getting ready to nurse.
00:22:47And Benny wants to go for a walk.
00:22:50My husband goes for a walk,
00:22:52takes the two other kids
00:22:54in the double stroller.
00:22:55And as he's going for a walk,
00:22:57he comes right back.
00:22:59I mean, just a matter of two minutes,
00:23:02he's right back home.
00:23:03And I said,
00:23:04what happened?
00:23:05And he said,
00:23:06this parishioner,
00:23:08he said,
00:23:08he just tried to kill us.
00:23:11I said,
00:23:11what are you talking about?
00:23:12You know,
00:23:13I'm thinking he's exaggerating.
00:23:14He said,
00:23:15he tried to run us over.
00:23:17He drove up onto the curve
00:23:19and he said,
00:23:21it was right after
00:23:22President Obama was reelected.
00:23:24He said,
00:23:25that fucking nigger president
00:23:27is trying to ruin my country
00:23:30and I'm going to run you fucking niggers
00:23:33out of this town.
00:23:35And proceeded to drive up onto the curve
00:23:38to kill my husband
00:23:40and our two small children.
00:23:43The American mistake
00:23:44is believing that we are exceptional and different.
00:23:47This is a country that's built
00:23:49on the genocide of indigenous people,
00:23:51that an entire economy is built
00:23:54on the black backs
00:23:56of people who've never been given reparations
00:23:59and has continued to reinforce
00:24:02those racist structures and systems
00:24:05for its own benefit.
00:24:06And that fault line runs
00:24:08through the entire American experience.
00:24:11This has always been who America is.
00:24:13It's easy to think
00:24:14that the story of violence against black bodies
00:24:16belongs to the country's past.
00:24:18But white supremacy is still on the march.
00:24:22Enabled by the lack of understanding
00:24:24of how society reinforces racial prejudice
00:24:27across legal, educational, professional,
00:24:31and social metrics,
00:24:32racist systems are failing black Americans.
00:24:36One example is home ownership,
00:24:39the centerpiece of the American dream.
00:24:41What we understand
00:24:42and what historically we can see
00:24:44with African Americans
00:24:45is that the way that you become a citizen
00:24:48is through ownership.
00:24:49Because what happens when you own a home?
00:24:52You have say not only of your own domicile,
00:24:55but then you get to be a part of a community, right,
00:24:58that can take political action.
00:25:00The benefits of home ownership in the U.S.
00:25:03are enormous.
00:25:04From tax breaks and credit benefits
00:25:06to building equity
00:25:07and passing it to our descendants,
00:25:09these benefits have been systematically denied
00:25:13to a majority of black Americans.
00:25:16In the 1930s,
00:25:17as part of the New Deal,
00:25:19loan programs were created
00:25:21to help Americans purchase homes.
00:25:23In order to determine who received a loan,
00:25:26the government created color-coded maps
00:25:29where green neighborhoods indicated low risk
00:25:31and red neighborhoods were high risk.
00:25:34This practice,
00:25:36now known as redlining,
00:25:37heavily favored white communities.
00:25:39Home ownership for African Americans
00:25:42has been racially contested
00:25:45because of the ways in which
00:25:46the federal government colluded
00:25:48with mortgage companies
00:25:50to redline and to blockbust
00:25:53African American neighborhoods.
00:25:55Neighborhoods that were predominantly African American
00:25:57were automatically deemed high risk,
00:26:00which meant they were less likely
00:26:01to get loans to purchase, right?
00:26:03Right after World War II,
00:26:05we had this huge endowment
00:26:08or investment in the suburbs
00:26:11that came from the Federal Housing Authority.
00:26:14Of the $120 billion
00:26:16that was invested in suburban housing,
00:26:19less than 2% of that
00:26:21went to non-white families.
00:26:23This is Levittown, Pennsylvania,
00:26:25a new suburban community
00:26:27of 60,000 people
00:26:29midway between Philadelphia
00:26:31and Trenton, New Jersey.
00:26:33With its giant shopping center,
00:26:36winding lanes,
00:26:37named for flowers and trees,
00:26:39it is fairly typical
00:26:41of communities all over America
00:26:42where families are pursuing
00:26:44the American dream
00:26:46to give their children
00:26:47a better chance in life.
00:26:49Why did you select Levittown to live?
00:26:52We were looking for a place
00:26:54to buy a home.
00:26:55We looked at Levittown
00:26:56and we liked the homes here.
00:26:57We liked the advantages
00:26:58that Levittown seemed to offer
00:27:00in comparison to other cities.
00:27:03and we understood
00:27:04that it was going to be all white.
00:27:05We were very happy
00:27:06to buy a home here.
00:27:07In the 19th century,
00:27:09the U.S. government claimed
00:27:11that people of African descent
00:27:12were property.
00:27:14In the 20th century,
00:27:15the same government worked
00:27:17to ensure Black Americans
00:27:18couldn't own property.
00:27:21Predatory and biased lending practices
00:27:23have been exposed
00:27:24over and over
00:27:26in the United States,
00:27:27revealing a continuing
00:27:29systemic effort
00:27:30to withhold economic benefits
00:27:32from Black families
00:27:33that are readily available
00:27:35to white families.
00:27:37So what is a white homeowner to do?
00:27:39Give up their home?
00:27:41We're not asking you
00:27:42to sell your home.
00:27:43We're not asking you
00:27:44to even move.
00:27:45But we're asking you
00:27:45to think about the structures
00:27:47that we all implicitly buy into
00:27:51that create and replicate inequality
00:27:55and how we can think
00:27:56about dismantling those.
00:27:58The answer to the problem
00:28:01is eventually
00:28:02when you find
00:28:04that there are no more areas
00:28:05to which a white person
00:28:07can move
00:28:07without having a Negro family in.
00:28:10Well, that would be
00:28:11the best end
00:28:13that there could be
00:28:14to degradation.
00:28:16And it's probably
00:28:18something that will happen
00:28:20in the future,
00:28:21perhaps in the near future.
00:28:46When Christopher Columbus
00:28:48arrived on the shores
00:28:49of a new world in 1492,
00:28:52he brought with him
00:28:53a belief in his God-given right
00:28:55to take over any lands
00:28:56he found
00:28:57in the name of Spain
00:28:59and Christianity.
00:29:00This right was given
00:29:02to Columbus
00:29:02and all European explorers
00:29:05by various papal edicts
00:29:07that would come to be known
00:29:08as the Doctrine of Discovery.
00:29:17It's hard to overstate
00:29:19the impact
00:29:20the Doctrine of Discovery
00:29:21has had on the world
00:29:22in the last 500 years.
00:29:24So the Doctrine of Discovery
00:29:26is basically an agreement
00:29:27between the European nations
00:29:29in the 15th century.
00:29:30Whoever discovers it first
00:29:32and lays claim
00:29:33to the land,
00:29:35they own that.
00:29:37If Portugal goes out
00:29:38and discovers
00:29:39some land in Western Africa
00:29:41and 15 years later,
00:29:43France goes out
00:29:44and discovers the same land,
00:29:46who does this land belong to?
00:29:47With the Doctrine of Discovery,
00:29:49such questions
00:29:50are easily dispensed of.
00:29:52It essentially starts out
00:29:54as this peace agreement
00:29:55between European nations,
00:29:56but really what it becomes
00:29:57is the theological authority
00:30:00to enslave
00:30:01non-Christian people
00:30:02and also just to strip
00:30:04their land
00:30:05of all the resources.
00:30:06Any movable
00:30:07or immovable good
00:30:08now belongs to the crown.
00:30:10The earliest edict
00:30:11of this kind
00:30:12was the Doom des Versailles,
00:30:13issued by Pope Nicholas V
00:30:15in 1452,
00:30:17which gave colonizing
00:30:18Europeans permission
00:30:19directly from God
00:30:20to, quote,
00:30:21capture, vanquish,
00:30:24and subdue
00:30:25the enemies of Christ,
00:30:27to put them
00:30:28into perpetual slavery,
00:30:30and to take all
00:30:31their possessions
00:30:32and property.
00:30:33That papal bull
00:30:34is kind of the birth
00:30:36of white Christian relationship
00:30:38to Native people,
00:30:40to Indigenous people.
00:30:41One of the things
00:30:42it did was
00:30:43it allowed people,
00:30:45white people
00:30:46or non-Native people,
00:30:48non-Indigenous people,
00:30:49to put themselves
00:30:50on a higher level
00:30:51of their relationship
00:30:53with God.
00:30:54Forty years
00:30:55and numerous
00:30:56additional edicts
00:30:57reinforcing
00:30:58these beliefs
00:30:59would pass
00:31:00before Columbus
00:31:01set foot
00:31:01in the New World.
00:31:02By the time
00:31:03Columbus arrives
00:31:05in the Western Hemisphere
00:31:06in 1492,
00:31:08the thought
00:31:09that these people
00:31:12he's encountering
00:31:13are made in the image
00:31:14of God
00:31:15doesn't even enter
00:31:16into his consciousness
00:31:18at that point
00:31:19because for 40 years now,
00:31:21the Church
00:31:21and these European nations
00:31:22have been operating
00:31:23under the understanding
00:31:25that these are not people.
00:31:26It's like any other resource.
00:31:28You can do
00:31:29what you will with it.
00:31:30And we as Natives
00:31:32kind of point to this
00:31:33as the foundation
00:31:35for all of the atrocities
00:31:36that take place
00:31:37with so-called discovery
00:31:40and imperialism
00:31:42because we were not
00:31:43seen as human.
00:31:44We were seen as barbarians.
00:31:47We were resources
00:31:49to either be enslaved
00:31:52and utilized
00:31:52or removed entirely.
00:31:55The Doctrine of Discovery
00:31:57was both a political
00:31:58and religious document
00:32:00sanctioning centuries
00:32:01of slavery,
00:32:03genocide,
00:32:03and other atrocities
00:32:05worldwide.
00:32:06Even now,
00:32:08its tenets
00:32:08remain embedded
00:32:10in modern society.
00:32:11The very fact
00:32:12that I have a piece of paper
00:32:13that says that I own
00:32:15this house
00:32:16and the lot
00:32:17that it's on,
00:32:18my right to own that
00:32:20is rooted
00:32:21in the Doctrine of Discovery.
00:32:23In the 19th century,
00:32:25a series of Supreme Court cases
00:32:27updated the Doctrine of Discovery
00:32:29from the Age of Exploration
00:32:30to the Time of Westward Expansion.
00:32:33In the 1823 case
00:32:35of Johnson v. McIntosh,
00:32:37the court ruled unanimously
00:32:39that natives
00:32:39did not own the land
00:32:40that they occupied
00:32:41as it belonged
00:32:43to the European nation
00:32:44that discovered it.
00:32:46That ruling provided
00:32:48the groundwork
00:32:48for westward colonial expansion
00:32:50via the land rush,
00:32:52the pioneer spirit,
00:32:54and the belief
00:32:55in manifest destiny.
00:32:57Manifest destiny
00:32:58being the belief
00:33:00that white settlers
00:33:00had a right
00:33:01imbued by God
00:33:03to claim all the lands
00:33:04of the continent
00:33:05from the Atlantic
00:33:06to the Pacific.
00:33:13This land is mine!
00:33:15Mine by destiny!
00:33:18The value for Native people
00:33:20has always been our land.
00:33:21That's what they wanted.
00:33:23They always wanted our land.
00:33:24The hunger for land
00:33:26required policies
00:33:27for the removal
00:33:28or eradication
00:33:29of Native communities.
00:33:31These included
00:33:32forced relocation
00:33:33to reservations,
00:33:35forced conversion
00:33:36to Christianity,
00:33:37outlawing Native
00:33:38spiritual practice,
00:33:40and child removal
00:33:41to boarding schools.
00:33:43Well, I guess I can start out
00:33:44with my own story.
00:33:46I was sent
00:33:47to a boarding school
00:33:48when I was a child.
00:33:50And it was called
00:33:52St. Mary's School
00:33:52for Indian Girls.
00:33:53And it was run
00:33:54by the church.
00:33:56And when we got
00:33:58to the school,
00:33:59we were isolated
00:34:00or separated
00:34:01from our families.
00:34:02We went to school,
00:34:03of course.
00:34:04We took our classes.
00:34:05But before we did that,
00:34:07we worked.
00:34:08We were the maintenance
00:34:10crew for the school.
00:34:11So we took care
00:34:12of the grounds.
00:34:13We took care
00:34:14of the buildings.
00:34:15We did all of the work.
00:34:17That is the doctrine
00:34:20of discovery
00:34:21on the church side.
00:34:23Because they took
00:34:24our family away.
00:34:26They took our identity away.
00:34:28We really became
00:34:30non-children.
00:34:31The boarding school system
00:34:33aspired to nothing less
00:34:34than the total annihilation
00:34:36of Native identity.
00:34:38As Brigadier General
00:34:39Richard Henry Pratt,
00:34:41founder of Carlisle Indian
00:34:42Industrial School,
00:34:43wrote,
00:34:44kill the Indian,
00:34:45save the man.
00:34:47Quite literally,
00:34:49boarding schools
00:34:49are where
00:34:51Indians went to die.
00:34:53You don't know
00:34:54who you are anymore
00:34:55because your family
00:34:56traditions are gone.
00:34:57Your cultural traditions
00:34:59are gone.
00:35:00Your pride is gone.
00:35:01You aren't
00:35:03Indian or Native American
00:35:05anymore,
00:35:05and you're not white.
00:35:06The voice that screams
00:35:08from the shadows
00:35:09of these boarding schools
00:35:10is that these were
00:35:12horrible places.
00:35:13These were places
00:35:14of trauma,
00:35:15abuse,
00:35:16of death.
00:35:18The goal
00:35:19of eradicating
00:35:20Native identity
00:35:21has allowed
00:35:22white people
00:35:23to ignore
00:35:23the very existence
00:35:24of modern Native people.
00:35:26People don't bring
00:35:28Native Americans
00:35:29into their
00:35:30collective imagination
00:35:31and collective consciousness
00:35:32into the 20th century,
00:35:34and certainly not
00:35:34into the 21st century.
00:35:36People say,
00:35:37well,
00:35:38you say you're Indian,
00:35:39but you don't look Indian.
00:35:41What does it mean
00:35:42to look Indian?
00:35:44For many,
00:35:45it means a romanticized
00:35:47pop culture cliche.
00:35:48A noble chief
00:35:49on horseback
00:35:50wearing a headdress
00:35:52or an Indian maiden
00:35:54at the side
00:35:55of a babbling brook
00:35:56doing her daily tasks.
00:35:59The failure
00:36:00to imagine
00:36:00contemporary Native people
00:36:02has left American culture
00:36:04dangerously uninformed.
00:36:06Now listen up.
00:36:07These are our seats
00:36:08down there
00:36:09and the damn thing
00:36:10you can do about it.
00:36:11So why don't you
00:36:12and super engine there
00:36:14find yourself
00:36:14someplace else
00:36:15to have a power.
00:36:17Okay?
00:36:18I would say
00:36:19it probably happens
00:36:20twice a year
00:36:21where someone will say,
00:36:23I seriously thought
00:36:24that the Native people
00:36:25had all died out,
00:36:26that there were
00:36:27no Native people
00:36:27anymore.
00:36:28more.
00:36:30The erasure of Native
00:36:32identity in America
00:36:33and in Christianity
00:36:34has left all of us
00:36:36looking at an incomplete
00:36:37image of the world.
00:36:38When we ignore cultures,
00:36:40erase authentic identities,
00:36:43we ignore part of God's creation.
00:36:45What is missing
00:36:47when you completely
00:36:48other Native people
00:36:50and you shut them out
00:36:51and you don't allow
00:36:53the wisdoms
00:36:53from their ceremonial practices
00:36:56and their spirituality,
00:36:57you don't even give it
00:36:58audience,
00:36:59you don't even give it
00:37:00a good face-to-face.
00:37:04You're missing so much.
00:37:05You're missing rootedness.
00:37:07You're missing connection.
00:37:18This is what a feminist looks like!
00:37:21This is what a feminist looks like!
00:37:25By some accounts,
00:37:27the Women's March
00:37:28in January of 2017
00:37:30was the biggest
00:37:31single-day protest
00:37:32in the history
00:37:33of the United States.
00:37:35In response to the election
00:37:36of President Donald Trump,
00:37:38an estimated 4.5 million people
00:37:41marched in the streets
00:37:43across the nation.
00:37:44But not everyone felt welcome
00:37:46at the marches that day.
00:37:48Many women of color,
00:37:49in particular,
00:37:50felt excluded
00:37:51from the organizing efforts
00:37:52and unwelcome at the event.
00:37:54The critique was
00:37:56of the Women's March
00:37:57was that it only represented
00:37:58a narrow portion of women.
00:38:01The event's original name,
00:38:03the Million Women March,
00:38:04was the same
00:38:05as the historic march in 1997,
00:38:08organized by Black women
00:38:10to protest the feminist movement's history
00:38:12of ignoring women of color.
00:38:14There was this focus on
00:38:16what the general understanding
00:38:19of women's rights and equality would be,
00:38:22and for some,
00:38:23that's what white women's interests are.
00:38:25Because some considered
00:38:26the Women's March
00:38:27to be primarily
00:38:28an expression of white interests,
00:38:30it places the event
00:38:31in a long history of tension
00:38:33between the efforts
00:38:34for women's equality
00:38:35and advancing rights
00:38:37for people of color.
00:38:38A tension perhaps
00:38:39best illustrated
00:38:40in the person of
00:38:41Susan B. Anthony.
00:38:44Anthony was a Quaker,
00:38:46born in 1820
00:38:47in Massachusetts.
00:38:48She spent her life
00:38:50tirelessly fighting
00:38:51for women's rights,
00:38:52particularly,
00:38:53the right to vote.
00:38:54A founding member
00:38:56of the American Equal Rights Association
00:38:58and the National Women's Suffrage Association,
00:39:01Susan B. Anthony is perhaps
00:39:03the most well-known figure
00:39:05from the women's suffrage movement.
00:39:06She is a towering figure
00:39:09in the fight for women's equality
00:39:10in the United States.
00:39:12more specifically,
00:39:13equality for white women.
00:39:16Susan B. Anthony's legacy
00:39:18in the feminist movement
00:39:20stands and should,
00:39:21but it should not be divorced
00:39:23from her legacy on race.
00:39:26Anthony was close friends
00:39:27with abolitionist
00:39:28Frederick Douglass
00:39:29and active
00:39:31in the anti-slavery movement.
00:39:32But upon the passage
00:39:34of the 14th Amendment,
00:39:35which gave voting rights
00:39:37to black men
00:39:37and not white women,
00:39:39she responded thus.
00:39:40We say if you will not
00:39:42give the whole loaf of suffrage
00:39:44to the entire people,
00:39:45give it to the most intelligent first.
00:39:48If intelligence,
00:39:49justice,
00:39:50and morality
00:39:51are to have precedence
00:39:52in the government,
00:39:53let the question
00:39:54of the woman
00:39:55be brought up first
00:39:56and that of the Negro
00:39:58last.
00:40:00Words like these
00:40:01established
00:40:02the women's equality movement
00:40:03in the United States
00:40:04as one primarily motivated
00:40:06by white women
00:40:07seeking power
00:40:08comparable to white men.
00:40:10interests that alienated
00:40:12women of color
00:40:13from the feminist movement
00:40:14for over a century.
00:40:16I never thought of myself
00:40:18as a feminist
00:40:20because the way
00:40:22it was portrayed
00:40:24in the world
00:40:24is it felt like
00:40:25a very white movement.
00:40:27You know,
00:40:28burn the bra.
00:40:28No one's going to burn
00:40:29their bra.
00:40:29That bra costs 10.99
00:40:31or whatever.
00:40:31So it was always
00:40:34this kind of,
00:40:35where do I belong
00:40:36in this movement?
00:40:38Am I a part of this movement
00:40:39at all?
00:40:40Excluded from the women's movement
00:40:42due to racism,
00:40:44women of color
00:40:44also faced oppression
00:40:46from men
00:40:46in the civil rights movement.
00:40:48Consider the story
00:40:49of Ella Baker.
00:40:51I am here
00:40:52to represent
00:40:53the struggle
00:40:55that has gone on
00:40:56for 300 or more years.
00:40:59A struggle
00:41:00to be recognized
00:41:02as citizens
00:41:03in a country
00:41:04in which we were born.
00:41:06I would call her a leader.
00:41:08She probably wouldn't
00:41:09call herself that
00:41:10because she was a person
00:41:12who liked to be
00:41:13behind the scenes.
00:41:15Throughout her work,
00:41:16Baker argued
00:41:17for truly shared power
00:41:18among a network of leaders
00:41:20rather than relying
00:41:21on charismatic individuals.
00:41:23This opinion
00:41:24was not popular
00:41:25with many of the prominent
00:41:26men in the movement.
00:41:28And what she noticed
00:41:29among the black ministers
00:41:30there was their extreme sexism.
00:41:32And she was not afraid
00:41:34to call that out.
00:41:35And so Ella Baker
00:41:36had these difficult relationships,
00:41:38particularly with folks
00:41:39like Dr. King
00:41:40and with black ministers
00:41:41because they did not want
00:41:43to see black women
00:41:44in positions of leadership
00:41:46and power
00:41:46because of the gender dynamics
00:41:48at the time.
00:41:49Baker is remembered
00:41:50as a crucial organizer
00:41:52and voice for black women
00:41:53in the civil rights movement.
00:41:55Someone who stood up
00:41:56to sexism
00:41:56when she saw it.
00:41:58And she was not alone.
00:41:59Ella Baker's life
00:42:02becomes kind of a mirror
00:42:04through which we can see
00:42:06the lives of other women.
00:42:07The fact that we have
00:42:08many black women
00:42:10working behind the scenes,
00:42:12doing all types of work
00:42:14for the movement,
00:42:15and yet we know
00:42:16very little about them.
00:42:18And Ella Baker
00:42:19really caused us
00:42:20to redefine
00:42:21and rethink leadership
00:42:22and the democratic potential
00:42:24of civil rights.
00:42:25There is a word
00:42:27for the combined experience
00:42:28of oppression
00:42:29that women of color
00:42:30have faced
00:42:30in the United States.
00:42:32It's a word
00:42:33that has become
00:42:33very popular
00:42:34in recent years
00:42:35but is often misunderstood.
00:42:38Intersectionality.
00:42:39Intersectionality.
00:42:41Intersectionality.
00:42:42The word
00:42:43intersectionality
00:42:44was coined
00:42:44by civil rights activist
00:42:46and professor
00:42:47Kimberlé Crenshaw
00:42:48in 1989,
00:42:50calling attention
00:42:51to the reality
00:42:51that an individual
00:42:52can experience
00:42:53compounding oppression
00:42:55from multiple directions
00:42:57for different aspects
00:42:58of their identity.
00:42:59Usually we think of race,
00:43:02class, gender,
00:43:04sexuality, etc.
00:43:06What parts
00:43:07of a person's identity
00:43:09kind of come together
00:43:11to create
00:43:13their specific form
00:43:15of oppression?
00:43:16Attention to intersecting identities
00:43:18began to emerge
00:43:19in the 1970s
00:43:20with groups like
00:43:22the Combahee River Collective,
00:43:23which formed
00:43:24to address the needs
00:43:25of not only
00:43:26black feminists
00:43:27but also
00:43:28black lesbians.
00:43:29One member
00:43:30of the Combahee River Collective,
00:43:32poet and activist
00:43:33Audre Lorde,
00:43:35succinctly captured
00:43:36the importance
00:43:37of intersectional feminism.
00:43:38I simply do not believe
00:43:40that one aspect
00:43:41of myself
00:43:42can possibly profit
00:43:44from the oppression
00:43:45of any other part
00:43:46of my identity.
00:43:47Within the lesbian community,
00:43:49I am black.
00:43:50And within the black community,
00:43:52I am a lesbian.
00:43:53I cannot afford
00:43:54the luxury
00:43:55of fighting
00:43:56one form
00:43:56of oppression only.
00:43:58The influence
00:43:59of women
00:43:59like Ella Baker,
00:44:01the Combahee River Collective
00:44:02and Kimberly Crenshaw
00:44:03is evident
00:44:04in the more recent creation
00:44:06of a powerful
00:44:07contemporary political movement,
00:44:09Black Lives Matter.
00:44:11Black Lives Matter
00:44:12was created
00:44:13by Alicia Garza,
00:44:15Opal Tometi
00:44:15and Patrice Cullors
00:44:17after George Zimmerman
00:44:18was acquitted
00:44:19for the murder
00:44:20of 17-year-old
00:44:21Trayvon Martin.
00:44:23In the past
00:44:2410 years,
00:44:25Black Lives Matter
00:44:26has grown
00:44:27into an international
00:44:28organization
00:44:29comprised of
00:44:30dozens of chapters
00:44:31fighting on behalf
00:44:33of racial profiling,
00:44:34police abuse,
00:44:35transgender rights
00:44:36and many other injustices.
00:44:39I really like
00:44:40the organizational structure
00:44:42of Black Lives Matter
00:44:44in the sense
00:44:45that it's decentralized,
00:44:47that the way
00:44:48they think about leadership
00:44:49is different
00:44:50instead of having
00:44:52one particular
00:44:53charismatic leader.
00:44:54They don't have that.
00:44:56What they call their movement
00:44:57a leaderful movement.
00:44:59I think the fact that,
00:45:00you know,
00:45:01not only is it three women,
00:45:02but three queer women
00:45:04starting Black Lives Matter,
00:45:06I think that's really important
00:45:07for thinking about
00:45:09the ways in which
00:45:09we can be more intersectional
00:45:11in our approach
00:45:12to justice.
00:45:26In the late 1700s,
00:45:28Richard Allen,
00:45:30a formerly enslaved
00:45:31devout Methodist
00:45:32and lay minister,
00:45:33accepted an invitation
00:45:35to preach
00:45:35at St. George's Church
00:45:37in Philadelphia.
00:45:38Allen's preaching
00:45:39was very popular,
00:45:40causing a rapid growth
00:45:42of Black membership.
00:45:43Soon, the church
00:45:44had outgrown
00:45:45its seating capacity.
00:45:46But when Allen requested
00:45:48the church create
00:45:48a second congregation
00:45:50for Black people,
00:45:51the white elders refused.
00:45:53Instead,
00:45:54they built a balcony
00:45:55to segregate Black members
00:45:57from white members.
00:45:59In 1792,
00:46:01a fellow lay minister,
00:46:02Absalom Jones,
00:46:04challenged this division
00:46:05by sitting downstairs.
00:46:07He was then physically removed
00:46:09during the opening prayer.
00:46:11In response,
00:46:13Richard Allen
00:46:13led the entire
00:46:15Black membership
00:46:15out of the building.
00:46:17Later,
00:46:18Allen said of the incident,
00:46:20we all went out
00:46:21of the church
00:46:21in a body
00:46:22and they were
00:46:23no longer plagued by us.
00:46:25Allen and Jones
00:46:26each went on
00:46:27to lead their own
00:46:28Black congregations.
00:46:30Reverend Allen
00:46:31would eventually form
00:46:31a new denomination,
00:46:33the African Methodist
00:46:34Episcopal Church,
00:46:36the first independent
00:46:37denomination
00:46:38founded by Black people
00:46:40in the U.S.
00:46:41Even after the Civil War
00:46:42and the end of slavery,
00:46:44the divide between
00:46:45the white church
00:46:46and the Black church
00:46:47remained wide
00:46:48and kept getting wider.
00:46:50In the early 20th century,
00:46:52facing rampant inequality,
00:46:55voter suppression,
00:46:56persecution,
00:46:57and violence,
00:46:59droves of Black families
00:47:01moved out of the rural
00:47:02southern United States
00:47:03into urban areas
00:47:05of the northeast,
00:47:07midwest,
00:47:07and west
00:47:08in what is called
00:47:09the Great Migration.
00:47:12Millions of Black people
00:47:13left and sometimes
00:47:14had to escape
00:47:15from the south
00:47:16because of the
00:47:18horrid conditions there
00:47:19and they came
00:47:20north for better opportunity,
00:47:23for better jobs,
00:47:23for better education.
00:47:24It changed
00:47:25the landscape of America.
00:47:27In 1890,
00:47:29around 90%
00:47:30of Black people
00:47:30in the U.S.
00:47:31lived in southern states.
00:47:33Over the next 80 years,
00:47:35nearly 50%
00:47:36would leave the south
00:47:37in an exodus
00:47:38of over 6 million people.
00:47:41The growth
00:47:42of Black populations
00:47:43and historically
00:47:44white communities
00:47:45led to another
00:47:46kind of migration.
00:47:47What we know
00:47:49that happened
00:47:50during the Great Migration
00:47:51is this mass
00:47:53group of African Americans
00:47:54moving into
00:47:55these urban places
00:47:57creates housing problems.
00:47:59And so instead
00:48:00of many cities
00:48:01firmly addressing
00:48:03these housing problems,
00:48:04what typically happens
00:48:05is overcrowding.
00:48:07In conjunction
00:48:08with overcrowding,
00:48:09what happens
00:48:10is that white folks
00:48:10also are leaving neighborhoods.
00:48:12And that's when you see
00:48:14the growth of the
00:48:14mecca churches
00:48:15in the suburbs
00:48:16because a lot
00:48:17of the churches
00:48:18in the cities
00:48:18were being abandoned
00:48:19by white Protestants,
00:48:20moved to the suburbs,
00:48:22and created
00:48:23kind of these communities
00:48:24in the suburbs
00:48:25that are white,
00:48:26middle, upper-middle-class
00:48:27communities,
00:48:28as well as white,
00:48:28middle, upper-middle-class
00:48:29churches.
00:48:30And many of the
00:48:31urban centers
00:48:31became places
00:48:32where ethnic minority
00:48:33churches were started.
00:48:34Despite the progress
00:48:36of the civil rights movement,
00:48:37school desegregation,
00:48:39and policies
00:48:40like affirmative action,
00:48:41Christian communities
00:48:42have remained
00:48:43highly segregated.
00:48:44As of 2014,
00:48:47nearly 80% of Christians
00:48:48attend churches
00:48:49where they are
00:48:50among the overwhelming
00:48:51racial majority.
00:48:53Unlike most large
00:48:55U.S. institutions,
00:48:56the church is not
00:48:57required by law
00:48:58to integrate.
00:48:59Congregations are made
00:49:01of individuals
00:49:01who intentionally
00:49:02choose to come together,
00:49:04which means
00:49:05a majority of Christians
00:49:06are choosing segregation,
00:49:08making church possibly
00:49:09the most telling measure
00:49:10of where race relations
00:49:12in the United States
00:49:13actually stands.
00:49:15Even well-meaning
00:49:16white congregations
00:49:17who might want
00:49:18to reflect the full diversity
00:49:19of the U.S. population
00:49:21struggle with the reality
00:49:23that their theology
00:49:24and practices
00:49:25are immersed
00:49:26in white cultural norms
00:49:28that alienate
00:49:29people of color.
00:49:30Our liturgy
00:49:31is constructed
00:49:32a certain way
00:49:33that feeds
00:49:33and fills white Christians.
00:49:35The way that we choreograph
00:49:37our movement
00:49:38around the sanctuary
00:49:40is also very white
00:49:42and very European.
00:49:44The way that we talk,
00:49:45how we keep things
00:49:46under 12 minutes
00:49:47in our sermons,
00:49:48how we sing
00:49:49three verses of a hymn,
00:49:51how the hymns
00:49:52always have to be played
00:49:53from the organ
00:49:54or from the piano.
00:49:56Those are constructs
00:49:58that make perfect sense
00:49:59in our mind
00:50:01as being worshipful,
00:50:03but at the same time
00:50:05are excluding.
00:50:11Why are we singing
00:50:13songs by Germans?
00:50:16Why don't they include
00:50:17any songs from authors
00:50:20and composers
00:50:22that are not white
00:50:24who decides
00:50:25that this is
00:50:28the way
00:50:28that we should worship
00:50:30and this is the way
00:50:31that we should do things?
00:50:33I remember sitting there
00:50:35when the service was over
00:50:37and thinking,
00:50:37hmm,
00:50:39I came in,
00:50:41I sat down,
00:50:43I was prayed over,
00:50:45I was sang to,
00:50:46I was preached at,
00:50:47and I was dismissed.
00:50:51There was,
00:50:52for me,
00:50:54there was no
00:50:54spiritual component
00:50:56to the worship service
00:50:59and I thought
00:51:01it was very sterile.
00:51:03Black churches,
00:51:04on the other hand,
00:51:05often focus on Christ
00:51:06as a source of hope
00:51:08and rescue
00:51:08in the face
00:51:09of ongoing oppression,
00:51:11a theology shaped
00:51:12by the history
00:51:13and experience
00:51:14of black lives
00:51:15in America.
00:51:15when I have to be able
00:51:18to rise above
00:51:19the pain
00:51:20of the cuts
00:51:22that I receive
00:51:24on a daily basis,
00:51:25when I just need
00:51:26to let go
00:51:27and let God,
00:51:29connecting with people
00:51:31on a much deeper level
00:51:33because of the pain
00:51:36that we have experienced
00:51:38together,
00:51:39it's different
00:51:41than what I could imagine
00:51:43a life where
00:51:46I have everything
00:51:47that I need.
00:51:51I'm not suffering
00:51:52at all.
00:51:54It's just different.
00:51:55It's a different place.
00:51:59Can black and white Christianity
00:52:01find common ground?
00:52:03Can the chasm between us
00:52:05created by racism
00:52:07and white supremacy
00:52:08be overcome?
00:52:09There's not enough diversity
00:52:12in our congregations
00:52:15and our denomination
00:52:17because we refuse
00:52:19to make space
00:52:20for that diversity.
00:52:23And so when they talk
00:52:24about racial reconciliation,
00:52:26they don't really want
00:52:28their congregation body
00:52:30to change.
00:52:31They don't really want
00:52:3350-50 white
00:52:34and people of color,
00:52:38maybe one or two
00:52:39because I think
00:52:41people are comfortable
00:52:42where they're at.
00:52:43When congregations
00:52:44become multiracial,
00:52:46you will often see
00:52:48a group of white people
00:52:49leave the church.
00:52:52And it's either
00:52:53a fear of change,
00:52:54a fear of doing
00:52:55things differently,
00:52:56a fear of losing power.
00:52:58Richard Allen
00:52:59and Absalom Jones
00:53:00left St. George's Church
00:53:02because it was not
00:53:03in fact their church,
00:53:04but a white church
00:53:05they were being allowed
00:53:06to attend.
00:53:08The persistent segregation
00:53:09of churches today
00:53:10raises the question,
00:53:12how much has really changed?
00:53:30Baptize me, John.
00:53:47I think it's very hard
00:53:49for us to grasp
00:53:50the depths
00:53:51of the racism
00:53:52inherent inside
00:53:53of our own church.
00:53:55Ten years ago
00:53:56when I was here,
00:53:57if you were to walk
00:53:58into the sanctuary,
00:53:59front and center
00:54:00at the top
00:54:01of the chancel
00:54:03would be this
00:54:03gorgeous painting
00:54:05of a Norwegian Jesus.
00:54:07And it was beautiful
00:54:09and it was inspiring,
00:54:11but any time
00:54:12anyone who didn't look
00:54:13Norwegian
00:54:14looked at that painting,
00:54:17they never came back.
00:54:18And we all scratched
00:54:20our heads wondering why.
00:54:21I see a white Jesus
00:54:22that's telling me
00:54:23that whiteness is good,
00:54:25whiteness is holiness,
00:54:27and that even the creator,
00:54:29the savior of the world
00:54:31who came down to love us
00:54:32in physical form
00:54:34is white.
00:54:35Everything about
00:54:36kind of the history
00:54:37of Christianity
00:54:38from Europe
00:54:39to the U.S.
00:54:41has been built
00:54:41around whiteness.
00:54:43It's just in the DNA
00:54:45of the U.S. church.
00:54:47The church feels
00:54:48very white.
00:54:50The phrase
00:54:51white Christianity,
00:54:53the phrase,
00:54:55it's an idolatry.
00:54:58Think about it.
00:55:00White Christianity
00:55:02is an idolatry.
00:55:04And what do idols do
00:55:05in the Bible?
00:55:07Idols separate us
00:55:10from God.
00:55:11How can a church
00:55:12immersed in white supremacy
00:55:14even begin to reconcile
00:55:16its ongoing legacy
00:55:17of exclusion, oppression,
00:55:20and violence?
00:55:21Is it even possible?
00:55:23Reconciliation,
00:55:24take things that are
00:55:25out of balance
00:55:25and bring them
00:55:26back into balance.
00:55:28But the assumption
00:55:30is that there was
00:55:32a balance to begin with.
00:55:33Reconciliation implies
00:55:35a prior healthy relationship,
00:55:39which we don't have
00:55:40in the United States.
00:55:41So you can really only speak
00:55:43of reconciliation
00:55:44in theological terms.
00:55:45There is a white
00:55:46Protestant obsession
00:55:48with reconciliation.
00:55:50Yeah, like, stop.
00:55:53Stop.
00:55:54It's the scariest thing
00:55:55I've ever seen.
00:55:56When do we get
00:55:57to the reconciliation?
00:55:58When do I get
00:55:59to feel good?
00:55:59I don't know.
00:56:00I haven't felt good
00:56:01for 400 years historically
00:56:02in this country.
00:56:03I don't know when you
00:56:04get to feel good about this.
00:56:06Some Christians
00:56:06have looked to foster unity
00:56:08by embracing the ideology
00:56:10of colorblindness,
00:56:12that we should look
00:56:13past skin color
00:56:14and view everyone
00:56:15as the same.
00:56:16But this is problematic
00:56:18at best.
00:56:19Colorblindness
00:56:20at a sort of
00:56:21very simplistic level
00:56:23seems like
00:56:24what we should all embrace.
00:56:25The reality is
00:56:26if I don't see
00:56:29someone's color
00:56:30who's not white,
00:56:31then I don't see
00:56:32the fact that
00:56:33they experience racism.
00:56:35So I don't see color.
00:56:37That's not reconciliation.
00:56:39That's denial.
00:56:40But to say we don't see skin color
00:56:45automatically makes me shake
00:56:48because I'm like,
00:56:48am I invisible?
00:56:51It basically means
00:56:52I see you as white.
00:56:54I see you like me.
00:56:56I've made you
00:56:57kind of into my own image.
00:56:58And it strips away
00:57:00all difference
00:57:02of culture.
00:57:04And so people take up
00:57:05their experience
00:57:07and then just
00:57:08lay it over
00:57:09top of me.
00:57:11Whiteness is going
00:57:11to create whiteness.
00:57:13And white supremacy,
00:57:14once it's embedded
00:57:15in the culture
00:57:15and in the culture
00:57:16of a church,
00:57:17it doesn't give you
00:57:19the tools
00:57:19to dismantle itself.
00:57:21Try as the church might,
00:57:23we cannot whitewash
00:57:24this issue.
00:57:26White supremacy
00:57:26must be addressed directly
00:57:28with all the hard truths
00:57:30exposed,
00:57:31acknowledging our history
00:57:33and breaking down
00:57:34the systems
00:57:34that have upheld whiteness
00:57:36as the norm
00:57:36will be messy.
00:57:37It will be controversial.
00:57:39And above all,
00:57:40it will be painful.
00:57:42When we talk about
00:57:43racial injustice,
00:57:44when we talk about
00:57:46brokenness in our society,
00:57:47when we talk about
00:57:49churches that are hurting,
00:57:51maybe some of us
00:57:52need to realize
00:57:52it's a funeral service
00:57:53and not a hospital visit.
00:57:55We can't go into the room
00:57:56and say,
00:57:56hey, we're going to just
00:57:57sing Kumbaya
00:57:58and join hands
00:57:59and say I love you, man,
00:58:00and things are going to be okay.
00:58:01We've got to deal
00:58:02with the dead body
00:58:03that is in the room
00:58:03because to be blunt,
00:58:05most of the dead bodies
00:58:06in American history
00:58:07are black and brown
00:58:08and red bodies.
00:58:09And if we ignore
00:58:10the dead bodies
00:58:11and we don't lament
00:58:12over the dead bodies,
00:58:13we're just kind of
00:58:14playing the games
00:58:15of faith here.
00:58:16We're just pretending
00:58:17that things are okay
00:58:18when they're really not.
00:58:20In the book of Lamentations,
00:58:22the Israelites,
00:58:24after turning away from God,
00:58:25were exiled into Babylon.
00:58:28They had lost everything.
00:58:30Yet God does not
00:58:31offer them hope
00:58:32of deliverance
00:58:33from their plight.
00:58:34God doesn't call them
00:58:35to reclaim their strength
00:58:37and to go back
00:58:38and make Jerusalem great again.
00:58:41That's not the call.
00:58:42The call is
00:58:42enter into a space of lament.
00:58:45Make a joyful noise
00:58:46unto the Lord,
00:58:48all humans
00:58:49Come before His presence
00:58:50Come before His presence
00:58:52With singing
00:58:55But in the case
00:58:56of modern white Christianity,
00:58:57there seems to be
00:58:59an aversion
00:58:59to lamentation.
00:59:01The church in America
00:59:02is lousy
00:59:03at engaging suffering
00:59:05and pain
00:59:06and lament.
00:59:07And most churches,
00:59:08when they get to
00:59:09a lament psalm,
00:59:11a psalm that talks
00:59:11about suffering,
00:59:12or a lament hymn
00:59:13in their liturgical reading
00:59:15or in their liturgical worship,
00:59:17they skip it.
00:59:18They drop it.
00:59:19We're talking about
00:59:20a pretty profound act
00:59:22of disobedience to God
00:59:24to skip over
00:59:26the parts of the scriptures
00:59:27that make us uncomfortable.
00:59:28Reality is
00:59:29there is no resurrection
00:59:31without crucifixion.
00:59:32And we're going to have
00:59:34to go to those painful places.
00:59:35We're going to have
00:59:36to acknowledge the things
00:59:38within us
00:59:39that have to die
00:59:40so that Christ can rise
00:59:41and live in and through us.
00:59:43In exposing issues,
00:59:45it gets really bad
00:59:47because you're exposing
00:59:48this wound.
00:59:50And the first thing is
00:59:52recognizing that
00:59:53we have a wound.
00:59:54And I think we're in that
00:59:56kind of messiness
00:59:58right now of saying
00:59:59we have a problem.
01:00:01We have to let go
01:00:02of what we think is right.
01:00:04We have to let go
01:00:05of what we believe we know.
01:00:08We have to let go
01:00:09of the structures
01:00:11that we thought
01:00:13were the right way
01:00:14to worship God.
01:00:16God calls us
01:00:17to stand together
01:00:18as a diverse body.
01:00:20To humbly
01:00:21and courageously
01:00:22name and renounce
01:00:23the root causes
01:00:24that divide us.
01:00:25Confronting white supremacy
01:00:26at every turn.
01:00:28This is the lifelong
01:00:30commitment
01:00:30of racial justice
01:00:31and equity
01:00:32in our churches,
01:00:34our communities,
01:00:35and the world.
01:00:36This stuff is not
01:00:37happening in a vacuum.
01:00:38The last four or five years
01:00:40is not some anomaly
01:00:41in human history.
01:00:42And there have been people
01:00:43who have been walking
01:00:44this path for a long time.
01:00:46And you need to find them.
01:00:47You need to listen to them.
01:00:48And you need to ask,
01:00:49what can I do?
01:00:50And sometimes,
01:00:51what can I do
01:00:51is just shut up.
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