A jury on 4/20/2021, found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty on all three charges, including second-degree murder, stemming from the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, last year.  Jurors reached the verdict on their second day of deliberations.

DISMANTLING STRUCTUAL RACISM

Racism is deeply embedded in the life and history of the U.S. Through colonization, slavery and a shameful history of legislative action and judicial pronouncements, our nation created and embraced a system that valued and devalued people based simply on skin color and ethnic identity. People of color were deliberately subjugated for material, political and social advantage. Racism today is the continuing and enduring legacy of this history.  READ MORE

21-DAY RACIAL JUSTICE CHALLENGE

Day 1. Read the PC(USA) churchwide anti-racism policy, “Facing Racism: A Vision of the Intercultural Community,” at facingracism.org.

Day 2. Study the Week One lesson from the Facing Racism Study Guide.

Day 3. Watch an updated version of the Clark doll experiment, which explores how early-in-life ideas of racial inferiority and superiority are internalized.

Day 4. Study the Week Two lesson from the Facing Racism Study Guide.

Day 5. Read the resolution of the 223rd General Assembly of the PC(USA) on environmental racism.

Day 6. Watch the Presbyterian Hunger Program’s webinar, “Impact of Environmental Injustice on Low Income and Communities of Color.”

Day 7. Read what youth at the 2016 Triennium learned about environmental racism.

Day 8. Study the Week Three lesson from the Facing Racism Study Guide.

Day 9. Choose a resource on the Doctrine of Discovery to read from facingracism.org.

Day 10. Watch the PBS documentary “Unspoken: America’s Native American Boarding Schools.”

Day 11. Take the awareness test. Go out and change what you notice.

Day 12. Study the Week Four lesson from the Facing Racism Study Guide.

Day 13. Read the Confession of Belhar. Reflect on how your church is using and living into it.

Day 14. Visit the Presbyterian Intercultural Network’s website. Connect with a chapter near you or inquire about creating one.

Day 15. Study the Week Five lesson from the Facing Racism Study Guide.

Day 16. Watch the TED Talk “How to overcome our biases? Walk boldly toward them” by Verna Myers.

Day 17. Read “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Peggy McIntosh.

Day 18. Study the Week Six lesson from the Facing Racism Study Guide.

Day 19. Notice the structures and practices in your church. Raise questions about how they help or hinder racial equity.

Day 20. Engage: Suggest studying the Facing Racism Study Guide as a church or mid council to your leaders.

Day 21. Act: Commit to doing the challenge again. Invite someone to join you.