A Conversation About Race

02/23/22 • 54 min

The year 2020 was a year when Americans talked about race. But many would question whether we've gotten better at talking about race, or if we're worse at it than ever. So much is said that is hurtful, yet not saying something may be perceived as saying something.

On this episode of Let's Talk, Jackie Hill Perry, Jasmine Holmes, and Melissa Kruger give practical advice from their own experience for how to talk constructively about race. They discuss why critical race theory has become so controversial, and they talk about books that have helped them understand the history or race relations in America.

Above all, they conclude that it's not what you say or don't say that determines whether you can have a productive conversation about race; it's whether you come into a discussion with compassion and humility.

Recommended Reading:

The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
The Underground Railroad [TGC's Review] by Colson Whitehead
The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict
Caste by Isabel Wilkerson
Just Mercy by Brian Stevenson
Carved in Ebony by Jasmine Holmes

Related Resources:

Recommended Reading:

The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
The Underground Railroad [TGC's Review] by Colson Whitehead
The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict
Caste by Isabel Wilkerson
Just Mercy by Brian Stevenson
Carved in Ebony by Jasmine Holmes

Related Resources:

Previous Episode

How to Spot and Let Go of Shame

Shame is not a subject that has historically been talked about much in Western culture, but that doesn't mean it's not a big part of how we function as a society. In recent years, books that explain shame—and help women shake it off—have topped the best seller lists.

On this episode of Let's Talk, Jackie, Jasmine, and Melissa discuss how the Bible views shame. The concept is present in the Scripture from the time sin entered the world. Jasmine explains, "Adam and Eve, they felt shame about the wrong thing. They weren't like, 'We disobeyed God. That's what the problem is.' They were like, 'Oh my gosh, we're naked. We need to hide. We need some clothes.' And God's like, 'Law broken, but you're naked. Okay, that's what you're worried about right now?'"

Listen in as our hosts talk about how we should identify shame and when and how we should let go of it.

Related Resources

Next Episode

Identifying False Teaching

Sometimes it's easy to spot false teaching, but not all false teachers are so recognizable. The false teachers to whom we are most susceptible may be the hardest to recognize. "There are people [around you] who are going unaware, unnoticed," says Jackie Hill Perry, "that are teaching things that are not in line with the faith, but you don't see it. Why? Because they look like you."

On this episode of Let's Talk, Jackie Hill Perry, Jasmine Holmes, and Melissa Kruger talk about how to identify false teachers as well as the difference between false teaching and mere differences of interpretation. They also talk about how to have a conversation with a friend who follows someone you're concerned may be a false teacher.

Related Reading: