Resources for Combating Racism

Resources courtesy of Rev. Dr. Velda Love, Minister for Racial Justice, Justice and Local Church Ministries, United Church of Christ and leea allen, Minister of Faith and Justice at Virginia Highland Church, UCC in Atlanta

“Race is not Real.  Race does not exist biologically nor anthropologically, neither is there any reference to race in the 66 canonized books of the Bible. Race is neither scientific nor sacred. Race is an artificial social construct, and it serves a social function. Racism is Real. Racism originates from the unholy belief that there are human groups with particular social and physical characteristics that make them superior or inferior to another human group.
 – Rev. Traci Blackmon, Executive Minister, Justice and Local Church Ministries, United Church of Christ

Where are we today regarding race relations within the Christian Church and Society?

The United Church of Christ remains committed to being an anti-racist church. However, we are facing a resurgence of tactics and behaviors that call for a deeper commitment to eradicate the ongoing practices of oppression, hate speech, individual bigotry, and overt violence against people of African, Asian, Latinx, Native and Indigenous Americans, and immigrant populations.

Restorative racial justice resources invite people of faith into a deeper commitment to engage with biblical, theological, and historical works by scholars invested in critical thinking and expanded narratives as correctives to white nationalism and supremacist history.Some Suggested Resources About Racism

The resources below have been suggested by individuals in our churches as a way for individuals and churches to engage in learning about racism.  Several have been used for adult study groups. Additional suggestions will be added.

Resources from the UCC

Books

  • Decolonizing Christianity Becoming Badass Believers by Miguel De La Torre
  • From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
  • How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collection by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
  • Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad
  • My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Menakem Resmaa
  • Race and Theology by Elaine A. Robinson
  • Reading the Bible from the Margins by Miguel De La Torre
  • Shades of Freedom: Racial Politics and Presumptions of the American Legal Process by Leon A. Higginbotham, Jr.
  • Spiritual Care in an Age of #BLACKLIVESMATTER: Examining the Spiritual and Prophetic Needs of African Americans in a Violent America by Danielle J. Buhuro
  • Stand Your Ground: Black Bodies and the Justice of God by Kelly Brown Douglas
  • The Combahee River Collective Statement by The Combahee River Collective
  • The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James Cone
  • The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism by Edward E. Baptist
  • The People’s Companion to the Bible by Curtiss DeYoung
  • The Racial Healing Handbook: Practical Activities to Help You Challenge Privilege, Confront Systemic Racism, and Engage in Collective Healing by Anneliese Singh
  • The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action by Audre Lorde
  • Under Our Skin by Benjamin Watson
  • What Does It Mean To Be White? Developing White Racial Literacy by Robin DiAngelo
  • White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard For White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
  • Wilmington’s Lie: The Murderous Coup of 1898 and the Rise of White Supremacy by David Zucchino
  • Witnessing Whiteness: The Need to Talk about Race and How to do it by Shelley Tochluk

Movies/Documentaries

  • 13th, a Netflix documentary exposing racial inequality within the criminal justice system
  • Just Mercy, a film based on civil rights lawyer Bryan Stevenson’s work on death row in Alabama
  • Twelve Years a Slave, 2013 biographical period-drama and adaptation of the 1858 slave memoir by Solomon Northrup, a born free African-American man, kidnapped and sold into slavery.

Resources for BIPOC

Counseling

Spiritual/Soul Care

Resources for White people

Support Community Organizers

Other Resources