Antiracism Resources
Antiracism Resources for Churches
As members of Christ’s body, we are called to the work of restorative justice. We recognize that racism has long been a part of our country’s DNA. It’s not enough to be against racism, we also must do the work of anti-racism to remove racism at the personal, instutitional and systemic level.
PLM Statement on Racism
Issued June 10, 2020
George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Emmett Till, and the list goes on and on back past the founding of our nation; individuals created in God’s image who were killed because of racism. Add to these the countless names of those deprived of opportunities for education, employment, housing, and community because of racism. We can and must do better in eliminating personal, organizational, and systemic racism. Most especially, the church must end its complicity in supporting and perpetuating racism in all its forms.
It is not enough to:
- Hold our Bibles while standing in front of our churches.
- Tell ourselves that we are not racist.
- Make our private statements expressing sorrow and remorse.
We can and must do better.
It is not enough to:
- Gather in the comfort of our lounges to study recommended resources.
- Affirm that our best friends are not racist.
- Post our public statements expressing sorrow and remorse.
We can and must do better.
We repent of:
- Keeping the Word of God at arm’s length rather than having it permeate our hearts and actions.
- Declining to identify the racist roots and tendencies in our hearts and structures.
- Talking and writing while failing to listen and learn from those we have hurt.
- Failing to act justly.
- Failing to love mercy.
- Failing to walk humbly with our God and with God’s Image-bearers.
We can and must do better.
We ask forgiveness from:
- Those whom we have hurt by our actions.
- Those we have allowed others to hurt and ignore.
- Our God whose desire for diversity and unity we have not honored.
We can and must do better.
We must make recompense to:
- Those whose wealth and lands we have stolen.
- Those we have forced to live with little or no resources.
- God who has provided in abundance for all of creation’s needs.
We can and must do better.
We commit ourselves to:
- A relentless pursuit of truth about ourselves and how we can do better.
- Listening to the voices of all God’s people regarding their needs and desires.
- Creating the environment where all can breathe in the spirit of love and peace.
We can and will do better.
So help us God!
Educational Resources
Articles
From PC(USA)
- “Dismantling structural racism is ‘in all our best interest'” by Mike Ferguson
- Published in PC(USA) Presbyterian Mission
- “Beyond protests, how can you and your church bring change?” by Rich Copley
- Published in PC(USA) Presbyterian Mission
- “A Common Statement on Racism, Advocacy for Black Women and Girls, and the 224th General Assembly (2020)” by Bruce Reyes-Chow
- From Past Moderators, Co-moderators, and Vice Moderators of The General Assemblies of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and Predecessor Church
Videos
From PC(USA)
- “Why is protest important to people of faith?”
- Published by PC(USA) Presbyterian Mission Agency
- “Keeping Faith” on confronting and engaging in the work of racial justice
- Published by PC(USA) Presbyterian Mission Agency
Resources from Other Groups
From PC(USA)
- PC(USA) Racial Justice Resources page now available online – Website
- Facing Racism – Website
- PC(USA) Presbyterian Mission – Racial Equity Page – Webpage
- Follow PC(USA) Racial and Intercultural Justice Office on Facebook to keep up-to-date on Anti-Racism resources – Facebook Page
- Follow PC(USA) Special Committee on Racism, Truth & Reconciliation on Facebook – Facebook Page
Others
- Resources to Unlearn Implicit Bias from MSW Online – Website
- Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revivial – Website
- PC(USA) has agreed to partner with them in the 2020 General Assembly
Activities to Promote Racial Justice
From PC(USA)
- STUDY: Start dismantling racism with a 21-day challenge
- Article by Presbyterian Mission
Books
Antiracist – Starter
- Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi
- A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn
- White Fragility by Robin Diangelo
- So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
- Waking Up White by Debby Irving
- Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
Antiracist – Intermediate
- The Burning House: Jim Crow and the Making of Modern America by Anders Walker
- The New Jim Crow By Michelle Alexander
- Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment is Killing America’s Heartland by Jonathan M. Metzl
- A Different Mirror by Ronald Takaki
- How To Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
Antiracist Literature – Topic Specific
- Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond (Poverty, Housing)
- Nobody: Casualties of America’s War on the Vulnerable, from Ferguson to Flint and Beyond by Marc Lamont Hill (Police Violence/Mass Incarceration)
- Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria by Beverly Daniel Tatum, PhD (Education Discrimination/Bias)
- The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein (Segregation, Housing Discrimination, Redlining)
- Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James W. Loewen (education, colonialism, ahistoricism)
- Blackballed: The Black Vote and U.S. Democracy by Darryl Pinckney (Voter Suppression, Black Voting)
- Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II by Douglas A. Blackmon (Mass Incarceration)
Antiracist Literature – Biographies, Non-Fiction Novels, Person Narratives
- The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
- The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
- Malcolm X by Alex Haley
- Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Killing Rage: Ending Racism (Essay Collection)
- Becoming by Michelle Obama
- Slave Nation: How Slavery United the Colonies & Sparked the American Revolution by Alfred Blumrosen and Ruth Blumrosen
Biblical/Theological
- The Christian Imagination by Willie James Jennings
- Race: A Theological Account by J. Kameron Carter
- The Color of Christ by Blum and Harvey
- The Color of Compromise by Jemar Tisby
- Redeeming Mulatto: A Theology of Race and Christian Hybridity by Brian Bantum
- The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James Cone
- Preaching About Racism: A Guide for Faith Leaders by Carolyn B. Helsel (December 2018)
Books for Small Groups
- Good White Racist? Confronting Your Role in Racial Injustice by Kerry Connelly (March 2020)
- For Beautiful Black Boys Who Believe in a Better World by Michael W. Waters (coming September 2020) – Preorder. | Free discussion and activity guide.
- Ten Essential Strategies for Becoming a Multiracial Congregation by Jacqueline J. Lewis and John Janka (March 2018)
- Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor by Layla Saad
- No Innocent Bystanders: Becoming an Ally in the Struggle for Justice by Shannon Craigo-Snell and Christopher Doucot (October 2017)
- Witnessing Whiteness: The Need to Talk about Race and How to Do It by Shelly Tochluk
- The New Jim Crow By Michelle Alexander
- How To Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
Children’s Books
“20 Picture Books for 2020: Reading to Embrace Race, Provide Solace and Do Good” children’s books list compiled by Embrace Race
Children’s Books by Age
0-3
- The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
- Two Eyes, A Nose, and a Mouth by Roberta Grobel Intrater
- Shades of People by Shelly Rotner
- Shades of Black by Sandra L. Pinkney
- No! My First Book of Protest by Julie Merberg
3-5
- Saturday by Oge Mora
- Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry
- Brian the Brave by Paul Stewart and Jane Porter
- All the Colors We Are by Katie Kissinger
5-8
- Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson
- The Youngest Marcher by Cynthia Levinson
- Something Happened in Our Town: A Child’s Story About Racial Injustice by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins and Ann Hazzard
- Whoosh! Lonnie Johnson’s Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions by Chris Barton
- Grandpa, Is Everything Black Bad by Sandy Lynne Holman
- Sulwe by Lupita Nyong’o
- Enough! 20 Protesters Who Changed America by Emily Easton
9-12
- Resist: 35 Profiles of Ordinary People Who Rose Up Against Tyranny and Injustice by Veronica Chambers
- Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness by Anastasia Higginbotham
- The Lost Tribes Series by Christine Taylor-Butler
12+
- All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
- Stamped: Racism, Antiracism by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
- The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Teens and Young Adult
-
Internment by Samira Ahmed
-
Tyler Johnson was Here by Jay Coles
-
All Boys Aren’t Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto by George M. Johnson
-
This Book is Anti-Racist by Tiffany Jewell
-
The Only Black Girls in Town by Brandy Colbert
-
Black Brother, Black Brother by Jewell Parker
-
Blended by Sharon M. Draper
-
For Black Girls Like Me by Mariama J. Lockington
-
Genesis Begins Again by Alicia D. Williams
-
The Voting Booth by Brandy Colbert
-
Slay by Brittney Morris
-
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
-
Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson
-
Black Girl Unlimited: The Remarkable Story of A Teenage Wizard by Echo Brown
-
Who Put This Song On? by Morgan Parker
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Dear Martin by Nic Stone
-
How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon
Transformative Justice
- Fumbling Towards Repair: A Workbook for Community Accountability Facilitators by Mariame Koba and Shira Hassan
- Beyond Survival: Strategies and Stories from the Transformative Justice Movement
Miscellaneous
- Dear White Christian: For Those Still Longing for Racial Reconciliation by Jennifer Harvey
- Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad
- Tears We Cannot Stop by Michael Dyson
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