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“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of Mine, you did for Me.’” Jesus in Matthew 25:40

Privilege is when you think something is not a problem because it isn’t a problem for you.

It’s been 401 years since the first kidnapped humans were brought to these shores. 401 years of slavery and ongoing oppression for our Black brothers and sisters who were legally relegated to the very bottom rungs of our society for centuries. Despite a constant, heroic, and sacrificial struggle, the equality of Black Americans’ humanity, inherent dignity, and worth have never been fully accepted by the white majority. It’s only been 56 years since legal segregation was outlawed by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968.

Our Native American brothers and sisters, since the arrival of Europeans on our shores, have waged a heroic battle to simply survive through legal genocide, enslavement, the seizure of their lands and rights and children, the breaking of treaty upon treaty up to the present day, and their relegation to desperately poor reservations. Native Americans living on tribal lands today do not have access to the same services and programs available to other Americans, even though the government has a binding trust obligation to provide them. This is because, despite a constant sacrificial struggle, the equality of Native Americans’ humanity, inherent dignity, and worth have never been fully accepted by the white majority.

We could speak of the historic and ongoing mistreatment of our Latinx American and Asian American brethren as well because racism is written into the DNA of our nation: built into our systems of education, housing, healthcare, prisons, courts, religious institutions, arts, laws, employment, banking, and more – we are infected. So when talking about healing or fixing the effects of racism in our nation, the reality is that our foundation is not broken, it was made this way. What is required is a new foundation of justice, equality, and equity for all people.

We here at Lighthouse Fellowship UMC are determined to believe and love until the world knows Jesus, We recognize and repent of our own personal and historic racial biases, stand with Jesus and our diverse community in communion, and join together with all those working to create a more just and equitable society based on God’s love for all people.

Here is are some resources that inform:

Connect: End Racism UMC Resources