Number 4 – November 2009
Even in professional football “race matters.” That’s what makes Dave Zirin’s recent blog so interesting.
Zirin is the author of A PEOPLES’ HISTORY OF SPORTS. He writes weekly about the sports world – usually from a perspective not found in regular media.
For example, on Tuesday, October 6, 2009,Rush Limbaugh made public his intention to team up with St. Louis Blues owner Dave Checkette to buy the St. Louis Rams. The two men have made a bid and are in the process of completing the acquisition.
The children of former owner Georgia Frontiere own a 60 percent stake in the team and billionaire Stan Kroenke own a 40 percent stake. The Rams went 2 – 14 in the 2008 season. Forbes magazine has valued the Rams’ worth to be $913 million.
Limbaugh’s last venture into the sports world was as a NFL commentator for ESPN’s “Sunday NFL Countdown.” In that role he remarked that “Philadelphia Eagles’ quarterback Donovan McNabb was overrated because the media wanted to see a black quarterback do well in the NFL.” Rush Limbaugh lasted about a month and resigned in a hail of controversy.
But Zirin’s account is not just a description of the potential selling and buying of the Rams, it is an informed challenge to the appropriateness of such a transaction for the National Football League.
Owners of the various football franchises must vote to affirm the sale of a team to prospective buyers. They have the power and responsibility, when circumstances warrant, to deny such actions. Zirin is a strong advocate for the NFL football team owners to veto Limbaugh’s acquisition of the Rams’ franchise.
Limbaugh is a conservative. He is one of the pundits for a very conservative political view and is considered by many to be the voice of the Republican Party.
But it is not his conservatism that disqualifies Limbaugh. Most NFL team owners are conservative and when engaging in politics support the Republican Party.
At stake is Limbaugh’s racist attitudes: He is an “unapologetic racist.”
The National Football League is made up of 70 percent African Americans (Zirin’s statistic). If Limbaugh is confirmed by club owners “the face of one of the most valuable sports property in the world would officially be a person who has a history of brazen contempt for people of African heritage.
Limbaugh’s racism is reflected in his public comments:
-comparing President Obama to a Nazi;
-affirming that slavery built the South and had its merits; and
-knowing that Black people make up 12 percent of the population but says “Who the hell cares?”
Professional football players seldom comment publicly about the ownership of the teams they play for or play against. BUT a number of them are vocal about the possibility of Limbaugh buying the Rams:
-New York Giant Mathias Kiwanuka said, in The New York Daily News,"I don’t want anything to do with a team that he has a part of. He can do what ever he wants; it is a free country. But if it goes through, I can tell you where I’m not going to play.”
-Philadelphia Eagles’ Donovan McNabb said in his weekly press conference, “If he’s rewarded to buy them, congratulations to him. But I won’t be in St. Louis anytime soon.”
-New York Jets linebacker Bart Scott said, “He could offer me whatever he wanted; I wouldn’t play for him.”
So the chant goes out: “Flush Rush!”
Even in professional football “race matters.”
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TEAM MEMBERS
Dwight Bailey, chair
Karon Alexander, Brittany Barber, Darron Bowden, Gloria Carey-Branch, Minta Ccolburn, Ann Marie Coleman, Don Coleman, Carol Josefowski, Wookbin Moh, Trina Ruffin, Leila Ward
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Saturday, September 12, 2009
HATE GROUPS
Many of us shed tears of joy the evening of November 21, 2008 when Barack Obama was elected President of the United States. His victory speech was exhilarating and hopeful. His election has given credence to the phrase that anyone qualified can become President. Indeed, we now know that the color barrier has been broken with Obama becoming the first black president of the United States. We are, indeed, at a new stage in the political affairs of our nation.
This may be a time for celebration for some BUT it is also a time for RIGOROUS VIGILANCE. Assassination plots on the President’s life have been uncovered. Neo-Nazi activist and radio show host Hal Turner said: “Someone will kill him! And I will celebrate!” A sign placed inside a general store in Standish, Maine, read, “Osama Obama Shotgun Pool.” Customers could sign up to bet $1 on a date when the new president would be assassinated. On the bottom of the sign someone had written: "Let’s hope someone wins.” (1)
The “Intelligence Report,” published by the Southern Poverty Law Center, announces that in 2008 there were 926 active hate group chapters in the United States – 23 in Illinois. This is up from the 888 groups listed in 2007.
Leonard Zeskind, author of Blood and Violence: the History of the White Nationalist Movement from the Margins to Mainstream, describes the violence and hate that is typical of the white nationalist movement. He estimates that there are 30,000 hard core members who are responsible for the killings, beatings and fire-bombing of their racist targets. But he goes on to say “there are 200,000 to 250,000 active supporters of these groups. These are the folks who read the web sites and donate money.” There may be some of these folks in the congregations of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
James von Brunn is a typical member of these groups. You may remember that on June 10 he walked into the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum with rifle in hand and began shooting. He killed black security guard Stephen Johns. Brunn is described by the Anti-Defamation League as a white supremacist and ant-Semite. He wrote a self-published book titled Kill the Best Gentiles. Jan Sadowski, Brunn’s former wife, said she divorced him 30 years ago because of his extremist views and vindictiveness.
There are three different levels of participation by people supporting these 926 active hate groups. Level one consists of the hundreds of thousand folks who read the web sites and respond with financial contributions. Level two are talkers and defenders of the narrow white supremacist focus. Their language is violent and hate-filled. These include politicians like David Duke, media personality Lou Dobbs and author Ann Coulter. Level three are the shooters and bombers and burners who carry out the violent hateful acts. Included in this category are people like James von Brunn and Timothy McVeigh.
These groups all have in common beliefs that white people no longer run the country and white people should because such is ordained by God. They view themselves as victims of a world which is affirming diversity. They dream of returning to a time when superior whites will keep people of color as chattel.
Dismantling racism calls the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) to root out these tendencies of white superiority from our midst and to articulate a gospel of God’s love for all the peoples of the world. It challenges us to figure out why hate and violence is a way of life for so many in our country. It challenges us to look carefully at our own lives to root out any hate and violence in our hearts. It calls us to work attentively to follow our model, Jesus the Christ.
1) Intelligence Report: published by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Spring 2009: Issue 133, pp. 36-37.
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TEAM MEMBERS
Dwight Bailey, Chair
Karon Alexander, Brittany Barber, Darron Bowden, Gloria Carey-Branch, Minta Colburn, Ann Marie Coleman, Don Coleman, Ellen Culpepper, Carol Josefowski, Jennifer Kottler, Wookbin Moh, Leila Ward
This may be a time for celebration for some BUT it is also a time for RIGOROUS VIGILANCE. Assassination plots on the President’s life have been uncovered. Neo-Nazi activist and radio show host Hal Turner said: “Someone will kill him! And I will celebrate!” A sign placed inside a general store in Standish, Maine, read, “Osama Obama Shotgun Pool.” Customers could sign up to bet $1 on a date when the new president would be assassinated. On the bottom of the sign someone had written: "Let’s hope someone wins.” (1)
The “Intelligence Report,” published by the Southern Poverty Law Center, announces that in 2008 there were 926 active hate group chapters in the United States – 23 in Illinois. This is up from the 888 groups listed in 2007.
Leonard Zeskind, author of Blood and Violence: the History of the White Nationalist Movement from the Margins to Mainstream, describes the violence and hate that is typical of the white nationalist movement. He estimates that there are 30,000 hard core members who are responsible for the killings, beatings and fire-bombing of their racist targets. But he goes on to say “there are 200,000 to 250,000 active supporters of these groups. These are the folks who read the web sites and donate money.” There may be some of these folks in the congregations of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
James von Brunn is a typical member of these groups. You may remember that on June 10 he walked into the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum with rifle in hand and began shooting. He killed black security guard Stephen Johns. Brunn is described by the Anti-Defamation League as a white supremacist and ant-Semite. He wrote a self-published book titled Kill the Best Gentiles. Jan Sadowski, Brunn’s former wife, said she divorced him 30 years ago because of his extremist views and vindictiveness.
There are three different levels of participation by people supporting these 926 active hate groups. Level one consists of the hundreds of thousand folks who read the web sites and respond with financial contributions. Level two are talkers and defenders of the narrow white supremacist focus. Their language is violent and hate-filled. These include politicians like David Duke, media personality Lou Dobbs and author Ann Coulter. Level three are the shooters and bombers and burners who carry out the violent hateful acts. Included in this category are people like James von Brunn and Timothy McVeigh.
These groups all have in common beliefs that white people no longer run the country and white people should because such is ordained by God. They view themselves as victims of a world which is affirming diversity. They dream of returning to a time when superior whites will keep people of color as chattel.
Dismantling racism calls the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) to root out these tendencies of white superiority from our midst and to articulate a gospel of God’s love for all the peoples of the world. It challenges us to figure out why hate and violence is a way of life for so many in our country. It challenges us to look carefully at our own lives to root out any hate and violence in our hearts. It calls us to work attentively to follow our model, Jesus the Christ.
1) Intelligence Report: published by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Spring 2009: Issue 133, pp. 36-37.
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TEAM MEMBERS
Dwight Bailey, Chair
Karon Alexander, Brittany Barber, Darron Bowden, Gloria Carey-Branch, Minta Colburn, Ann Marie Coleman, Don Coleman, Ellen Culpepper, Carol Josefowski, Jennifer Kottler, Wookbin Moh, Leila Ward
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
THE COLOR OF WHITE PRIVILEDGE
Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama’s nomination to the Supreme Court, has just been confirmed by the full Senate by a vote of 68 – 31. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted, generally along party lines, to send her name for confirmation. Senator Lindsey Graham (R – S.C.) was the lone Republican vote in the Committee and he is recorded saying, “America has changed for the better with her selection” to the Supreme Court. This statement was not affirmed by his Republican colleagues on either the Committee or in the Senate.
Justice Sotomayor replaces Justice David Souter who retired at the end of the 2008 – 09 Court sessions. She is the 111th Justice appointed to the Bench, the first Latino (Latina) – Puerto Rican) and the third woman. Her educational record is outstanding. She graduated with an A.B., summa cum laude, from Princeton University in 1976 and received her J.D. from Yale Law School in 1979. She was editor of the Yale Law Journal during her time in New Haven.
Her work record is also exemplary. Justice Sotomayor served as assistant district attorney in New York and was later appointed a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Her educational experience is of the highest quality from two outstanding educational institutions, her prosecuting skills as a district attorney demonstrated her knowledge and commitment to the law, and her court rulings have all been well within the mainstream of U.S. jurisprudence.
So why would six Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee and thirty-one members of the full Senate vote against her confirmation? Is it really a difference over legal philosophy? Partisan politics? Visible acts of racism?
Justice Sotomayor has been challenged throughout the confirmation process on the basis of remarks she made when giving a speech where she said: “I would hope that a wise Latina with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.” Public servants do bring their life experiences to public service. They bring who they are to their work and public service is enriched by people of different backgrounds who have different life experiences. The Supreme Court is no exception.
Justice Sandra Day O’Conner has publicly recognized and thanked Justice Thurgood Marshal for sharing his experiences as a black man and how the law and law enforcement agents treated him and other people of color differently than whites. People of color all have stories of mistreatment by people in power and Justice O’Conner affirmed how she was influenced by Justice Marshall’s experiences. He never forgot who he was or where he came from and made judicial decisions consistent with the Constitution of the United States.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor will bring different experiences to the Court as a Latina but her legal training, prosecutorial experience and court service sets the context within which her decisions on the Supreme Court will be made. Why is her Latina experience an issue for calling into question her capacity for judging legally and fairly cases brought before the Court?
Justice Samuel Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts, the two justices nominated and confirmed under President Bush, were never asked questions about their ethnicity, about how their whiteness would effect their decision making. Yet their whiteness shapes their experiences and defines who they are as much as Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s “latinaness” defines her.
Whiteness is the norm of our society. Those of who are white don’t even recognize their privileges... It’s as if an invisible knapsack filled with all kinds of benefits not available to people of color is permanently attached to their backs. White privilege is pervasive and structural and is always hiding in plain sight. Its power is rarely acknowledged in political, economic and social discourse. Whiteness is hardly ever visible but Judge Sotomayor’s “latinaness” was and is acknowledged and made into an issue.
Whiteness is normal and normalcy is invisible. This is at the core of racism. People of color are treated differently because of ethnicity and are assign different levels of power within political, economic and social structures. Whiteness is a blind spot to those of us white. It is an anesthetic that anesthetizes whites to the disadvantages, mistreatment, and pain inflicted on people of color.
So what can the church learn from Justice Sotomayor confirmation experience?
As discrimination and racism is part of the history of the legal system in the United States, so it is with the church. It should be obvious to us that the “whiteness” of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is not accidental. As a church we have participated, throughout our history, in the discrimination and racism prevalent in the American social structures. We invite you to struggle with the Anti-Racism/Pro-Reconciliation Team as we work with “The Rs That Matter: Race and Reconciliation.”
How do we as the church deal with this whiteness that dominates invisibly our individual and congregational lives?
Let us hear from you.
TEAM MEMBERS
Dwight Bailey, chair, Karon Alexander, Brittany Barber, Darron Bowden, Gloria Carey-Branch, Minta Colburn, Ann Marie Coleman, Don Coleman, Ellen Culpepper, Carol Josefowski, Jennifer Kottler, Wookbin Moh, Leila Ward
Justice Sotomayor replaces Justice David Souter who retired at the end of the 2008 – 09 Court sessions. She is the 111th Justice appointed to the Bench, the first Latino (Latina) – Puerto Rican) and the third woman. Her educational record is outstanding. She graduated with an A.B., summa cum laude, from Princeton University in 1976 and received her J.D. from Yale Law School in 1979. She was editor of the Yale Law Journal during her time in New Haven.
Her work record is also exemplary. Justice Sotomayor served as assistant district attorney in New York and was later appointed a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Her educational experience is of the highest quality from two outstanding educational institutions, her prosecuting skills as a district attorney demonstrated her knowledge and commitment to the law, and her court rulings have all been well within the mainstream of U.S. jurisprudence.
So why would six Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee and thirty-one members of the full Senate vote against her confirmation? Is it really a difference over legal philosophy? Partisan politics? Visible acts of racism?
Justice Sotomayor has been challenged throughout the confirmation process on the basis of remarks she made when giving a speech where she said: “I would hope that a wise Latina with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.” Public servants do bring their life experiences to public service. They bring who they are to their work and public service is enriched by people of different backgrounds who have different life experiences. The Supreme Court is no exception.
Justice Sandra Day O’Conner has publicly recognized and thanked Justice Thurgood Marshal for sharing his experiences as a black man and how the law and law enforcement agents treated him and other people of color differently than whites. People of color all have stories of mistreatment by people in power and Justice O’Conner affirmed how she was influenced by Justice Marshall’s experiences. He never forgot who he was or where he came from and made judicial decisions consistent with the Constitution of the United States.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor will bring different experiences to the Court as a Latina but her legal training, prosecutorial experience and court service sets the context within which her decisions on the Supreme Court will be made. Why is her Latina experience an issue for calling into question her capacity for judging legally and fairly cases brought before the Court?
Justice Samuel Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts, the two justices nominated and confirmed under President Bush, were never asked questions about their ethnicity, about how their whiteness would effect their decision making. Yet their whiteness shapes their experiences and defines who they are as much as Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s “latinaness” defines her.
Whiteness is the norm of our society. Those of who are white don’t even recognize their privileges... It’s as if an invisible knapsack filled with all kinds of benefits not available to people of color is permanently attached to their backs. White privilege is pervasive and structural and is always hiding in plain sight. Its power is rarely acknowledged in political, economic and social discourse. Whiteness is hardly ever visible but Judge Sotomayor’s “latinaness” was and is acknowledged and made into an issue.
Whiteness is normal and normalcy is invisible. This is at the core of racism. People of color are treated differently because of ethnicity and are assign different levels of power within political, economic and social structures. Whiteness is a blind spot to those of us white. It is an anesthetic that anesthetizes whites to the disadvantages, mistreatment, and pain inflicted on people of color.
So what can the church learn from Justice Sotomayor confirmation experience?
As discrimination and racism is part of the history of the legal system in the United States, so it is with the church. It should be obvious to us that the “whiteness” of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is not accidental. As a church we have participated, throughout our history, in the discrimination and racism prevalent in the American social structures. We invite you to struggle with the Anti-Racism/Pro-Reconciliation Team as we work with “The Rs That Matter: Race and Reconciliation.”
How do we as the church deal with this whiteness that dominates invisibly our individual and congregational lives?
Let us hear from you.
TEAM MEMBERS
Dwight Bailey, chair, Karon Alexander, Brittany Barber, Darron Bowden, Gloria Carey-Branch, Minta Colburn, Ann Marie Coleman, Don Coleman, Ellen Culpepper, Carol Josefowski, Jennifer Kottler, Wookbin Moh, Leila Ward
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Defeating Racism: A Book Review
“I believe that if we are servants of the gospel of Jesus Christ, we have no choice.” This is Chris Hobgood’s concluding sentence in his recently published book Born Apart, Becoming One: Disciples Defeating Racism. His book is a strong affirmation that the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) will dismantle our institutional racism by 2030 and become a truly anti-racism pro-reconciliation denomination.
Chris is steeped in the life and mission of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). He is the right person writing at the right time. He is one of the core anti-racist pro-reconciliation trainers of our family of Disciple churches. He has served as General Minister and President of the Church, as a consultant with the Alban Institute, and is currently pastor of the Bethany Christian Church in
Chris writes with authority when he asserts that dismantling racism fits authentically into the core values of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Historically we have affirmed five core values that define the very covenantal character of who we are as Disciples:
- We believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and we accept him as our Lord and Savior. (Mt. 16:16)
- We believe the Lord’s Supper to be an open and inclusive call to radical hospitality. (I Cor. 11:28)
- We affirm the ministry of the priesthood of all believers: i.e., by our baptism we are all ministers.
- The love of unity, wherein we are called to lead in the healing of a broken church and a broken world, has always been a passion for those of us called Disciples of Christ. (John 17:21) Chris calls this value (a search for unity) the polar star of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
- A passionate commitment to creating a just and humane world is the kind of ethics that grows out of our love for God and God’s love for us and the whole world.
These qualities, these values, are the defining marks of who we are as a particular family of God. To these five historical values Chris adds a sixth. One that is consistent with these five but lifts up a current challenge God places before the church today:
- The intent to dismantle racism in the Christian Church (Disciple of Christ).
Born Apart, Becoming One: Disciples Defeating Racism is a document of challenge. It is not naïve about our past for it calls us to confession and repentance for our individual and institutional participation in the sin of racism. The book draws our attention to our history of going along with the dominant culture: whether it’s the treatment of native Americans as we as a frontier church moved westward, or our support of slavery, or our participation in lynching during the reconstruction period, or our continuing arrogance of believing that we (as whites) are inherently superior.
This sixth value of dismantling racism is inherent in our affirmation of the Lordship of Jesus the Christ, the radical hospitality of the Lord’s Table, the priesthood of all believers, our passion for unity and the radical commitment to justice.
The power of racism, he concludes, hurts people of color, bestows evil and arrogant domination to white folks, and, in the process, destroys all of us. So, in Chris’ own words: “I believe that if we are servants of the gospel of Jesus Christ, we have no choice” but to dismantle racism.
The Anti-Racism/Pro-Reconciliation Team of the Illinois and Wisconsin Region recommends to individuals and churches William Chris Hobgood’s Born Apart, Becoming One: Disciples Defeating Racism. There are practical suggestions for study and action in the last chapter for congregational use.
Chris will be at the General Assembly and there will be opportunities to visit with him about the book and about the denominations work on “Dismantling Racism.” Born Apart, Becoming One: Disciples Defeating Racism will be available at the General Assembly and can be ordered from Chalice Press.
Be aware that the Region’s Anti-Racism/Pro-Reconciliation Team eagerly seeks opportunities to dialogue with you around the themes of this book as we all seek ways for “defeating racism.” Talk about race with us.
Comment to: thersthatmatter.blogspot.com
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TEAM MEMBERS
Dwight Bailey, Chair
Karon Alexander, Brittany Barber, Darron Bowden
Gloria Carey-Branch, Minta Colburn, Ann Marie Coleman
Don Coleman, Ellen Culpepper, Carol Josefowski
Jennifer Kottler, Wookbin Moh, Leila Ward
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