Reviewed for THC Reviews Dead Man Walking is the first-hand account of Sister Helen Prejean’s work with death row inmates, as well as her social justicReviewed for THC Reviews Dead Man Walking is the first-hand account of Sister Helen Prejean’s work with death row inmates, as well as her social justice campaign to end the death penalty. Prior to this, her focus had been working with the poor in New Orleans, but in the course of that work, she became aware of inequities in the justice system, namely that those on death row were disproportionately poor and had relied on public defenders who are notoriously overworked and underpaid. A friend asked her to become a pen pal to death-row inmate Patrick Sonnier, whom she later discovered had been involved in the murder of two teenagers. She agreed, and later she began visiting him in person, becoming his spiritual advisor throughout the final months prior to his execution. She also witnessed his death. Sister Prejean had never been an advocate of the death penalty, and after being a part of this process, she became even more convinced that it needed to be abolished. Following Mr. Sonnier’s execution, she started an organization dedicated to making that happen. She was also so affected by the experience of befriending a man and then watching him die that she swore she’d never do it again. But when the attorney who had represented Mr. Sonnier during his appeals asked her to become a spiritual advisor to another death row inmate, she couldn’t ignore the call. This time, she became acquainted with Robert Willie who had also murdered a teenage girl. She walked him through the process with much the same result, only this time, she was more attentive to the needs of the victim’s family members as well. Ultimately these experiences led Sister Prejean to become one of the most outspoken advocates against the death penalty and to make it’s abolishment her life’s work.
Over the years, I’ve deeply considered the issue of the death penalty and had already come to the conclusion that I generally don’t support it. Reading Dead Man Walking has only solidified my opinion. I know it’s a difficult and complex subject, which Sister Prejean highlights throughout the book. She herself was repulsed by the brutal crimes that these men committed, but at the same time, she recognized the dignity and humanity within each of them as human beings themselves. I know for some people in her sphere, these seemingly competing feelings were a hard concept to grasp, but ones that I fully believe can be held in tension with one another. I like how she frames her opinions through the lens of her Christian faith, as do I. I also deeply admired her ability to befriend these men. It certainly can’t be easy to show love to someone who’s murdered another human being, and I don’t know that it would be something I could do. However, I fully support the idea that even death row inmates deserve spiritual counsel. It was clear that these men were mostly alone in their prison cells with little in the way of friendship, or in Mr. Sonnier’s case, even family. Sister Prejean provided some much needed kindness and compassion, which I believe they greatly appreciated, while also gently prompting them to look within themselves to find compassion for their victims and the family members who were left behind.
I also found the book fascinating because Sister Prejean looked at this controversial issue from multiple angles. Obviously first and foremost, it’s from the point of view of herself bearing witness to not only the executions themselves, but all the events leading up to those fateful nights. But she also took the time to get to know the victims’ families. One of the families basically celebrated the death of their daughter’s killer, but despite that, it didn’t seem to bring them any true peace. In spite of their differences, though, Sister Prejean was able to find common ground through supporting their efforts to help other victims’ families. However, on the flip side, she relates the story of one father, who initially supported the execution of his child’s murderer, but after witnessing the event, changed his mind and would have been fine with life imprisonment. Sister Prejean also explored the topic with prison guards, two prison wardens who’d presided over several executions, and others involved in the process. Many of them had mixed feelings about the death penalty as well.
Dead Man Walking wasn’t an easy book to read, and I often found myself feeling tense especially during the lead-up to the executions. It’s extremely difficult to imagine what it must be like to know the exact hour of one’s death, and perhaps even more excruciating if one is waiting for a possible reprieve, keeping hope alive while also preparing to leave this Earth. It may present a heavy topic but one that I feel is worthy of taking a closer look at. Many may think that the reasons for some wanting to abolish the death penalty are merely based on emotions, but there are many logical reasons that the death penalty doesn’t make sense either, from the inequities in the criminal justice system to the exorbitant cost of executing a person when compared to keeping them in prison for life. Also polling data suggests that a majority of Americans don’t support it when given other options such as mandatory minimum sentences and/or life without the possibility of parole. Of course, there’s also the problem of some people who are innocent of the crime of which they were convicted being subjected to a punishment from which there is no coming back. This isn’t a book that I would necessarily say I enjoyed because of its difficult subject matter, but it is one that really made me think, which is something that I do enjoy doing. I’d venture to say that most people don’t think much about what goes on behind the scenes during the execution process, but in Dead Man Walking, Sister Prejean gives readers a peek behind the curtain, so to speak. For anyone who’d like to know more about the death penalty, and get an interesting take on it from different perspectives, I highly recommend this book....more
Reviewed for THC Reviews "4.5 stars" Prior to WWII, thousands of people of Japanese ancestry lived and worked in the United States. Some, known as IsseReviewed for THC Reviews "4.5 stars" Prior to WWII, thousands of people of Japanese ancestry lived and worked in the United States. Some, known as Issei, had immigrated from their home country of Japan, while others, known as Nisei, were born in the U. S. and were citizens. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, government officials began to question the loyalty of all people of Japanese heritage regardless of their citizenship status. Soon after, 120,000 Japanese, two-thirds of whom were Nisei, were forced into internment camps and stripped of their civil rights, despite having committed no crime or broken any law. I Am an American chronicles this internment, focusing on the story of one Japanese American young man, Shiro Nomura, who was a high school student at the time. Shiro had been dating and was in love with a young girl, and they’d planned to be married after graduating, but each of them was sent to a different internment camp. Shiro tried to get transferred to the camp she was in, but by the time they were reunited, her feelings had changed, upending his plans and causing heartbreak.
I Am an American looks at Japanese internment in a broader historical context with regards to the war as well as what it was like for Japanese people both before and following the war. But it also presents a more intimate portrait of Shiro Nomura, as well as his girlfriend, Amy Hattori, and the woman he eventually married, Mary Kageyama. The book presents details of their lives before, during, and after internment, while also talking more generally about what life was like in the internment camps. It also focuses on the racism experienced by Japanese Americans in spite of them going to great lengths to prove their loyalty to their country. Even those who’d served in the U. S. military weren’t exempted from this inhumanity. The only slight misgiving I had with the book was how the author frequently quoted white people who used a racist slur. I commend the author for pointing out that it was a slur, so that kids hopefully won’t get the wrong idea and start using it themselves. I also like that he tried to balance these stories of racism with those of white people who supported Japanese Americans, as well as the fact that he pretty unequivocally expressed the injustice of it all. However, a part of me wonders how a child or teen of Japanese ancestry might feel if reading the book and seeing these slurs. This led me to muse on whether there might have been a way to soften the language a bit, given that even I, as a white adult, felt uncomfortable while reading these quotes. I grudgingly admit, though, that the shock value of it does help drive home how terrible and unjust it was for the Japanese Americans experiencing it. My only other concern, given that this is a book aimed at middle-schoolers and perhaps young teens, is the brief mention of a Japanese man committing suicide when he found out that people like him were to be interned. Otherwise, I think this is a great book for teaching kids and teens about this often overlooked and shameful piece of American history. I learned a number of things while reading it that I didn’t previously know, so I know that it would be informative to young people as well....more
Reviewed for THC Reviews Just Mercy is the story of author and civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson’s journey to starting the non-profit organization,Reviewed for THC Reviews Just Mercy is the story of author and civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson’s journey to starting the non-profit organization, Equal Justice Initiative (EJI). There he fights for the rights of wrongfully incarcerated individuals, those who’ve received sentences that were too harsh, and people (particularly prisoners on death row) who lack legal representation. Throughout the course of the book, he details one of the biggest cases of his career, that of a man who was wrongly convicted of a murder he didn’t commit and the six year struggle to finally get him exonerated. Wedged in between the chapters of this longer narrative are the stories of many other people Mr. Stevenson and his organization were able to assist, which include some cases that he was able to take all the way to the U. S. Supreme Court and win judgments that changed the course of many prisoners’ lives. This book stirred numerous emotions within me while reading it and riveted me to its pages, making it difficult to put down, both of which are qualities that I don’t always find in non-fiction but which made it an excellent read.
The bulk of the narrative tells the story of Walter McMillian, a black man from Monroeville, Alabama, a town whose claim to fame is being the home of Harper Lee, the Pulitzer Prize winning author of To Kill a Mockingbird. Mr. McMillian had been liked by most people who knew him and was known as a hard worker, but he had a bit of a reputation as a ladies’ man despite being married. At some point, it came out that he’d had an affair with an also-married local white woman. Not long after that, an eighteen-year-old white girl was killed in broad daylight at the dry cleaners where she was employed, but the sheriff was unable to solve the case. Months went by until a white man who’d also had an affair with the same woman Mr. McMillian did was arrested for an unrelated crime. He had a reputation for telling wild stories to get attention, and mentioned that he might have information about the young girl’s murder. From there, things ballooned out of control, ending with the sheriff, the DA, and other law enforcement officials strong-arming him into testifying against Mr. McMillian. They also essentially bribed another man, who was a known snitch, to give false testimony that he’d seen Mr. McMillian’s truck outside the cleaners in exchange for dropping other charges against him. Despite the incredibly flimsy evidence presented by the prosecutor at trial and the fact that numerous friends and relatives of Mr. McMillian had been with him at the time of the murder, he was still convicted and sentenced to death. If I’m remembering correctly, it was about two years later that Mr. Stevenson became aware of the case and started representing Mr. McMillian in trying to either get his conviction overturned or get him a new trial, and it took him four years and a whole lot of blood, sweat, and tears before he was finally successful. It’s a tale that’s equal parts moving because of all the emotions involved and infuriating because of the appalling miscarriage of justice that occurred.
However, Mr. McMillan’s case was not the only one in which justice definitely was not served. The author recounts numerous other cases he represented over the years, which were equally anger-inducing. There were people who were either mentally ill or mentally deficient whose cases should have been treated differently due to these mitigating circumstances. There were a number of minors, including some who were only thirteen or fourteen, if not younger, when they were convicted of committing crimes and yet they were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Some of these kids (who were usually adults by the time their files landed on Mr. Stevenson’s desk) were innocent, while others were perhaps guilty but had terrible upbringings filled with horrific abuse and neglect that sent them down a dark path. But the one thing that many of them had in common is that they were given these harsh sentences for non-homicidal crimes and the majority of them were black or brown. Then there was the story of a poor woman who was sentenced to life in prison without parole for giving birth to a stillborn child and sent to a women’ prison with an abhorrent track record of overcrowding and abuse of the female prisoners by male guards. The author worked tirelessly to free her, while also trying to enact reforms at the prison. There are also stories of heartbreaking instances where he failed to convince judges to give relief to death row inmates, and their executions went forward anyway in spite of circumstances which were worthy of taking a closer look.
Just Mercy was a phenomenal book that was eloquently written and took me on an engaging journey right along with the author as he fought the good fight for true justice and equality. It also took me on a roller-coaster ride of emotions while educating me about what’s really going on behind the scenes in the American justice system. I’ve been aware for some time now of how biases against minorities and the poor frequently play a role in the convictions of those accused of committing crimes, as well as the sentencing once that conviction is handed down, but this book still opened my eyes to just how prevalent these things are. It has even inspired me to consider the possibility of getting involved in criminal justice reform or prison reform work. I was heartbroken and even moved to tears by many of the stories the author relates, while also being outraged at how broken our justice system can be. I can’t praise Mr. Stevenson and EJI enough for their compassion for prisoners and for giving a voice to many who were previously voiceless. I also can’t recommend this book highly enough. I think it might be the best one I’ve read so far in 2020, and I’m eagerly looking forward to watching the movie, Just Mercy, which was based on this story....more
Reviewed for THC Reviews White Fragility was an oft recommended book throughout the Romance Writers of America implosion that uncovered the dark underbReviewed for THC Reviews White Fragility was an oft recommended book throughout the Romance Writers of America implosion that uncovered the dark underbelly of racism within the organization. I can’t recall exactly when the book first came to my attention. It might have been during the earlier “Ritas So White” debacle, or I might have heard of it even earlier through another source, but in any case, I’ve been wanting to check it out for some time. With the current state of racial upheaval and Black Lives Matter protests within the United States and around the world, my church announced that they were going to offer a multi-week, in-depth study of the book, so I eagerly jumped in with both feet. We’re currently three weeks into the study with several more weeks to go, but so far, both it and the book have been enlightening. Both have definitely been encouraging me to take a closer look at how I may have unconsciously benefited from racism and in what ways I may harbor racist sentiments due to the culture into which I’ve been socialized.
Author Robin DiAngelo looks at how all white people are born into a racist system that favors whites as a group and how this culture begins to affect us as early as when we’re small children. We may not even consciously realize it, because our own privilege blinds us to it. Then there are the many stumbling blocks that make it difficult to acknowledge this dynamic even when directly confronted with it. One of the biggest reasons for this is the good/bad binary. Ever since the civil rights movement, racism has been looked at as an evil thing and people such as KKK members who outwardly express racist sentiments as bad. Therefore people who naturally view themselves as good feel like they can’t possibly be racist because they don’t belong to white supremacist organizations. But the issue is much more nuanced than that, because racism has literally become woven into the fabric of our society in such a way that it’s difficult for white people to detect. Meanwhile, black people (and other people of color) must live with it every day of their lives. Therefore, it’s incumbent upon us to root out these racist sentiments and to recognize the ways in which we are contributing to its continuation whether consciously or unconsciously.
There are many potential triggers for white fragility, so we must learn what they are and how to recognize and counteract them when they occur. There are also many ways in which white fragility may manifest, such as feelings of being attacked, shamed, or guilted, or reacting in a physical way such as crying, emotionally withdrawing, or denying. Whatever form it takes, these are all manifestations that help protect the underlying function of white fragility, which boils down to maintaining the status quo. Instead we must unlearn these behaviors and take a step back when offered feedback, stop making excuses, and engage in more self-reflection. I like that in the final chapter, the author offers guidelines for ways in which we can change our behaviors and reactions toward a path of humility, which if employed regularly can help to interrupt racism.
Overall, White Fragility was an excellent book that demonstrates through sound psychological and sociological theory the ways in which white fragility manifest and present and how we as white people can overcome them to be better allies to our brothers and sisters of color. Throughout reading it, I’ve learned a great deal. I’ve been educated on things I didn’t already know, while also being challenged to look deeper within myself for the ways in which I might be complicit in these behaviors and how I can do better in the future. Some of these things are so subtle that it will take work to root them out and I recognize that the work will never be fully done. There’s always going to be more to learn and improve, but I’m convinced that if enough people put what this book teaches into action, we can make the world a more equitable place for everyone. White Fragility is a book that will definitely go on my keeper shelf to refer back to as I continue this journey. I read it fairly quickly for our book study, but I’ll probably read it again at some point and take more time to do a deeper dive. It’s a somewhat dense book that takes a little more effort to understand and really figure out how certain things apply on a personal level, but one that is very much worth it. I’d highly recommend it to all my fellow white people who have a genuine desire to learn how to overcome their own fragility to become a better anti-racist....more
Reviewed for THC Reviews "4.5 stars" I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced is a fairly short book for a memoir, but one that packs a pretty powerful messageReviewed for THC Reviews "4.5 stars" I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced is a fairly short book for a memoir, but one that packs a pretty powerful message into its small size, much like the young girl whose story it tells. Nujood Ali became the youngest person in the world to seek and be granted a divorce. Born into a very large family in rural Yemen – who later moved to the capitol – she wasn’t even certain of her age at the time these events unfolded. There is no official record of her birth, and with so many children in the family – sixteen to be exact – even her mother couldn’t say for sure exactly when she was born. Her age was estimated to be ten when her father negotiated a marriage contract for her with a man three times her age. With the sixteen offspring from his first wife and five more from a second wife, he had trouble keeping a job to take care of them all and claimed it was the only way to make sure she was protected and provided for. Technically the legal age for marriage in Yemen is fifteen, but girls are allowed to be given in marriage at much younger ages if a stipulation is placed in the marriage contract that no sexual contact will occur until puberty. However, once the girl is married there is little to no enforcement to prevent her husband from seeking his conjugal rights.
Nujood was married off without her consent to a man she’d never met even once, and the very next day was shipped off to live with his family back in the small village where she was born. There she was beaten and raped by her husband almost on a daily basis and also abused by her mother-in-law for two months before she was finally able to convince her husband to allow her to visit her family. While back in the capitol, she sought the advice of her father’s second wife, who counseled that she should seek out a judge to hear her case. Nujood bravely escaped and went to the courthouse where she insisted upon seeing a judge and refused to leave until she did. She was lucky enough to find three who appeared to be sympathetic toward her plight. One of them took her home for a few days where she was treated well by his family and later he helped her move in with an uncle and get a lawyer, a woman who specialized in human rights cases like Nujood’s. With the assistance of her attorney, they successfully petitioned the court for a divorce, a story that quickly spread around the world.
I mentioned earlier that this book is fairly short so there aren’t a great deal of details. However, it’s enough to paint a horrifying picture of arranged child marriages. It can be very hard for me, as a person with Western sensibilities, to believe that such things as child brides and forced marriages still go on in the world today. But I know they do, and this story proves it. It’s so heartbreaking to think about, though. Nujood was merely a little girl who should have been playing with toys, eating sweet treats, dreaming of the pretty dresses in store windows, and attending school – all things she enjoyed doing – not forced to become a wife and service the sexual desires of a much older man. In my opinion, this is completely perverted and nothing short of pedophilia. I’m typically very supportive of respecting most cultural norms, but never when they result in this kind of gross abuse of another human being, especially a child. Some of this can be blamed on ignorance and lax laws, but it still seems like people should have more decency. In any case, Nujood was a very strong young lady who bravely stood up for herself, and in doing so, inspired other girls in similar circumstances to do the same, which brought a much-needed silver lining to her story. However, since these events took place more than a decade ago (2008) and the book was published in 2010, I was curious to know what had become of her since then. When I searched for information about her online, I found that sadly it didn’t appear that she’d been able to achieve the dreams that she put forth in this book, nor was she able to save her younger sister from the same fate. Despite that, though, it’s still an inspirational story that is very important in that it shines a light on this heinous practice, something that I hope, over time, will be relegated to the dust bin of history.
Note: In my research of what’s become of Nujood, I also discovered that it appears her father, who is to blame for all of this, is ironically the one profiting from this book and not Nujood herself. I borrowed the book from the library, but would very much like to own it. If the royalty money was going directly to Nujood, I’d eagerly buy a copy of it to support this young woman. However, since it doesn’t seem to be helping her at all, if I do purchase it, I’ll probably try to get a second-hand copy and would urge others to do the same, so as to not put any more money into the hands of an abuser....more
Reviewed for THC Reviews Dear Church was chosen as our latest book club read. It’s part love letter to the church and part clarion call for change withReviewed for THC Reviews Dear Church was chosen as our latest book club read. It’s part love letter to the church and part clarion call for change within the church on issues surrounding diversity. When I saw that Nadia Bolz-Weber had blurbed the book and that her quote on the front cover was, “I dare you to read this book,” I was immediately intrigued. Having just recently read one of Rev. Bolz-Weber’s books, I knew that if she was endorsing Dear Church, it most likely had to be good and I wasn’t disappointed. I also know now why she said that, because Rev. Duncan’s writing style isn’t unlike hers. It’s filled with bold statements that are meant to get people thinking and hopefully change hearts and minds, but at the same time, it’s a tender love letter that conveys just how much he genuinely loves the church. As flawed as the church may be when it comes to certain aspects, it’s where Rev. Duncan finally found peace and purpose in his life and he just wants to make it better for people like himself.
The book is written specifically to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the denomination to which Rev. Duncan belongs, but honestly I think the message could apply to pretty much every church denomination, as all the ones I’ve been a part of in my lifetime have similar diversity issues. The author contends that this is largely a theological one and not a sociological one. He spends nearly the entire first half of the book discussing how white supremacy has infiltrated many aspects of church life to the point that most white people don’t even realize it. So as a rare person-of-color (POC) clergy within the ELCA, he’s calling them out and challenging them to make changes, even if it means reimagining certain parts of the liturgy or eliminating certain hymns and traditions. If it’s harmful or offensive in any way toward POCs, then it should go. He also discusses what steps the church might make in order to repent, reconcile, and make reparations going forward. Additionally he discusses the dissonance of both himself and Dylann Roof, the white supremacist, mass-shooter who targeted a black church, coming from the same denomination.
Dear Church isn’t just about racial relations and the church, though. As a self-described queer person, Rev. Duncan devotes an entire chapter to the need for the church to be more welcoming of our LGBTQIA siblings. I also especially liked the chapter on toxic masculinity. I appreciated the author’s honesty in admitting that he’s been guilty of this type of behavior in the past, but that he’s now working hard to overcome that and calling on other men to do the same. I think it’s wonderful that he’s taking a stand for women/femmes. He additionally discusses the rise of white nationalism under the current presidential administration. Then he wraps everything up by showing how the church can and should lead the way forward on all these issues.
I very much enjoyed reading Dear Church, and wholeheartedly agree with it’s messages. I sensed Rev. Duncan’s personality shining through his words. At times, I felt like I was in his church, hearing a bold, fiery sermon, and while he doesn’t mince words on the issues covered, his message is one that inspires rather than tearing down. At other times, I felt wrapped in a warm, loving embrace as he unabashedly expresses his love for the church and for God’s people. I hope readers will pick up this book, check their privilege at the door, and take all of his words to heart, while pledging to do better in the future. I know that’s what I’m going to do....more
Reviewed for THC Reviews I’m Still Here is part memoir of an African-American woman, part treatise on racism and social justice. Throughout it’s pages,Reviewed for THC Reviews I’m Still Here is part memoir of an African-American woman, part treatise on racism and social justice. Throughout it’s pages, Austin Channing Brown discusses her own life and what it’s like to live inside her brown skin, while using these experiences to explain what it’s like for an African-American living in, as the sub-title says, a world made for whiteness. As a white person, I think I’d subconsciously come to believe that racism had improved over the years I’ve been alive, but with recent events and the resurgence of more overt forms of racism, it had gone back downhill. But in reading this book, I’ve come to realize that was only a perception on my part, or really a misperception. Racism has never left us, and it’s always been alive and well in basically every walk of life. I’ve read several books with themes centering around racial issues. I always enjoy them and tend to come away from reading them, learning something new. However, I think this is the first time I’ve read a book that was written solely from a first-person African-American perspective.
I very much appreciated it, because it allowed me a little glimpse into the mind and life of an African-American woman, and it helped me to better understand what it’s like for her and others like her. I don’t ever want to discount or underestimate the difficulties faced by persons of color and so reading books like this is very important to me for that reason. I’ve learned that there are so many things that white people take for granted that persons of other races simply can’t. Otherwise, bad things might happen, up to and including their lives being in danger because of actions they take that would have been perceived differently if it was a white person doing that same thing. This is so very wrong and something that hurts me and makes me wish I had better answers for overcoming racism, because I know that my brothers and sisters of color in the human race are suffering.
This book was chosen as the latest read for our book club and many of the points made in it were driven home in stark relief at our monthly discussion as it’s message played out right before our eyes. The club’s only African-American member was essentially forced into educating us just as Ms. Channing Brown discusses having to educate her white colleagues. But what was even more distressing to me was her being placed in a position to have to defend herself against the ignorance of one of our white members. I could sense her pain, frustration, and the sheer exhaustion of having to deal with this nonsense yet again. It was admittedly a great object lesson for the rest of us, but at the same time, I wished she hadn’t had to go through that. I can only imagine what it must be like to feel the need to essentially justify one’s existence on almost a daily basis. Or perhaps, worse yet, to have to worry about the safety of yourself and your loved ones every day. When she said that she just hopes her son will live long enough to be able to have conversations like the one she was having with white people, it broke my heart. I’ve never had to face the idea that my kids might someday lose their lives merely because of the color of their skin, and I’ve never had to have hard discussions with my kids about the types of things she has to talk with her son about. It was definitely an eye-opening moment for me.
I really struggled with how to rate I’m Still Here. It certainly contains a message that every white person needs to hear and take to heart, while also being very affirming for African-Americans. I enjoyed the book, but there were times when I felt a little something was missing, like I wanted it to go a bit deeper. It’s a pretty short book with each chapter being kind of an essay on different times in, and different aspects of, the author’s life. I’m not sure what she could have done differently, but I’ll admit there were parts where I wasn’t quite as engaged. But at the same time, there were other parts that nearly brought tears to my eyes at their poignancy. One of my favorite parts and one of the most moving was the author’s letter to her unborn son. In any case, I do recommend the book. I firmly believe that those of us who are Caucasian really need to step up to the plate and work to become part of the solution rather than part of the problem. Most of all we need to genuinely listen and accept what persons of color have to say with regards to their struggles, and expose ourselves to more literature like this book and more people in real life who are different from ourselves. Maybe then the true work of racial reconciliation can begin....more
Reviewed for THC Reviews I’ve been following Jim Wallis for a number of years now, mostly through his work with the religious organization, Sojourners.Reviewed for THC Reviews I’ve been following Jim Wallis for a number of years now, mostly through his work with the religious organization, Sojourners. He’s been an inspiring figure to me who has helped me to see my own faith in a different way. Years ago, I picked up his book God’s Politics, although I admittedly never finished it due to not having a lot of time to read back then. When I saw this new book had just been released, I was eager to read it. I’m intrigued by social issues and with the deaths of a number of African Americans at the hands of police topping news stories of late, I felt that it was a very timely subject to explore. As fate would have it, my church book club agreed, and so America's Original Sin became our latest group read.
Some of the other group members expressed that it wasn’t the easiest read and could be a little slow at times. They seemed to feel that a more personal narrative might have helped to give it more flavor, and while I agree on some level, I still very much liked the book and found it to be quite thought-provoking. The title and premise of the book is rooted in the following statement that Jim Wallis made in a Sojourners magazine article back in 1987: “The United States of America was established as a white society, founded upon the near genocide of another race and then the enslavement of yet another.” He said it was the most controversial statement he’s ever made and I can understand to some extent why it was so provocative. At the same time, though, it’s a nearly impossible statement to refute for anyone who genuinely understands history. And of course, this is what Rev. Wallis posits is America's original sin.
I liked how he made racism a faith issue and one in which more churches and religious institutions need to become involved and help eradicate. After all, if we really mean it when we say that we’re all children of God, equal in His eyes, then we need to put that faith into action. One of Martin Luther King Jr.’s most famous quotes is: “I am [ashamed] and appalled that eleven o’clock on Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in Christian America.” And that sadly is true. Granted Rev. Wallis discusses how some faith communities are becoming more multi-cultural and statistics show that across the country there has been improvements in church integration, but by and large, churches are still pretty segregated. I know this, because the churches of which I’ve been a part throughout my lifetime have been predominantly white with very few, if any, minorities involved. More than fifty years after the civil rights movement, I find that very sad indeed.
Some readers might be tempted to pass this book by, thinking, “I’m not racist, so I don’t need this.” And that’s where they would be wrong. Social science has proven that we all carry intrinsic biases. Some explicit biases we can see played out in the news with acts of violence, ugly words, and other overt forms of racial discrimination. Then there are implicit biases that all of us have. We may not take issue with those of another race, but how many of us avoid certain areas of town or cross the street to avoid someone we perceive as unsafe due to their skin being a different color. These biases may be subconsciously performed and not readily apparent to us as racism, but we need to be aware that they exist, if we’re to overcome our prejudices. As Rev. Wallis suggests, we are more likely to achieve that with intentional exposure to the people we perceive as “different” or “other.” And intentional means just that, not merely waiting or hoping to interact with those people through work, church or other public spaces, because that simply isn’t going to happen organically, at least not to the degree we need in order to achieve true integration.
The author presents what I felt was a common sense approach to overcoming all the discriminatory problems that lead to more intense racial conflicts. It involves some of that intentional integration of which I was talking in many areas of our lives: our churches, sports, and schools, as well as geographic integration that brings us together with our neighbors from other races. He also supports comprehensive immigration reform as well as comprehensive policing and criminal justice reforms. When persons of color are dying at the hands of police at a much higher rate than whites, we have a problem. When rates of drug use and trafficking are pretty equal across the racial divide, but the majority of those locked up for these offenses are persons of color, there is yet another problems that needs attention. We also need to listen to and believe the stories of those who are experiencing the worst of the prejudice and racial inequalities, because it is through putting a human face on this suffering that we will truly be able to empathize.
Rev. Wallis covered a lot of ground in this book and it’s overall message is one that I feel more people need to take to heart. But one of the strongest messages I took away from it is that for people of faith, racism is a sin of which we need to repent – even if we don’t consider ourselves racist – in order to move forward into a better tomorrow. The author cited many Biblical passages that show that all human beings are equal in the eyes of God. Even if you aren’t a person of faith, our country’s Declaration of Independence states that “all men are created equal” as well. But until Caucasian Americans die to our notions of white privilege, we can’t truly be one with our brothers and sisters of color. I hope that many readers will pick up this book with an open mind and heart, ready to take a hard look at themselves and what they might be doing to perpetuate racial inequality, be inspired to make changes that will help others, and then cross that bridge to a new, better, and more integrated America.
Note: This book contains one instance of the use of the derogatory “n” word for African Americans in a direct quote from a racist individual, which may offend some readers....more
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