Rev. Dr. Liz Mosbo VerHage

Pastor. Professor. Consultant. Coach. Author. Wife & Mom.

Racism is Never Okay – get informed, share the word

being CHURCH, COMPASSION & JUSTICE, FAITH & POLITICS, RACE & PRIVILEGE

I recently received an advocacy letter from ColorofChange.org that challenged me to speak out on the problemmatic rise of racist behavior as part of the current election cycle. The following is a message that I sent out to friends of various racial backgrounds and political persusians to try to help encourage awareness, dialogue, education, and advocacy. I’ve included several links below as well, including the message from ColorofChange. If you have any questions/comments/or ideas to share about this, please feel free to share. Thanks.

Have you already seen this in the news? The following email details the rise in racist behavior and language occurring at McCain and Palin rallies over the last week or so. I think it’s very important to respond to this issue – not as a political tactic or a way to be pro-democrat (even though yes, I personally plan to vote that way in Nov.), but because no one should cross the line of encouraging or allowing racial slurs, violence or hate speech in the US in the name of politics (or anything else). It’s too dangerous to ignore.

To my knowledge, McCain has started stopping racially-charged comments at certain rallies recently, which I think is commendable. And I also don’t hold his campaign responsible for every individual racist citizen’s response (like the very scary Curious George monkey doll with an Obama sticker wrapped around his head held by an older white man who is laughing!!! – that is in the video in the link below, fyi.) But as we know, racism is systemic and affects everyone in both subtle and direct ways. This is a time that we can directly denounce the behavior – and we can try to let the McCain campaign know that citizens of every racial and political

https://tramadolhealth.com/side-effects/

background don’t think racism is ever ok and would support him in stopping comments/behavior like that on the campaign trail. I’d like to think that we can encourage both campaigns – and the American public – to be at their best and to hold each other accountable, even during the charged last few weeks of a national election.

So – speak out! You can learn the basics from this letter that ColorofChange.org sent out, and from several links provided on that page, and then send a pre-written email letter and/or write your own comments. I also think that spreading the word that this is happening and that you don’t agree with it to other family and friends, of all political persuasions and racial backgrounds, is probably just as needed and effective as sending in the letter. We need to share our convictions about issues like hate speech and racism, and all the while make sure to create space for people with varying political preferences – these two things can and should coexist together. We need to talk about issues of race and fear with each other in order to influence and learn from each other. While I know this might feel like its only a politically-charged concern – or if you’re a Republican it might feel like this is motivated only by a potential political gain – I truly think that as Christians we need to stay informed and talk about it so that we can take part in helping speak out about this apart from party politics, and instead out of our commitment to be advocates for justice and to defend the cause of the vulnerable. If you have any thoughts/questions/whatever about this, let me know – Thanks! – Liz

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