Racial justice programming in many mainline churches focuses on privilege, power
Last year when the death of Freddie Gray and resulting unrest in Baltimore filled the news, Kathy Dwyer felt she had to do something.
“Every time I turned on the TV, I just felt like I was getting punched in the gut,” said the white pastor of a predominantly white United Church of Christ congregation in Arlington, Virginia.
In the wake of the continuing deaths of African Americans at the hands of police officers, some white church leaders say they can no longer check off their racial justice to-do list by hosting a Black History Month event. Instead, they are holding workshops that address issues such as the disparate treatment white people and people of color receive.
