As we continue to build up on our learning of the Church and racism, we will unpack some of the internalized and unconscious (or even subconscious) traits of racism as I share my experience.
For an immigrant woman like me, the Book of Ruth is an invaluable scriptural resource for me to reflect on the internalized racism that shapes identity as well as behavioral patterns of both the oppressed and the privileged in this binary relationship. Added to that are the complexities of our identity formation in terms of gender, race, class, culture and religious backgrounds.
The relationship between Ruth and Naomi doesn’t quite fit into a clear-cut binary. However, their different mixture of oppression and privileges nonetheless creates traits of internalized racism in their personal relationship. When Naomi and Ruth lost their husband, they also lost their financial security and safety. They were left to make a critical decision for their survival. We’ll see how Ruth’s socio-economic status as well as her cultural customs and traditions influence her decisions and how subversively she managed to live her life and became a part of God’s redemptive story.
This episode begins and addresses the church's complicity in racism over the history of America. We begin with the effort to colonize the land and the decisions that were made that helped establish racism as an institution in the developing country. We look in broad strokes at slavery in scripture and in the Roman Empire during the time of Jesus. We look in depth at two passages from the Apostle Paul: 1 Corinthians 7:20-24 and Philemon. Running through the class is the theme of baptism: what it means and who it makes us. Thank you for joining us!
