My young friend, Valerie Echeveste, recently sent a letter to the Catholic preparatory school that she attended, prodding the school to make a commitment to racial justice. Her suggestions for school leaders included openly condemning the murders of Black men, adding anti-racism curriculum, developing trainings in implicit bias and White supremacy, and inviting speakers on subjects such as Black Lives Matter and White privilege.

I was struck by a comment in Val’s letter that was taken from the 1979 conference of Catholic Bishops: “Conversion is the ever-present task of each Christian.” Wait. Remember the history lessons we had in school about Christian conversions? Indigenous children separated from their families, African tribal societies squashed, the wars and colonialism that occurred in the name of spreading Christianity? Conversion stories are horrifying.

Val and others of her generation are suggesting that conversion has a different and more powerful meaning in today’s society: conversion of people with racist beliefs into anti-racists, conversion of White supremacy into equality, conversion of silence into vigorous opposition, conversion of non-voters into voters. Conversion remains the task of this generation of church people.

On Fred Walls May 30, 2020, Facebook video, “How White people can help,” he talked about the many times White people have asked him, as a black man, what they should do to work against this racist society. He has come to the conclusion that the best thing an anti-racist white person can do is to convert a White person with racist views into an anti-racist.

George Floyd’s murder converted thousands of White people into believers in the cause of Black Lives Matter. His callous death left many of us White folk – who read the books on racism and White supremacy, who donate money and attend vigils, who make the posters and go to protests – realize that decades of taking our outrage to the streets in these ways has not taught us about ourselves, and the many ways we foster racism.

A few days ago, I received an email from the CEO of a quarterly publication.  Image, a literary magazine with a Christian orientation, sent this confession to subscribers:

Sorrow and anger in the wake of George Floyd’s murder have occasioned a national reckoning with systemic racism and the injustices inflicted upon Black Americans. At Image, we are reflecting on the role that a small arts nonprofit can have in perpetuating systemic racial injustice. It should not have taken another murder for us to make our own reckoning with racism a priority. We were offered chances to start this process much sooner, and we missed them (6/14/2020).

The executives of the publication then listed several actions they will take during this coming year to address racism in their own ranks, including attracting people of color to their board, increasing representation of black artists and writers, and dedicating scholarships to black students.

Public acknowledgement of what has become a collective intent to get to work on racism in this country has blossomed since the murder of George Floyd. Corporations are speaking out against racism in new TV ads. School systems everywhere are scrambling to fill classrooms and libraries with books about people of color and by people of color, to alter the curriculum to include all of our history as a country, to train staff in White fragility and the pathology of racism.

Every day last week, our local paper ran a full-page ad from one of our banks. The president of the bank wanted the community to know that George Floyd’s murder has had an effect on his organization. They intend to continue training staff on racism, and recognize that that is not enough. The bank, he said, needs to take a more active role in addressing racism in our community, and in helping the community to sustain its commitment to dismantle systemic racism.  The president ended with this comment:

I believe that racism has no place in our community. This is not a political statement. It is a moral position. Working to end racism in our country and our culture is our moral duty.

We need to hear from churches, along with schools and corporations and the arts community. Churches typically have an important role in leading society through awful times. Churches need to be talking about the challenges of dismantling racism within their own organizations. Unless the eye of the church is turned inward, on the church as an institution, talk from church leaders will focus on the outward symptoms of racism, rather than the racism within its own structure.

For example, many talented black women have risen to positions of prominence in Protestant church communities. But are they the voice of the church? In most cases, when Black women preachers rise to leadership positions in the church, they become the spokesperson for anti-racism, but they are not chief leaders who shape action plans for the church as a whole.

Rev. Kaji Douša. Courtesy photo

Black women are the mothers, daughters, wives, and sisters of the victims of racism. They need to be the ones leading our seminaries, theological programs, and churches to a place where church members are actively working on their own racism, a place where the church is vociferous and fierce in its condemnation of racism and all societal forces that have pushed people to the margins within its own ranks, a place where the voice of moral integrity is coming from people of color.

How do we White people respectfully engage in conversation across the great moral divide of racism? We need tools and training for that challenge. We need concrete examples. We need practice in a safe environment. Our families, our neighborhoods, our churches, our jobs, our schools: these are safe communities for practicing how to convert people with racist beliefs.

Our job extends to converting individuals with divisive views into people who act in solidarity with the marginalized. Converting armed police forces into skilled peacekeepers. Converting ignorance of our history as a nation – all of it, with its genocides and slavery and mass incarcerations – into a comprehensive understanding of how this country has behaved towards people of color for the past 400 years.

The message of George Floyd’s murder is that conversion is the ever-present task of an anti-racist. Our first act is to assess where we are on the continuum of anti-racism. Then we can take steps to move ourselves closer to the goal of being anti-racist.

When we have an opportunity to convert a person with racist views, remember that the anti-racist continuum is a long journey. Our work is to help someone else to take a step or two in the right direction. The articles on this web site can be helpful. We can pick one to share with someone who has racist ideas, and use that as a way to begin a discussion.