Race
Reflections on racial reconciliation within the church and culture
One of the first prayers I learned as a child was the debtor’s version of the Lord’s Prayer. You know, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” It wasn’t until this past year, however, that those words became real to me.
When my wife and I moved to Cincinnati ...
How can Christians seek racial reconciliation, justice and healing? Attempting to answer that question means reckoning with racism. But as a member of the ethnic group that has enjoyed disproportionate power and privilege because of systemic and other forms of racism, attempting an answer means trying ...
I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me. Like the bodiless heads you see sometimes in circus sideshows, it is as though I have been surrounded by mirrors of hard, distorting glass. When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves or figments of their imagination, ...
I became a Christian at the age of 22, by way of someone I never would have expected. It was the summer of 1998, four years prior to me submitting my life to the Lord. I was leading a private camp and awaiting the arrival of my assistant. She bounced in with her blonde ponytail, blue eyes, and bubbly ...
"Romesh, sorry, we can't 'go together' anymore, my mom says I'm not allowed." --my first girlfriend in 6th grade, who was part of a white evangelical family.
"Romesh, we are not allowed to date, the Bible says that interracial dating is a sin." – my best ...
I will never forget sitting at the dinner table with a group of college friends when one of them, a white young man I didn't know all that well, made a disparaging remark about taking a "big black girl" to an upcoming formal dance. I didn't laugh along with everyone else. But I ...
As Ta-Nehisi Coates documented recently in his long and compelling cover story for The Atlantic, "The Case for Reparations," the government of the United States for centuries has perpetuated systemic injustice against African Americans. These formal legal practices explain many of the broad ...
Last week my son William curled up against me on the couch as we watched the women's figure skating. "Which country is she from?" he asked.
"I don't know," I said, as she began what looked like an effortless glide across the ice.
"Well, she has whitish brown skin ...
Here's a roundup of tweets from this past week, including links to articles you might appreciate. Happy reading!
The Girls Who Haven't Come Home: One mother fighting to get her daughters out of#FosterCare ow.ly/mQCK7 @nytimes#BrokenHome
"At 80, I often feel #life is about to begin, only to realize it is ...
New post on the Park Forum: Desegregating the Sunday School Hour
