Youth Race Equity Intensive
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This Racial Equity Intensive is an 8 week commitment designed for youth who desire to better understand the foundations of white privilege and the role Christians play in dismantling racism in our country. Our beliefs will be challenged in ways that bring about a better understanding of our individual and collective responsibility. We will use music, videos, movies, and history to help inform our place and role in the struggle toward justice. Each week our group will wrestle with our own understanding as we come into new ways of seeing race and how we play a part in the systems of oppression that have long been a part of our country’s identity. Through our collective work and some that you will do on your own, we will grow, stretch, and learn.
Our hope is to examine the history of racial inequality in the US and how we, as Christians, can work for equity and reconciliation. Specifically, we’ll examine:
- The concepts of bias and white washing
- The history of slavery and what we’ve learned in school compared to what voices might be silenced regarding the history of slavery.
- Explore the documentary 13th and the 13th Amendment. We’ll explore the criminalization of persons of color, the school to prison pipeline, and more.
- The concept of systemic oppression and how that has been expressed over time.
- The names and stories of many who have died because of the color of their skin and examine what systems of oppression led to their death.
- The concepts of white privilege, how to actively be anti-racist, and how to navigate conveersations with friends and family about race equity.
- Which passages of scripture remind us of God’s call to equity.
- How God calls us to eradicate racism and inequity in our own relationships, community; and how God calls our congregation to work towards reconciliation.
We will meet on the following Sundays at 7:00pm via zoom: Jan 10 and 24, Feb 7 and 21, Mar 7 and 21, April 18, May 2nd. Youth are asked to commit to all 8 sessions. This group will grow deep in relationship with one another and that is best formed when all are committed to being present each week.
Session 1: Covenant building; Importance of this conversation; What is Bias and what do we do about it? What is whitewashing?
Session 2: How did we get here? (From 1619 to Present); 13th amendment; Bias test results and discussion around bias.
Session 3: Systematic Oppression – what is it and how does it impact people of color? Say their Names: Share the stories of those who have died because of the color of their skin and discussion about what system of oppression led to their death.
Session 4: White Privilege: what is it? how do we get it? what does it mean for our communities? Take a self-inventory on our own privilege.
Session 5: Anti-Racist: what does it mean to be anti-racist and how can I talk to others about it? How can we respond when someone we love says or does racist things?
Session 6: Parable of the Lost; Equality, Equity, and Liberation; White Fragility; Affirmative Action
Session 7: Racism and micro-agressions; Dreams for America
Session 8: Colorism; Where do we go from here? Goal setting for our church, ourselves, our city.