It’s time — way overdue, in fact — for The United Methodist Church to make progress on racial issues that surpasses the bromides of the past, said Black leaders of the denomination.
Difficult, complicated racial justice issues were raised in 2020 by Black Lives Matters protests and the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol building in Washington, as well as the police killings of African Americans including George Floyd in Minneapolis, Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, and Daniel Prude in Rochester, New York.
The “Dismantling Racism: Pressing on to Freedom” campaign, announced in June, is a churchwide initiative to dismantle racism and work toward racial justice.
Efforts have included a day of prayer and worship, national advertising campaign, regional and local worship events, town hall meetings, podcasts, webcasts and a website where viewers can find resources to help them learn more and take action.
Much of that amounts to talking about the issue, but it’s hoped by those involved that it is a beginning, not an end unto itself.