How to Fight Racism by Jemar Tisby
As a student of Racial Reconciliation, I studied this book along with others in a small group setting. The purpose was to hear from a Black activist author who could challenge us to take another step in understanding and doing something about racism in our own spheres. His three basic steps? Awareness (head), Relationships (heart), Commitment (hands).
Tisby calls this the ARC of social justice. In our discussions we determined where we each were in this ARC. Since I have been involved in the awareness part for the past few years, my decision next is to figure out where I can be involved in relationships with other ethnic groups. I must know other people who are from different cultures, different political views, different faiths. When you become friends with those that look at the world differently, it is harder to judge their ethnicity with blanket statements or with dismissals or with historical biases. After reading the segment on commitment, my heart wants to put action to my feelings; so I am hoping to gather some facts about voting in the Kalamazoo area, and possibly plan a Voting Registration event before the 2022 election.
Blackout by Candace Owens
Encouraged by my brother to understand both sides of the Racism battle, I began this read concurrently with the Tisby book. Both authors are black, both authors are Christians, both authors are firm in their beliefs concerning the history of black America. But...they disagree on systemic racism, on politics, on welfare, on how the Blacks have been cheated by the promises of "the other side".
Frankly, I was confused. It re-affirmed that our country is extremely polarized. Owens agrees that slavery was oppressive, but refuses to concede that our laws were enacted by white men with the goal of keeping whites in the power positions. She believes that Black people should be able to dig out of their poverty by working harder, not living on welfare...just as she did. Her main objective in writing this book was to present to her Black brothers and sisters, the need to leave the Democratic party in order to be "saved" by the Republican platform. What is more important to me than her goal is to admit that we all have different viewpoints, because of our various backgrounds and privileges, and we desperately must learn how to compromise, how to problem solve, and how to somehow merge the Left with the Right and meet somewhere in the middle. To attack either side and refuse to budge doesn't help our country. I think I enjoyed the Tisby book because it gave me more valuable insight on how to take part in change, not just to make a decision about which side is right or wrong. Owens gives a convincing argument, but her tone bothers me.
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