US Conference of Catholic Bishops Pastoral Letters/ Documents

All of these documents and more resources are available on the web or at the USCCB website: www.usccb.org

  • Racism: Confronting the Poison in Our Common Home, USCCB: Dept. of Justice, Peace and Human Development, January 2016
  • The Racial Divide in the United State: A Reflection for the World Day of Peace 2015, A Pastoral Letter, Most Reverend Edward K. Braxton, Ph.D., S.T.D., Bishop of Belleville, IL, January 1, 2015
  • Statement of Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz, of Louisville, KY, President of the USCCB to the Spring General Assembly, June 10, 2015
  • 25th Anniversary: U.S. Bishops’ Pastoral Letter on Racism, October, 2004
  • In God’s Image: Pastoral Letter on Racism, Most Reverend Harry J. Flynn, Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, MN, September 12, 2003
  • Created in God’s Image: A Pastoral Letter on the Sin of Racism and a Call to Conversion, Most Rev. Dale J. Melczek, Bishop of the Diocese of Gary, IN, Aug. 6, 2003
  • Dwell in My Love: A Pastoral Letter on Racism, Francis Cardinal George, OMI, Archbishop of Chicago, IL, April 4, 2001 (33rd anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.)
  • On Racial Harmony, A statement approved by the Administrative Board, National Catholic Welfare Conference, Aug. 23, 1963
  • Brothers and Sisters to US, US Catholic Bishops Pastoral Letter on Racism, 1979
  • The Ghost of the Legacy of Racial Inequity Continues to Haunt Us, Bishop Michael Pfeifer, OMJ
  • Diversity and Racial Justice Resources, www.wearesaltandlight.org 
  • Resources on Racism for Youth Ministry Leaders, http://www.nfcym.org/racism.htm

Books

  • Racial Justice and the Catholic Church, Bryan Massingale, S.T.D. (a must read!)
  • America’s Original Sin, Jim Wallis
  • Dear White Christians: For Those Still Longing for Racial Reconciliation, Jennifer Harvey
  • Everyday White People Confront Racial and Social Justice: 15 Stories, Eddie Moore, Jr, Ali Michael, Marguerite W. Penick-Parks, Editors
  • Understanding & Dismantling Racism, Joseph Barndt
  • The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander
  • Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson
  • Between The World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates
  • Nobody, Marc Lamont Hill
  • Why Race Matters, Cornel West 
  • The Cross and The Lynching Tree, James H. Cone                                            
  • White Like Me, Tim Wise
  • Waking Up White, Debbie Irvin
  • Witnessing Whiteness, Shelly Tochluk
  • Race is a Nice Thing to Have, Janet Helms
  • Lies My Teacher Told Me, James Loewen
  • People’s History of the US, Howard Zinn
  • Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work for Racial Justice, Paul Kivel

Movies

  • 13th XII
  • Loving
  • 12 Years a Slave
  • The Help
  • Selma
  • Birth of a Nation

Articles

  • Still Separate, Still Unequal: White Catholics and the Perduring Sin of Racism, America Magazine, Aug. 29-Sept. 6, 2016
  • Breaking Silence on Racism, America Magazine, Nov. 30, 2015
  • Editorial: New Dialogue on the Old Problem of Racism, National Catholic Reporter, March 24, 2016
  • As Church Demographics Shift, Catholics Urged to Address the “Sin of Racism.” National Catholic Reporter, Nov. 10, 2015
  • Blind Spots: Reckoning with Racism, Commonweal Magazine, Oct. 5, 2016
  • Racism: Will We Ever Overcome?, U.S. Catholic Magazine, July 13, 2016
  • Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack  (A classic in literature about race,) Peggy McIntosh, Ph.D. nationalseedproject.org/white-privilege-unpacking-the-invisible-knapsack
  • Race/Related: New York Times – weekly email newsletter, NYTimes.com/race-related
  • When Whites Just Don’t Get It: Parts 1 -7, Nicholas Kristof, New York Times, Sunday Review, 8/30/14; 9/6.14; 10/11/14; 11/15/14; 11/29/14; 4/2/16; 10/1/16
  • Is Everyone a Little Bit Racist?, Nicholas Kristof, New York Times Opinion Pages, Aug. 27, 2014
  • Why Talk About Whiteness: We Can’t talk About Racism Without It, Emily Chiariello
  • Teaching Tolerance: www.tolerance.org/whiteness, Summer 2016
  • Confronting White Privilege, Katy Walwell, Teaching Tolerance, Fall 2012
  • Can We? A Brief History of American Racism, Melissa Harris-Perry, The Nation, Sept. 1, 2009
  • Black as We Wanna Be, Matthew McKnight, The Nation, Sept. 15, 2016
  • Embrace Race: Raising Kids in a World Where Race Matters, www.embracerace.org

Speeches

  • YouTube: What I Didn’t Tell My White Friends Jim Crow Explained – Keith Hughes
  • Ted Talks:  Talks to Help You Understand Racism in America (nine talks)
  • Ideas.Ted.Com: My Hopes, Dreams, Fears for My Future Son, Clint Smith, May 1, 2015
  • The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander speaking at Union Theological Seminary, www.utsnyc.edu
  • Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia at Ferris State University, www.ferris.edu/jimcrow