by Patrice THOMAS Conwell
Christians we have the example of Jesus Christ for combatting racist views and prejudicial biases. He showed us that relationships are key to fostering Christian love. And love is key to erasing biases. Below are practical ways that individuals can start the process of developing relationships with those outside of our cultural, denominational and ethnic circles:
Acknowledge
- Take a bias assessment to learn what your personal implicit biases are.
- Journal reflective questions and answers about why you hold the biases that you have.
- Describe examples that challenge the stereotypes and biases that you discovered within yourself.
- Identify racial inequities and disparities in all of your circles of engagement.
Connect
- You and your family stop by one or two houses on your block each week and introduce yourselves to your neighbors. Take a little gift to leave with them.
- Arrange a block party with music, games and food, and invite your neighbors to come out and mingle together.
- Once a month, visit a church with a predominately different culture/ethnic membership than your own.
- Introduce yourself to the children in your child’s school classes, and their parents.
Engage
- Start a monthly social group (book club/Bible study/cooking/crafting/woodworking/ landscaping/sports) for the women/men neighbors on your block.
- Start/join a neighborhood watch group for your area.
- Create an anti-racist team of parents with diverse backgrounds as a watchdog group in your children’s schools and in your churches, to flag racist policies, behavior, and conversation, and negotiate anti-racist solutions.
- Invite your neighbors/members from other churches/school classmates & parents to participate in monthly community service activities together.
- Create a cookbook with recipes from your block neighbors or parents from your children’s school.
- Learn about special/holy holidays of your neighbors and do something that reflects your understanding of the day/week/month.
- Hold monthly block birthday parties to celebrate neighbors’ birthdays.
- You and your family attend local diversity group celebrations.
- Join one or two local activist groups for ethnicities other than your own.
Nurture
- Share an act of kindness/encouragement with at least two people outside of your family circle each week.
- Create a mentorship program between adults and youth of different races in neighborhoods/churches/schools.
- Develop a buddy system between children in your child’s class(es) to counter/alleviate bullying
Patrice Thomas Conwell works as a freelance writer, editor, and teacher through her company, PeeTee Communications LLC (www.ptcommunications.biz). She resides in Huntsville, Alabama with her family.
Some ideas generated from Standford University’s “Anti-Racism Toolkit” at www.cardinalatwork.stanford.edu/manager-toolkit/engage
Other anti-racism toolkit resources:
https://vcsa.ucsd.edu/_files/about/Anti%20Racist%20Toolkit.pdf
https://chicagobeyond.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Toolkit_-Becoming-Anti-Racist-CB.pdf