We don't often think deeply or clearly enough about the language, the routine practices and the institutions supporting the continuation of "white supremacy" as a world view.

This chart challenged me.

How about you?

White Supremacy still a threat to us all. . .

Hidden Bias

Shankar Vedantam, The Hidden Brain

Take a bias test here.

To understand, see the history. . .

Jim Wallis and his new book: timely!

Jim Wallis' new book, America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege, and the Bridge to a New America, appears to be a "must read" for anyone concerned about racism in American Culture. 

Take a look at the video that previews the book. 

Do black lives matter to white Christians?
Do black lives matter to white Christians?
Posted by Sojourners on Thursday, January 14, 2016

Racism remains

This just goes on and on in this nation. Not long ago, I was told that this same thing happens continually in Dallas, especially as more companies move their headquarters our way. Our continuing racism remains insane, immoral and un-American. No one should ever, ever doubt our nation's need for a contiually renewed Fair Housing Act. Better yet, possibly what we really need is a Constitutional Amendment guaranteeing fair housing policies in the nation. Our battle against racism is not over, far from it. People who insist that things have changed and that the struggle is behind us are simply not right.  The struggle is more challenging than ever, given the "work arounds" and the new strategies to ignore the law. In all of this, I wonder where are the communities of faith?  And frankly, it's time for white folks to step up, speak up and insist on a new day for all of our African American citizens.  The following editorial statement appeared in The New York Times (9-15-15).]

How Segregation Destroys Black Wealth

                  

   

 

Americans commonly — and mistakenly — believe that well-to-do black people no longer face the kind of discrimination that prevents them from living anywhere they can afford. But a federal housing discrimination complaint filed last week by the National Fair Housing Alliance shows that this toxic problem is very much with us, nearly 50 years after Congress outlawed housing discrimination in the Fair Housing Act.

 

The complaint, and the investigations that led to it, shows how real estate agents promote segregation — and deny African-Americans the opportunity to buy into high-value areas that would provide better educations for children and a greater return on their investments.

 

Over the course of nearly a year, the alliance reports, black and white testers posing as home buyers had drastically different experiences when they contacted a real estate company near Jackson, Miss. Agents often declined to show properties to black customers who were better qualified than whites, with higher incomes, better credit scores and more savings for down payments. Meanwhile, white testers who had expressed interest in properties in the majority-black city of Jackson were steered into majority-white communities elsewhere.

 

These problems are not limited to the South. Indeed, another alliance investigation covering a dozen metropolitan areas, including Atlanta, Austin, Birmingham, Chicago, Dayton, Detroit, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburg, San Antonio and the District of Columbia, suggests that housing market discrimination is universal.

 

Continue reading here. 

When Whites Just Don’t Get It, Part 2

SEPT. 6, 2014

Nicholas Kristof              

    

ampaign: nyt2015_sharetools_mkt_opinion_47K78 -- 271975, creative: nyt2014_sharetools_mktg_opinion_47K78 -- 375123, page: www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/opinion/sunday/nicholas-kristof-when-whites-just-dont-get-it-part-2.html, targetedPage: www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/opinion, position: MiddleLeftIN my column a week ago, “When Whites Just Don’t Get It,” I took aim at what I called “smug white delusion” about race relations in America, and readers promptly fired back at what they perceived as a smugly deluded columnist.

 

Readers grudgingly accepted the grim statistics I cited — such as the wealth disparity between blacks and whites in America today exceeding what it was in South Africa during apartheid — but many readers put the blame on African-Americans themselves.

 

“Probably has something to do with their unwillingness to work,” Nils tweeted.

 

Nancy protested on my Facebook page: “We can’t fix their problems. It’s up to every black individual to stop the cycle of fatherless homes, stop the cycle of generations on welfare.”

 

Read more here.

Wounded

The Wound

If the white man has inflicted the wound of racism upon black men, the cost has been that he would receive the mirror image of that wound into himself. As a member of the dominant race, he has felt little compulsion to acknowledge it or speak of it; the more painful it has grown the more deeply he has hidden it within himself. But the wound is there, and it is a profound disorder, as great a damage in his mind as it is in his society. This wound is in me, as complex and deep in my flesh as blood and nerves. I have borne it all my life, with varying degrees of consciousness, but always carefully, always with the most delicate consideration for the pain I would feel if I were somehow forced to acknowledge it.

But now I am increasingly aware of the opposite compulsion. I want to know, as fully and exactly as I can, what the wound is and how much I am suffering from it. And I want to be cured; I want to be free of the wound myself, and I do not want to pass it on to my children. Perhaps this is only wishful thinking; perhaps such a thing is not to be done by one man, or in one generation. Surely a man would have to be almost dangerously proud to think himself capable of it. And so maybe I am really saying only that I feel an obligation to make the attempt, and that I know if I fail to make at least the attempt I forfeit any right to hope that the world will become better than it is now.

 

Wendell Berry
Source: The Hidden Wound Add Your Thoughts (1)

Ferguson, MO

How do we think about Ferguson, MO? 

Lots of opinions have been expressed, many leading in the direction of further, national polarization at a time when we need just the opposite. 

I haven't read the 3,000 pages of grand jury transcription.  I haven't heard all of "the facts of the case," not to equate the recorded proceedings with "fact." 

Here's what I think I know about Ferguson, MO, and what I suspect may be in the background of considerations of recent horrific events there.

People of color in the small St. Louis suburb are vastly under-represented in public institutions such as government, school district and law enforcement. 

People of color in Ferguson receive a disproportionate level of attention and ticketing from law enforcement officers who evidently play a large, some would say undue, role in raising operating capital for the city through writing citations.  As a result, frustration with the police has been a long-standing fact of life in the small town. 

The Ferguson tragedy that involved the death of Michael Brown, an unarmed teenager, is not unique in our nation.  The fact that  nationally young black men are shot by police officers 21 times the rate of young white men doesn't help the community atmosphere.  Just here I could list a number of names in the news recently whose encounters with law enforcement officials needed in horror and loss. 

For years African American parents have coached their children, especially their sons, about how to react to police attention or encounters.  During the time I was a member of the Central Dallas Church, I had numerous discussions about this necessary "talk" that occurred again and again among our young men and their parents and peers. 

People who wield power have a responsibility to approach conflict with a mindset and attitude of de-escalation and "win-win," rather than "win-lose."  Controlling conflict accompanied by super-charged emotions requires special skills, servant leadership, expertise and great heart.  Developing these special skills requires training and re-training as a part of a normal law enforcement regimen.

Community policing is all about establishing meaningful relationships with and in neighborhoods that move beyond heavy-handed confrontation.  Again, this approach to law enforcement calls for special training and special law officers.  Community policing by definition builds relationships, depends on residents to support police work and instills confidence, not fear in the lives of those being served.

Looting, burning, vandalizing and violence are never acceptable responses to the failure or the injustice of public policy or institutions.  The rule of law is central to the stability and health of our communities and our nation.  Non-violent actions of dissent are vital to a movement for change, but not violence that so often destroys neighborhoods and businesses already oppressed by social factors so evident in this case.

The vast majority of Ferguson residents involved in protests conducted themselves peacefully, with strength, dignity and determination.  Such organized, community responses stand in the best, rich tradition of the American Civil Rights Movement, and should be encouraged and defended.

Poverty, a deep poverty, disproportionately affects African Americans in this small town.  Consider these facts:

• 21% of Ferguson residents live in poverty
• Almost 7% live below 50% of the federal poverty level
• 30% of males between 12-14 years old live in poverty
• Almost 40% of males 15 years old live in poverty
• 30% of males 16-17 years old live in poverty
• Almost 35% of children under 5 years old live in poverty
• 26% of all youth live in poverty
• Under 600 white residents live in poverty
• Over 2,400 black residents live in poverty
• African Americans represent 67% of Ferguson residents
• Ferguson Police Department employs 53 officers, only 3 are African American

As I read, hear and learn more about the dynamics of the Ferguson experience, I realize that countless American communities are set up for terrible events just like these. 

As friends and neighbors, we need to work for a better life together here in Dallas.  

We need more friendships.

And, we need to talk. 

Considering racism: personal reflections

Racism hurts.  In fact, it destroys, and the destruction goes deep into a person's psyche. 

Racism and prejudice are not the same.  All racists are prejudiced.  But racism combines a hateful prejudice with power.  It's the power that gives prejudice teeth, transforming it into a force that works in individual lives and decisions, but even more importantly, it also spawns policies and systems capable of oppressing entire groups of people on the basis of race and ethnicity alone. 

Without a doubt over my lifetime, we've made progress as a nation in our struggle with and against racism.  Still, two factors combine to ensure that our struggle must continue. 

First, systemic racism still exists, and in some situations it is on the grow. 

Disproportionate numbers of African Americans end up in prison in this nation.  Violence against black "suspects" fills our news:  young people in hoodies, an asthmatic adult choked to death, a young man in Ferguson, Missouri gunned down by a police officer as he held his empty hands high above his head in a posture of surrender, organized attacks on various essential expressions of the Voters' Rights Acts threatened to call in question the legitimacy of our electoral process.  I know black mothers who feel compelled to teach their children how to react to authority figures in our culture, especially police officers.  Who am I to question their assessment of the world their children must face even today?  Rather than question or minimize, I just need to listen and learn.  I could go on.  People who protest too much about any conversation involving the so-called "race card," make me wonder about their true worldview regarding the subject. 

Second, seasoned civil rights warriors have been defined in many respects by their experiences in the battle against racism.  Such self-definition must be honored, not rudely brushed to the side.

Many activists in my generation simply cannot forget what went before the progress we have made.  Frankly, it is unfair to ask them to forget that which has defined their lives so completely.  White persons who insist on "moving on" or who urge us to forget the past in defensive responses to words like I am sharing right now, just don't understand.  There is a time for simple listening in a real attempt to understand those who have been wounded and forever altered by the pain of the long night's struggle. The progress many white folks and even younger minorities want to quickly tout would not have been realized without the sacrifice of the generation that calls on us to never forget. 

Sometimes being thoughtful means simply being silent, even when you don't agree, so that real hearing, listening and understanding can happen. 

Dallas Faces Race

)

Dallas Faces Race

Facing Race

Donor concern: Hatred? Really?

Rev. Gerald Britt published another compelling essay in The Dallas Morning News yesterday.  His comments focused on the tragic Trayvon Martin incident.  I hope you'll read and consider his thoughts here.

I received the following email from a person who has been a long-time CitySquare donor.  I found it amazing and thoroughly disappointing.   Here's what he said along with my reply and his final word:

Larry, 

Trayvon Martin's killing brought on a lot of debate, some healthy and constructive, some unhealthy and destructive.  Gerald Britt's article in this morning's paper is the most hate-filled, irrational article I have seen from either side of the issue.  Take me off of your lists.  I can't support an organization that is actively promoting hate in our community.

Signed his name

 ____________________________________________

Thank you for contacting me with your opinion about Rev. Britt’s editorial.

Frankly, your reaction is surprising to me.  I can’t find the hatred to which you refer anywhere in the article.  It would be helpful to me if you could elucidate more specifically to what you are referring.  I would love to talk to you by phone or face-to-face, as I am sure Gerald would as well. 

As I have considered the entire case, my question is why didn’t young Trayvon Martin fall under the protection of the “stand your ground” law in Florida?  He was pursued by an armed stranger.  If he “stood  his ground” in his own defense, how could he be blamed and how could an armed assailant be declared “not guilty.” 

Again, please direct me to the hatred or to the irrationality of Gerald’s article.  I really need your help on this one.

Best regards,

Larry

___________________________________________

Thanks Larry,  That's all I needed to know.  If that article speaks for City Square, we're done.    

Signed his name

___________________________________________

I'm trying folks, really, I am.  But, I can't see or hear the "hatred."  

Can you?  

The fact that we can't have a sensible conversation is a huge tip off that we have a major problem about race and culture in this nation.  

Sad.  

Hate speech gets us nowhere

The Fort Worth Star Telegram published a story on November 8, 2012 that disturbed me deeply.  As a matter of fact, it just takes the cake! Under the headline, "Hardin GOP official: 'Maggots' elected Obama,"  Bud Kennedy reported the amazingly hateful comments of Hardin County Republican treasurer Peter Morrison.

Here's just a snippet of Kennedy's story:

Texas Republicans are already using the s-word.

One party official from Southeast Texas calls for -- not secession -- separation.

"Why should Vermont and Texas live under the same government?" writes Hardin County Republican treasurer Peter Morrison, a Ron Paul supporter and author of a race-heavy Tea Party newsletter.

"Let each go her own way," he writes, demanding an "amicable divorce" from the U.S. and from the "maggots" who re-elected President Obama.

"Maggots who re-elected President Obama"?

Seriously?  

Let me just say this sort of conversation destroys community, offends millions and has no place in a serious discussion about how to make the nation work.  Furthermore, this language hurts so many of my friends, people I love and respect.  How dare anyone speak of a fellow American in such a course, demeaning manner.  

Mr. Morrison, who do you think you are, sir?  

Defined as a problem. . .

A couple of years ago my colleague, Gerald Britt made a statement that set me back.  Actually, the impact of his words virtually knocked me down.  I can't remember what we were discussing, but I do recall that we had been together at a conference where we both spoke about our work and about the challenges facing inner city communities in  America. 

At one point Gerald said, "Larry, its really hard when you realize that you are regarded as 'a problem' by lots of people. It affects your self-understanding."  

Gerald spoke to the immediate and extended affect of racism and racist judgements on the lives of millions of our fellow Americans.  To have one's life classified as basically "a problem" is a devastating reality that I would never have thought of had he not been so honest a friend. 

It took me a full day to come back to him.  I told him that while my opinion didn't really matter and that I had no claim to comment on his life or his experience, I did want him to know that at no time did I ever consider him to be "a problem."  In saying that I realized it was hollow and insignificant when placed alongside the brutal, unrelenting reality he attempted to describe to me. 

What a burden to carry and to unload.

On Thursday as I sat out on the steps at "the porch" talking to homeless persons who strolled by, I met a very quiet, reserved and observant gentleman.  He passed by several times, finally stopping to pick up a bottle of ice water that I had available. 

As he drank his water, he finally spoke, asking me what I was up to.  I told him about the project we were building across the street and of my desire to simply listen to people.  I explained that we didn't want to "invade" the community and make stupid mistakes.  We wanted to hear folks regarding the neighborhood, our project and what the people who lived nearby hoped to see developed. 

As we talked, he said something that pulled me back to Gerald's comments. 

"You know," he began quietly, "people think its dangerous here, that we're dangerous.  But, we're not.  We're just like everyone else,  just working through issues, just trying to get on with life.  We're not dangerous."

What if your life was regarded by most people as a dangerous life, a person to be avoided? 

Something to think about as we continue to dismantle stereotypes that plague our perspectives and continue to injure others.

Remembering to never forget