Tis is how I came to find myself at a conference called DisGrace: Seeking God’s Grace Amid the Disgrace of Racism in October 2016. Over the course of the week, I learned more about the structures that have been in place since the “discovering” of this land we inhabit and the ways those systems have worked to uplift those of us with white skin and push to the margins our brothers and sisters of color. I woke up in a new way to understanding the importance of talking about institutionalized racism and coming to terms with looking a fool in order to advance God’s kingdom here on earth.


I also realized in a more tangible way that I wasn’t in this alone. Tere are lots of people longing to have this conversation and lots of resources to help us do that. I was so thankful for the opportunity to help create our three-week sermon series on race and work to host a workshop on cultural humility.


On February 25, some 68 members and friends of FPCA came to Fellowship Hall to discuss issues of race and culture with Rev. Mark Koenig, the coordinator for leadership development, racial justice, and networking for the PC(USA), and Rev. Paul Roberts, the president of Johnson C. Smith Teological Seminary. Together we explored the definition of privilege and the ways we hold it.


We talked about our own stories of race and racial awareness, and the concerns we see in the world today. We did not solve all the world’s problems or even learn all there is to know on this subject. But together we began to understand, as Irving writes, “I can’t give away my privilege. I’ve got it whether I want it or not. What I can do is use my privilege to create change.”


THE POWER OF A PAPER CLIP


It was a powerful exercise that made a deep impression on many attendees at FPCA’s cultural humility workshop. Participants circulated among tables where they answered a total of 70 statements reflecting aspects of privilege along national, religious, class, racial, sexual, gender, and ability lines. For each “yes” or “true” answer, attendees took a paper clip. Example statements included “People do not assume I am poor because of my nationality,” “I can go for months without me or anyone else referring explicitly to my sexuality,” “I can expect people in power to share my religious practices,” and “I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group.” Many participants had long paper-clip chains—but some were shorter than others. For more information on this exercise, email lindsay.harren-lewis@fpcallentown.org.


WHAT IS CULTURAL HUMILITY?


Cultural humility is “the ability to maintain an interpersonal stance that is other-oriented (or open to the other) in relation to aspects of cultural identity that are most important to the [person].”


Hook, J.N., “Cultural Humility: Measuring Openness to Culturally Diverse Clients,” Journal of Counseling Psychology, July 2013


SELECTED RESOURCES


You’ll find these and many other resources listed on the church website. Go to Care in the top menu and click on Resources from the drop-down.


• Waking Up White, and Finding Myself in the Story of Race, by Debby Irving


• Dear White Christians: For Those Still Longing for Racial Reconciliation, by Jennifer Harvey


• Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America, by Michael Eric Dyson


• “Lament, Challenge and Hope: Reflections on Isaiah 9:1-4,” by Charles Hardwick, PC(USA) director of Theology, Formation, and Evangelism, www.presbyterianmission.org/story/lament-challenge-hope/


• “Presbyterian Polity and White Privilege: A Denomination Out of Order,” by Magdalena I. Garcia, Presbyterian Outlook, https:// pres-outlook.org/2017/02/presbyterian-polity-white-privilege- denomination-order/


• Code Switch, an NPR podcast by journalists of color: www.npr.org/ podcasts/510312/codeswitch


• “How a Hashtag Defined a Movement,” a discussion with the creators of #Black Lives Matter: www.blacklivesmattersyllabus.com/how-a- hashtag-defined-a-movement/


• Confession of Belhar study guide, Presbyterian Church (USA), www. presbyterianmission.org/wp-content/uploads/belharstudyguide1.pdf


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