Understanding “white fragility” helps laity and clergy be more effective in working to combat racism and white supremacy.
Community transformation as well as individual discipleship require naming, understanding and combating racial injustice. One of the tools the CMO is using to help us live into this need is the work of Dr. Robin DiAngelo in White Fragility: Why it's So Hard for White People to Talk About Race.
In 2019 and 2020, the CMO facilitated discussion groups with North Texas clergy and lay leaders, as well as conversations at local churches, using this resource. It is our hope that this resource will help white clergy and laity become better equipped to understand their own reactions and those of other white people to discussions of race. And with this knowledge, these leaders will increase their capacity, and that of the North Texas Conference, to engage in more constructive conversation with people of color and to take action toward building racial justice.
For more information about White Fragility discussion groups or local church conversations, go here or email Rev. Jessica Wright. A free discussion guide from DiAngelo can be found here.