How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith tells the story of how we have handled race, slavery, and racism in America through several locations in our nation. Those places tell us how we’ve done and how we’re doing… and why too many white Americans think Black Americans should “get over it” when it comesContinue reading “The 13th Amendment”
Tag Archives: Racism
Our problem isn’t erasing history
Our problem isn’t “erasing history.” Our problem is not knowing history. Clint Smith reflected on his visit to the Whitney Plantation in his book, How the Word is Passed:
The difference between history and nostalgia
I am now reading through Clint Smith’s book, How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America. Smith’s goal is to examine places in America and how they tell the story of slavery and racism in American history.
Diminishing the Black voice and life
“One of the most damning legacies of white supremacy was not just the way it terrorized us with impunity and devalued us by denying our citizenship and disrespecting us by assaulting our dignity, it was also how it wounded our minds and wounded our souls and wounded our bodies. Any conception of God, (James) BaldwinContinue reading “Diminishing the Black voice and life”
Learning from the gift of rage
We don’t mind “white rage.” It gets us, as whites, back in control. We can then call it “proper political discourse” or something nice like that. Black rage? We, as whites, consider that dangerous.
The slow education of Dan Thompson
It is a hard read. We, as white people, have nothing on the line. George Floyd, in “our book,” is over. We read a couple of books by actual black authors a couple of years ago. So… why read another “hard book?”
What radicalized you?
This was the question pushed at Danté Stewart when he began to speak out in white spaces on the pain of the black community.
The danger of “erasure”
Danté Stewart’s book, Shoutin’ in the Fire, tells a story we need to hear. It’s completely uncomfortable and we, as whites, really don’t like that. His story is real. We are too capable of walking away from tough realities.
“Poverty” isn’t always about dollar signs.
Brian Flores was fired as head coach of the Miami Dolphins at the end of the season. He was still a hot commodity and was lined up to interview with several teams who had vacancies. Now, he has filed suit against the NFL for what goes unsaid but gets practiced all the time: The NFLContinue reading ““Poverty” isn’t always about dollar signs.”
A chilling anniversary
80 years ago a 90 minute meeting produced the Holocaust. On Jan. 20, 1942, 15 high-ranking officials of the Nazi bureaucracy met in a villa on Lake Wannsee on the western edge of Berlin. Nibbles were served and washed down with cognac. There was only one point on the agenda: “The organizational, logistical and materialContinue reading “A chilling anniversary”
Apprentice 2 Jesus 