Looking for a good book to read (or listen to) during your winter break? Here are some best-sellers that we recommend with descriptions from goodreads.com.
The first three have just been added to the church’s library:
Raising White Kids: Bringing Up Children in a Racially Unjust America by Jennifer Harvey
“How do we talk about race honestly, then, without making our children feel bad about being white? Most importantly, how do we do any of this in age-appropriate ways? While a great deal of public discussion exists in regard to the impact of race and racism on children of color, meaningful dialogue about and resources for understanding the impact of race on white children are woefully absent. Raising White Kids steps into that void.”
White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism by Robin DiAngelo
“Referring to the defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially, white fragility is characterized by emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt and by behaviors including argumentation and silence. These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium and prevent any meaningful cross-racial dialogue. In this in-depth exploration, anti-racist educator Robin DiAngelo examines how white fragility develops, how it protects racial inequality, and what can be done to engage more constructively.”
The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein
“In this groundbreaking history of the modern American metropolis, Richard Rothstein, a leading authority on housing policy, explodes the myth that America’s cities came to be racially divided through de facto segregation—that is, through individual prejudices, income differences, or the actions of private institutions like banks and real estate agencies. Rather, The Color of Law incontrovertibly makes clear that it was dejure segregation—the laws and policy decisions passed by local, state, and federal governments—that actually promoted the discriminatory patterns that continue to this day.”
Caste: the Origins of Our Discontent by Isabel Wilkerson
“As we go about our daily lives, caste is the wordless usher in a darkened theater, flashlight cast down in the aisles, guiding us to our assigned seats for a performance. The hierarchy of caste is not about feelings or morality. It is about power—which groups have it and which do not. In this brilliant book, Isabel Wilkerson gives us a masterful portrait of an unseen phenomenon in America as she explores, through an immersive, deeply researched narrative and stories about real people, how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings”
Watch this space for upcoming events in early 2021: a family movie night, a book discussion, and even a field trip to a local museum!
—Max Frable
Resources for Discussion: Several of the ministries of St. Matthew offer resources for education and discussion purposes. These resources are not intended as official statements of positions taken by St. Matthew, but are rather intended to prompt beneficial conversation and discussion on issues of interest and importance.