These are the slides that I used during my presentation with the Pacific School of Religion's orientation time about race. Focused on microaggressions, this is an entry point to have conversations about race that I believe are essential to experiencing the beauty and complexity of race today. (September, 2015, Berkeley, CA)
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road map
● Introductions and Assumptions
● Naming racism
● Postures of Ministry
● Awkward Conversations
● Microagressions and Privilege
● The Monster at the End of the Book
slideshare.net/breyeschow
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assumptions: we all have them
Important, not only to
acknowledge social location,
but to name assumptions with
which one operates.
These are mine on race and the
work of the church.
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assumption 1: beyond the conversation
The church must not only be a
safe place to talk about race, it
must also be a place where the
complex beauty of the created
is yearned for and made real.
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assumption 2: the multicultural destination
Multiculturalism will always
and only be window dressing
unless the culture is
intentionally, excruciatingly,
and consistently diverse.
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assumption 3: aspirational and evident
Race work is aspirational,
big picture, and systematic
as well as concrete,
specific, and personal.
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your story
● My name is: Bruce
● My preferred pronouns are: he/him/his
● My home is: San Francisco by way of Stockton
● I identify racially as: Filipino/Chinese
● For fun I: Watch NCIS
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I love being an [x]!
● What do you love about being [x]?
● Common misconceptions about [x]?
● What frustrates you about [x]?
● Why do you need [x] to be part of the group?
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As with most difficult conversations, our initial
reaction is to find ways not to have them well.
la, la, la, i can’t hear you
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One person's being
“politically correct” is
another person's
remembering that “words
have power and can impact
others more than you
know.”
we dismiss
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We romanticize youth
culture in a way that
leads to abdicating
our role in raising up
the next generation or
justice seekers.
we romanticize
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We are patronizing and
condescending towards
newly realized justice seekers
-- often in order to hold onto
power and status.
we patronize
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We fetishize and observe as
spectacle instances of
racism allowing us to
distance ourselves from the
realities of race.
we festishize
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In an effort to show solidarity
we shift focus away from
those impacted and re-center
the focus on us.
we de-center
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“It is appalling that the most
segregated hour of Christian
America is eleven o'clock on
Sunday morning.”
we derail
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awkward conversations
Privilege allows us choose to avoid having
conversations about race.
Awkward conversations about race only
get less awkward by having them.
We miss out on the possibilities that may
be on the other side of the tensions.
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microagressions
“Racial microaggressions are brief and commonplace
daily verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities,
whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate
hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults
towards people of color.”
- Racial Microaggressions in Everyday Life
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“Do you know martial arts?”
“If they can say it . . .”
“But you never show up.”
“Out comes the race card.”
“We need at least one.”
“You’re not a good Asian.”
more . . .
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who are you?
● How do microagressions and privilege
contribute to the creation and reinforcement
of institutional racism?
● How might you inspire, increase, or improve
conversations about race in your life?
● What will hold you back? What compels you?