Beginning ~ with the N***** word

Preface

The night I decided to confront the middle school coach who called my son the N-word, my hands were stained with permanent marker from making signs for the Special Olympics.  While my son, the very one called a n***** by a White forty-something grown man, slept in the next bedroom, I obsessed over two things:  the exact dressing-down I'd give the coach and the fact that I would go into the meeting with dirty hands — which would be an enormous problem because I talk with my hands.

Dear White Peacemakers: Dismantling Racism with Grit and Grace ~ by Osheta Moore, 2021, racism

This book is a breakup letter to division, a love letter to God’s beloved community, and an eviction notice to the violent powers that have sustained racism for centuries.  Race is one of the hardest topics to discuss in America.  Many white Christians avoid talking about it altogether. But a commitment to peacemaking requires white people to step out of their comfort and privilege and into the work of anti-racism.  Dear White Peacemakers is an invitation to white Christians to come to the table and join this hard work and holy calling.

Rooted in the life, ministry, and teachings of Jesus, this book is a challenging call to transform white shame, fragility, saviorism, and privilege, in order to work together to build the Beloved Community as anti-racism peacemakers.  Written in the wake of George Floyd’s death, Dear White Peacemakers draws on the Sermon on the Mount, Spirituals, and personal stories from author Osheta Moore’s work as a pastor in St. Paul, Minnesota.  Enter into this story of shalom, and join in the urgent work of anti-racism peacemaking.

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