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March JustFaith Meetings: This month, the JustFaith group has studied the relationship between racism in America--past and present--and poverty in minority communities. As an introduction to this subject, we read Jonathan Kozol's heartrending book, Amazing Grace, about poverty in the South Bronx. To better understand how the current state of affairs evolved, we then read Danny Collum's perceptive and educational book, Rising to Common Ground: Overcoming America's Color Lines. Collum's book explores the history of racism in the United States, particularly racism against African Americans. It also explains the roles various churches in the United States have played throughout history in both supporting and fighting racism. We studied the life of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., and watched a truly inspirational film, Come Walk in My Shoes, about the American Civil Rights movement from its very beginnings to present-day. To further appreciate today's problems, Reverend Loyce Newton-Edwards, an Assistant Pastor at Oklahoma City's Church of the Open Arms, talked with us about the current crippling effects of institutional racism, the failure of most African American churches to provide leadership willing to address deeply distressing problems within its own community, and the growing divide between the "haves" and the "have nots" within the African American community. Visiting with her was a saddening, but also motivating, experience. Our lessons, meditations, and discussions this past month have been deeply moving and life-changing. Our attempt to understand the living conditions of our brethren of different races or cultures has made us aware of the enormous gaps in the safety net that is supposed to provide for the well-being of all Americans. I think we all hope that through our continued studies, we can arrive at some personal and/ or group effort we can make to address these problems in at least some small way. |
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