We listen to our neighbors, not so we know when to speak, but to learn. This is the way to strengthen any relationship. These resources are to help us listen to and learn from our neighbors, so we might be in better love them as those created in the image of God.
Resources for Listening and Learning about Race in the United States
Movies and Videos-
Selma- This movie, based on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. has been used by the South Carolina Synod of the ELCA to serve as a starting point of conversation in their attempts to improve race relations between people. You can find more information on these events and other activities of their Inclusiveness Network here.
Just Mercy- Tells the story of Bryan Stevenson who graduates from Harvard and heads to Alabama to defend those wrongly condemned or those who cannot afforded proper representation. One of his first cases is that of Walter McMillian, who is sentenced to die in 1987 for the murder of an 18-year-old girl, despite evidence proving his innocence. In the years that follow, Stevenson encounters racism and legal and political maneuverings as he tirelessly fights for McMillian's life.
A Time for Burning- This 1966 Academy Award winning documentary follows Augustana Lutheran Church in Omaha, Nebraska as their pastor encourages them to reach out to a predominately African American Lutheran Church in another part of the city.
Books-
- How to be an antiracist by Ibram X Kendi
- White fragility : why it's so hard for White people to talk about racism by Robin J DiAngelo
- Where do we go from here : Chaos or community? by Martin Luther King,
Online Resources-
An interview with author Richard Rothstein on his book about red-lining in America. This was the practice of systematically shutting out people of color from large parts of the housing market.
This series of short videos on PBS gives a good overview of how post-Reconstruction laws worked to control black people, their activities, and their movements.
This video is an interview of Khalil Muhammad, author and head of the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, explores how current policies and language particularly in the area of policing, reflect practices from the post-Reconstruction South.