Dismantling Racism

The United Methodist Church proclaims the value of each person as a unique child of God and commits itself to the healing and wholeness of all persons. 

The United Methodist Church recognizes that the sin of racism has been destructive to its unity throughout its history. Racism continues to cause painful division and marginalization. 

The United Methodist Church shall confront and seek to eliminate racism, whether in organizations or in individuals, in every facet of its life and in society at large. 

The United Methodist Church shall work collaboratively with others to address concerns that threaten the cause of racial justice at all times and in all places. 

from The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church 2016, paragraph 5

End Racism Resources

  1. United Methodists Stand Against Racism.

    We recognize racism as a sin.
    We commit to challenging unjust systems of power and access.
    We will work for equal and equitable opportunities in employment and promotion, education and training; in voting, access to public accommodations, and housing; to credit, loans, venture capital, and insurance; to positions of leadership and power in all elements of our life together; and to full participation in the Church and society.

  2. "Expanding the Table" podcast series from the General Commission on Religion and Race starting June 1, 2021.

  3. Dismantling Racism: Wednesday Lent Devotionals by our Bishops. The Council of Bishops invites the people of The United Methodist Church to a season of introspection and self-examination. Together this Lent (2021), we will confess and fast from the sin of racism, discrimination, oppression and exclusion and feast on the beauty and blessing of the diversity of God’s Church.

  4. Louisiana Conference of the UMC's "End Racism" curriculum was developed to merge faith with social action and innovation. Three modules:

    1. Whiteness 101 -- Resources + Questions
    2. White Fragility, White Supremacy -- Resources + Questions
    3. Blackness 101 -- Resources + Questions

  5. California-Nevada Conference Laity Resources on Ending Racism

  6. "Where Love Lives: Creating a Fully Inclusive United Methodist Church" is a 12-month long campaign happening throughout the Conferences of the Western Jurisdiction (WJ), designed to lift up the faith values that have undergirded the jurisdiction’s long-term commitment to a scripturally based fully inclusive ministry. The February 10th webinar produced by the California-Nevada Conference was "Our Wesley Roots and Discussions On Race".

  7. "Front Porch" Conversations video series was created by the West Virginia Conference out of a desire to invite individuals and congregations into a conversation that would raise our individual and collective awareness regarding racism and challenge us to the work we need to do within our own beings and in our communities to eliminate racism. West Virginia Bishops S. Clifton Ives, William Boyd Grove, Ernest Lyght, and Sandra Steiner Ball created the series, as well as Rev. Dr. Ken Ramsey, who helped the bishops pull this project together. Links to the individual videos and study session questions: Video 1 -- session 1 questions; Video 2 -- session 2 questions; Video 3 -- session 3 questions.

  8. Racial Equity Tools Glossary on the Racial Equity Tools website.
    Racial equity = the condition that would be achieved if one's racial identity no longer predicted, in a statistical sense, how one fares. When we use the term, we are thinking about racial equity as one part of racial justice, and thus we also include work to address root causes of inequities not just their manifestation. This includes elimination of policies, practices, attitudes and cultural messages that reinforce differential outcomes by race or fail to eliminate them.

  9. USC Race and Equity Center . Many California community colleges are using them as a resource. See their "Laying the Groundwork" for the first phase of discovery which includes a glossary of key concepts.

  10. Implicit Association Test (IAT) from Harvard University's Project Implicit that is for those interested in learning about or studying implicit social cognition - thoughts and feelings outside of conscious awareness and control. The goal of the organization is to educate the public about hidden biases. You can take the IAT as either a registered person or as a guest (no login). First step in overcoming biases is to get out of denial about ourselves. As Verna Myers noted in her TEDx talk, we don't need "good people" in this work, we need "real people".
Wesley United Methodist Church -- Bakersfield, CA