“Racism is an American problem, not a southern issue.”

The title of this post is a quote from Boo Tyson, who spoke this morning at staff chapel. Boo Tyson is the sister to Timothy Tyson, author of Blood Done Sign My Name - a personal story about race relations in North Carolina in 1970. Some quotes from the message by Boo Tyson:

• What seemed to be the world gone mad (experiencing racial tension when she was young), was actually the world the way that it is.
• Racism is an American problem, not a southern issue.
• White supremacy has shaped us more than we would like to admit.
• From her grandfather - “If God were small enough for me to figure out, then God would not be big enough for me to worship.”
• Good news is not enough, it takes work and sacrifice to make things happen.

These are just a few points of the message that spoke to me. I am aware that within the congregation which I serve and the friends  with whom I am most often in contact there is little racial diversity. This is something that I self-consciously share. Boo called the staff to be intentional about experiencing, learning about, learning from and actively valuing other cultures. This is something to which I feel called in ministry and in my personal life. I will need to be active in seeking ways to live my faith in this area.