A new narrative on race..

Racial justice and the Common Good

There are many different ideas on how racial justice and structural change will be achieved. Not all of them can be regarded as ‘Common Good’.

The ‘white fragility’ approach is heavily promoted by the big corporates, and even by some among the churches. However many leading Black thinkers reject this race-reductionist approach, on the basis that it will fail to deliver, that it will drive further division and worse, that it is in itself a new form of racism. Meanwhile, those engaging in iconoclasm and performative gesture politics may be inadvertently maintaining the power dynamics that exploit and divide.

A Common Good approach requires a cross-racial, cross-class solidarity to resist the forces that dehumanise. It will involve constructive steps to address structural injustice, but above all it is about treating each other with grace and love. The only way to achieve true justice is through the obligations of love which are inseparable from relationships and from God, the source of love.

Watch the British conversation in the video below, or for an American perspective, watch the video discussion at the bottom of the page.

To go deeper, explore the links here:

Anti-racism training

Much of anti-racist training unfortunately draws on Critical Race Theory. Many people influenced by this approach are unaware of the underlying doctrine as it is rarely stated explicitly. It is a worldview at odds with Christianity but many organisations and even churches have been seduced by CRT’s divisive ‘white fragility’ narrative. However, there are alternatives, and we share some here.

Theory of Enchantment is a training business led by Chloe Valdery serving organisations and workplace environments, centering around a compassionate antiracism framework combining social emotional learning, character development and interpersonal growth as tools for leadership development. Watch a video of her interviewed here.

The Equiano Project, led by Inaya Folarin Iman approaches racial justice issues from an evidence-led, non-ideological approach to enable organisations to respond confidently and think deeply and critically about the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion agenda. They provide talks, workshops and discussion events for schools, universities, organisations and institutions to explore and promote universalist ideas on issues of race, identity, culture, politics and society. Their resources include an Introduction to Diversity and Inclusion package (52 pages) free to download here.

Counterweight, led by Helen Pluckrose, is the home of scholarship and advice on Critical Social Justice ideology. You may have misgivings about unconscious bias or anti-racism training, or wonder why they made you feel uncomfortable. Counterweight helps people break down the impact of the ideology in the workplace and offers alternative methods of diversity and inclusion training that are not divisive but which promote love and compassion. Explore their video guides here.

The Gratitude Initiative led by Girma Bishaw, promotes a ‘gratitude culture’ in Britain, where gratitude is seen as a vehicle towards both a fulfilled self and a harmonious society. It aims to change the culture one conversation a time, in one community after another, by resourcing and gathering communities to talk about and practise gratitude.

Approaches to racial justice

It is vital to recognise the spectrum of opinion among Black and Minority Ethnic communities and Christians. The Black theological tradition itself is rich and diverse: the loudest voices do not represent the entirety of it, and similarly, the most ubiquitous theologians do not represent the majority of Black church leaders. When it comes to approaches to racial justice this is no less true. Here we intentionally share material that promotes common good racial justice and which rejects race-reductionist ideologies.

Shelby Steele White Guilt: How Blacks & Whites Together Destroyed the Promise of the Civil Rights Era

Remi Adekoya Biracial Britain: A Different Way of Looking at Race

The Sewell Commission full report via this link