Racism
Jim Wallis meets with attendees at Politics and Prose book discussion, Washington, D.C. Photo via Carla Debbie Alleyne/Twitter.
When I began writing my latest book, America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege, and the Bridge to a New America, my hope was to help foster that new conversation on race in America — and to point to the action that needs to come from it. Because only when we openly and truthfully speak to the roots of racism and inequality in our country — white supremacy, white privilege, and the dehumanization and devaluation of black lives and bodies — will we able to deal with the modern-day realities of that legacy and solve the obvious problems before us in racialized policing and the blatant racial disparities in our criminal justice, education, and economic systems. So we launched a “town meeting” tour that creates space for the voices of diverse local leaders in each city and allows for the multiracial, truth-telling conversations and actions we so urgently need across this country. I’m happy to say that tour has started, and it has been powerful to see and hear.
The crisis in Flint, Mich., has sparked outrage and condemnation, hitting covers and front pages of national media outlets, and pointing to yet another example of our country's original sin of systemic racism. Photographer Heather Wilson shares with us this image from Flint: the old water pipes — blamed for high levels of lead in the city's water, leading to neurological damage in infants and children — v. the new pipes in the background.
Sign at UAW local asking for donations for Flint, Jan. 27. Barbara Kalbfleisch / Shutterstock.com
I recoiled harshly when I heard suggested that white supremacy was at the core of the issues Flint had been dealing with for decades and continues to struggle with now. I knew what white supremacy was. Lynching, KKK, police dogs, etc. I didn’t think there was any way that my good intentions to help Flint had any white supremacist motivations. But that's where I, and to a large degree most white Christians, are wrong.
America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege, and the Bridge to a New America, the newly released best-selling book by Jim Wallis, Sojourners President and Founder, forms the foundation of the timely interactive series we’re proud to announce he’s curating a t the 2016 Wild Goose Festival!
For nearly half a century, Jim Wallis has been at the forefront of the conversation about the Gospel and social justice. We talk to him about his life, his work, and his new book, America's Original Sin.
Red Letter Christian and Sojourners President Jim Wallis recently published America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege and the Bridge to a New America.
HARDCOVER
NonFiction/General
1. THE LIFE-CHANGING MAGIC OF TIDYING UP: THE JAPANESE ART OF DECLUTTERING AND ORGANIZING
(Ten Speed, $16.99). By Marie Kondo. [53]
2. SPARK JOY: AN ILLUSTRATED MASTER CLASS ON THE ART OF ORGANIZING AND TIDYING UP
(Ten Speed, $18.99). By Marie Kondo. [2]
3. RETIRE INSPIRED: IT’S NOT AN AGE, IT’S A FINANCIAL NUMBER
(Ramsey, $24.99). By Chris Hogan. [1]
4. THE NAME OF GOD IS MERCY
(Random House, $26). By Pope Francis. [1]
Progressive faith leader Jim Wallis decried Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s recent campaign rhetoric and affirmed his belief that “racism is in the air we breathe” during a recent appearance on The Church Boys podcast.
Let us not endeavor to pursue justice on the cheap.
A broken church: quick to condemn, fear, and divide, and slow to love, seek justice, and unify.
Bottled water distribution by National Guard on Jan. 23 in Downtown Flint, Mich. Linda Parton / Shutterstock.com
How would you feel if you realized your children’s water was being poisoned, and your government didn’t seem to care? That’s the story of the parents of 8,000 mostly poor and black children in Flint, Mich., (which means most all of the children in urban Flint) that has finally hit our media front pages. The evening news I am watching as I write warns the parents of Flint not to bathe their young children in city water.
We had a good first week with America’s Original Sin. I wanted to share with you and many other friends along the way of our ongoing tour my favorite interview of the week. It was on Morning Joe. I was delighted to see that some genius producer there had invited Eddie Glaude, the Chair of the Center for African American studies with an endowed chair at Princeton to join the discussion. Eddie had been on Morning Joe the week before to promote his new book, Democracy in Black, which I am reading right now. The dialogue we had on the show was both exciting and encouraging, at least from both of our perspectives!
Daniel Holtzclaw after 18 guilty verdicts were read. Screenshot via @BillSchammert/Twitter
The former Oklahoma City police officer Daniel Holtzclaw has been sentenced to 263 years in prison for raping and sexually assaulting eight women and girls. Holtzclaw, who is white and Japanese, intentionally sought out black women in poor areas as his victims.
Washington, DC - Speaking this morning on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program, Reverend Jim Wallis addressed the current crisis in Flint, MI by saying “Race is in the air we breathe and in the water we drink in Flint … I don’t think if it was 8000 white kids this would’ve happened."
Rev. Wallis was in New York to discuss his latest book, released this week, America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege, and the Bridge to a New America (Brazos Press).
“If white Christians acted more Christian than white, black parents would have less to fear for their children,” says Rev. Wallis in the book.
Rev. Wallis, an evangelical, also addressed the GOP primary this week, saying on CNN’s “Newsroom” (segment begins 9:28:43) that “When he is deliberately fueling racial fear and hatred, Donald Trump is poisoning and polluting the American political landscape."
CNN polled Iowa GOP caucus-goers after the 2012 election and found that 60% identified as evangelical
People of color in the United States, particularly young black men, are burdened with a presumption of guilt and dangerousness. Some version of what happened to me has been unfairly experienced by hundreds of thousands of black and brown people throughout this country. As a consequence of our nation’s historical failure to address the legacy of racial inequality, the presumption of guilt and the racial narrative that created it have significantly shaped every institution in American society, especially our criminal justice system.