Resources for Racial Justice
From Gary’s Church and Society Committee
We at Gary Church affirm the United Methodist position that racism is a sin and is incompatible with Christian teachings. As Christians who stand against racism, we offer these resources as a way to understand systemic racism in the United States of America, explore our biblical and theological roots for racial justice, and discern how we can take faithful action towards racial justice and the equal treatment of all God’s image bearers.
It is worth noting, that these are resources mostly directed at discrimination against African Americans. The structures and experiences of racism by Latina/os, Native Americans, Asian Americans and others will be distinct from, though entangled with, the ones listed here. As members of Christ’s body, we are committed to combating all forms of racism, and we will be seeking opportunities to provide additional resources in the future.
Resources for Understanding Systemic Racism
Racism Without Racists by Eduardo Bonilla-Silva
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The Methodist Unification: Christianity and the Politics of Race in the Jim Crow Era by Morris L. Davis
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One Mississippi, Two Mississippi: Methodists, Murder, and the Struggle for Racial Justice in Neshoba County by Carol V. R. George
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Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
*National Book Award Winner and Pulitzer Prize Finalist
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Nobody: Casualties of America's War on the Vulnerable, from Ferguson to Flint and Beyond by Marc Lamont Hill
*Nautilus Award Winner
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How To Be Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
*New York Times Bestseller
**This works well as an intermediate book, as a follow-up for instance once readers have been introduced to the depth and breadth of racism in American political, economic and social structures.
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Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas In America by Ibram X. Kendi
*National Book Award Winner
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**This is an intellectual history. For a social history that brings together ideas with social, economic and political practices that built racist structures in the US, see Race in North America: Origin and Evolution of a Worldview by Audrey and Brian Smedley.
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The South Side: A Portrait of Chicago and American Segregation by Natalie Moore
*A focused look at segregation in Chicago.
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The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America by Khalil Gibran Muhammad
*A scholarly book featured in Gary’s Anti-Racist Book Club.
Racism without Racists: Colorblind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in America by Eduardo Bonilla Silva
*A very good introductory book.
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NPR’s Throughline Podcast: American Police
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NPR’s Throughline Podcast: Mass Incarceration
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The Atlantic, “The Case for Reparations,” article by Ta-Nahesi Coates available via audio
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Resources for Exploring Biblical & Theological Roots for Racial Justice
This Side of Heaven: Race, Ethnicity and Christian Faith Eds. Robert Priest and Alvaro Nieves
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White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
*New York Times Bestseller
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The Roadmap to Reconciliation 2.0: Moving Communities into Unity, Wholeness and Justice by Brenda Salter McNeill
*Missio Alliance Essential Reading List of 2015
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So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
*On the United Methodist Women’s reading list. For deeper learning, sign up for a free online companion class through the UMW.
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Rediscipling the White Church: From Cheap Diversity to True Solidarity by David Swanson
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Mindful Entertainment
13th, a documentary from director Ava DuVerna
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Get Out, directed by Jordan Peele
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Black Panther, directed by Ryan Coogler
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The Hate U Give, directed by George Tillman, Jr
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