Raise your hand if you saw a black person on campus today.

My peers and I exchanged apprehensive looks with each other as our professor opened his first lecture, on the first day of the semester, with this command. The course, “Anthropology of Race and Science,” filled a seminar room, twenty-five of us sitting around a large table, eyes focused on the faux wood table in front of us as we avoided eye contact with each other and with him. He asked again and hands were tentatively raised, faces lined with discomfort and apprehension.

Alright, now let’s talk about why that was so difficult.

From here, the tone of our semester was set and I spent fifteen weeks facing uncomfortable truths and challenges to my conceptions about the world around me.

In the anthropological world, race is no longer talked about as a biological difference among people as it once was in previous days of academia. Rather, it is discussed as what it is: a socially constructed category that holds value not because of some innate difference between peoples, but rather because we, as a society, have given value to it. Labeling something as a social construct does not mean that it lacks value or should flippantly be dismissed. I’ve seen this happen all too often on Facebook within the comments that people write on posts (I strongly recommend everyone stay away from reading these—it never ends well).

People often comment how “Well that (whether its race, gender, sexuality, etc.) is just a social construct” as if in some way, this dismisses the legitimacy of what social constructions do within society.

Yes, race is a social construct. And yes, race is very uncomfortable to talk about.

And yes, this is exactly why it is something we must talk about and why we must do something about it. Race is a social construct and it has been socially constructed in ways that create inequalities in our society. These inequalities are maintained through unequal access to healthcare or affordable housing. They are created by wage gaps and the criminal justice system. And they are enforced through the advantages that one group has over another.

I think most of us have no problem seeing the racism of the past century. But I also think most of us have a really hard time seeing the racism of today—the racism that allows these inequalities to persist.

When I was in Anthropology of Race and Science, I found myself confronted with these issues. And to be honest, I didn’t really want to talk about it. It was uncomfortable and difficult and I often left class feeling angry or hopeless. But it also helped me to see how racism effects people of color today. Our classroom was split about evenly: fifty percent were people of color and fifty percent were white. Our understanding of race in America today came from the first-hand experiences of our peers.

Racism isn’t over. It didn’t stop with the end of slavery or with the civil rights act or when we elected Barack Obama. Racism in America is still a very present thing. My place is not to speak for people of color as to how racism affects them. My role is to lift up and affirm their voices.

However, that doesn’t mean that I can’t, or that I don’t have to, say something. Whatever my place in society, I am a part of it. And therefore, I participate in the systems that create it. So, what I can say is this:

I am privileged. I am privileged because of my socio-economic class. I am privileged because of my gender. And I am privileged because I am white.

It’s a challenging thing to be confronted with such a proposition.

I am white and therefore, because of my whiteness, I have had opportunities and experiences that others do not. White privilege doesn’t claim that white people don’t work hard or that we are simply handed things left and right. It doesn’t claim that generations before us didn’t work hard, sacrifice, and skimp and save to allow us to be at the position that some of us are in.

What it does claim is that these barriers to success—the ones that our parents and their parents and so on had to work through to get to where they are—these barriers are not as high as they are for those that aren’t white.

Acknowledging my white privilege, took work. It didn’t happen overnight or with a sudden epiphany. It was a slow and continual process. Personally, I think one of the most important things we, as white people, must do is listen to the voices of people of color. We must seek out ways to affirm those that are often spoken over and find ways to use our privilege to do so. My white privilege gives me a unique opportunity because it means that once I’ve done the hard work that life requires, I’m not confronted with yet another barrier that I must overcome simply because of the color of my skin. As much as I’d like to say that I have completely confronted everything that comes with privilege, I haven’t. It’s a process I’m still working through and it’s one I think we all must work actively through.

My white privilege isn’t something I asked for or something bad that I’ve done. And it isn’t something that I can be judged for having. I know that as Christians, our hearts bleed for the inequalities of this world. We ache to heal and to reconcile; to give and to love. Our faith calls us to love like Jesus. To live our lives in a way that makes sure that people know we are Christian because the way that we love our neighbors is so radically offensive people don’t know what to do with us. And I think a good place to start is with my privilege. I believe that my privilege means that I must use it to do what I can to live in a way that affirms the love that Jesus showed. It means that I must use my voice to create room for people that aren’t often given a voice. And it means that I must continue to work through these issues.

I’m privileged because I’m white and I want to do something with that.

Kevin Tracey recently started the ELCA candidacy process. In the fall, he will begin working towards his Master of Divinity at United Lutheran Seminary in Philadelphia. In April, Kevin graduated with honors from the University of Pittsburgh with a dual degree in Anthropology and Philosophy. He spends most of his time at the bookstore, hiking and kayaking with his family.

Ecumenical Advocacy Days is a movement of the ecumenical Christian community, and its recognized partners and allies, grounded in biblical witness and our shared traditions of justice, peace and the integrity of creation. Our goal, through worship, theological reflection and opportunities for learning and witness, is to strengthen our Christian voice and to mobilize for advocacy on a wide variety of U.S. domestic and international policy issues.

Ecumenical Advocacy Days (EAD) 2017 was an enlightening, refreshing and healing event for people of all walks of faith nationally and internationally. The theme: Confronting Chaos and Forging Community was an important theme especially for the times we are in today. It was a great opportunity to hear speakers speak and be a part of workshops that discussed Racism, Capitalism, Materialism and Militarism which could be considered the big four that work in cooperation with each other. These big four are reasons for chaos, divided community, lack of resources and broken faith within and outside our nation. We are in times of coming together to grow and speak truths to power. We have to realize what is at stake and make efforts for changing the world that we see it best for all of humanity and not just a few. After three days of intensive learning of national and international issues around the big four we lobbied. We went to our representatives and senators to compel them of funding our communities and nation that will better the condition for housing, education, poverty, immigrants, veterans, criminal system, etc., especially for black and brown bodies who are particularly in the worst conditions. I highly recommend EAD for all faiths to be the change we want to see and to continue to fulfill God’s will on Earth as it is in Heaven. #ead2017

To learn more about advocacy for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, visit http://www.elca.org/advocacy.

To learn more about Ecumenical Advocacy Days visit https://advocacydays.org/.

Kendrick Hall in Washington, D.C. visiting Representative Keith Ellison of Minnesota.

Kendrick Hall is a first year Seminary student  at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN.  He is pursuing a Masters of Divinity and will be ordained at Redeemer Lutheran Church in the Minneapolis Synod. He currently is a member and part time worker at Redeemer Lutheran Church. He currently serves a member of the leadership committee for  the African Descent Lutheran Association (ADLA) and Elisha’s Call.

Group listening to Jamal a local community member and friend of Alton Sterling.

The recent shootings, arrests, custody and deaths of African American people by majority white law enforcement has become all too familiar. On any given day, a viral video becomes the breaking news story. Just days after the shooting of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana a young African American man named Philando Castile took his last breaths live streamed on Facebook. The video footage captured by Castile’s fiancée, shows him fatally shot during a routine traffic stop.   A recent report compiled by a group of experts stated that too often people of African descent “experience discrimination in accessing justice, and face alarmingly high rates of police violence.” The shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile are not just about them alone. It is about the continuous lived experience of racial inequities inherent throughout the entire criminal justice system. It is about the communities of color that continue to cry out to be heard, set ablaze when they feel invalidated and march in protest as a sign of racial solidarity. City by city, the names may change (Tamir Rice, Sean Bell, Michael Brown, Oscar Grant, Eric Garner, Walter Scott, Freddie Grey and so many others) but the stories and the outpouring of despair from African American communities remain the same.

When it comes to racial and socioeconomic segregation, Baton Rouge is not unlike any other major U.S. city. Just pick a city… any city. Racial segregation driven by social, economic and political underpinnings have carved up American cities along racial lines. As a southern city, Baton Rouge, has a historical past of overt racial injustices put in place during the Jim Crow era of segregated laws. During the civil rights era, Baton Rogue’s black citizens staged the nation’s first bus boycott in 1953. In 1963 black residents attempted to integrate the city’s public park swimming pool. Their actions were met with so much resistance that the white establishment filled the pool with cement to deny access to blacks. Today the city still remains racially and socioeconomically divided. The racial composition of Baton Rouge is 55% black and 40% white. Florida Avenue, is the city’s main thoroughfare–it serves as a physical boundary between of racial and socioeconomic segregation. North of Florida Avenue is represented by the predominantly African American community. North of Florida avenue is the community of Alton Sterling. The homes aren’t as big. Employment scarce for many of the residents.   South of Florida Ave is primarily wealthy, white and suburban–the median income is $30,000 higher than that of the neighboring north of Florida avenue community.

In 2016, People of African descent globally, are still considered the most marginalized among racial groups. Limited access to quality education, health services, housing, social security and experiences of mass incarceration are a common reality. Statistically, African American males are six times more likely to experience incarceration than white males. Racial disparities exist within every aspect of the criminal justice system through racial profiling, biased enforcement, length and terms of sentencing and the option of treatment. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is called to be church together for the sake of the world. We have confessed and committed to confront racism in the social statement Freed in Christ: Race, Ethnicity & Culture adopted by the 1993 ELCA Churchwide assembly and The Church and Criminal Justice: Hearing the Cries social statement adopted at the 2013 ELCA Churchwide assembly. The ELCA has confessed that racism (structures of power and privilege that favor whites as a whole and disproportionately causes harm to people and communities of color) pervasively infects and affects all aspects of U.S. society. The ELCA has confessed that “persistent inequalities based on race, ethnicity, gender and class, frequently challenge the [criminal] justice system’s implementation of –and perhaps even its commitment to basic principles of justice.”

In response to the shooting of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, this church of three expressions, (churches, synods & Churchwide organization) heard the call to be a ministry of presence in community during this time of trial in our nation. A delegation from the Churchwide organization traveled to Baton Rouge to meet with synodical and congregational leaders on the ground. Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast synod Bishop Michael Rhinehart, Rev. Blair Lundborg, Assistant to the Bishop, Rev. Chris Markert Director for Evangelical Mission, Pastor Robin McCullough-Bade, Executive Director of the Interfaith Federation of Greater Baton Rogue, Rev. Mike Button of St Paul Lutheran in Baton Rouge, Rev. Kim Little-Brooks, Lutheran Church of Our Saviour in Baton Rouge. Rev. Nancy Andrews, conference dean and interim pastor at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in New Orleans. From the Churhwide office, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, Rev. Dr. Stephen Bouman, Domestic Mission Unit Executive, Rev. Albert Starr, Director for Multicultural Ministries/African Descent Ministries, Rev. Brenda Smith, Program Director for Faith Practices and the Book of Faith & Judith Roberts, Program Director for Racial Justice.

We gathered together as a church of three expressions to respond to a national crisis that has rocked the city of Baton Rouge and rippled across this country. The first response from the Chuchwide office was to support synod leadership on the ground through prayer and conversation in Baton Rogue. The shooting of Alton Sterling, is not the first time synod Bishop Michael Rhinehart has responded to headline news story involving a person of color and violent encounters with law enforcement. On July 13, 2015, Sandra Bland, a 28-year-old African American woman was arrested, detained and found dead three days later in a jail cell in Waller, Texas after a routine traffic stop. The Bland family and so many voices across the country continue to grieve, seek answers and accountability in her death. Bishop Rhinehart remains present in community prayer vigils in remembrance of Sandra Bland.

We believed that as a church sent for the sake of the world–the ministry of presence is about showing up in the community. Presence is also about accompaniment; we came to listen to voices and stories from the community. The third step is to discern where and how God is calling the church to respond. Domestic Mission Unit Executive Director, Rev. Dr. Stephen Bouman knows about the need for the church to respond. Bouman served as Bishop of Metro N.Y synod during the attacks on the World Trade Center. “I learned the importance of the ministry of presence after the towers fell in New York. Two things happen by instinct. We wanted to pray and ritualize.  We didn’t want to be alone. To have caring human beings show up and the share the heat of the day is a deep spiritual gift. Incarnation means the real God takes on real flesh in the real world. The message of presence is that God is there. The message of persistent presence is that God will not leave until healing begins.” said Bouman.

Our first stop in Baton Rouge, was at the Triple S convenience store at the site of the shooting of Alton Sterling. Upon arrival, we were greeted by a young man named Jamal. He appeared to be in his mid-30’s— close in age to Alton Sterling. Jamal has been holding vigil at the site since the shooting on July 5, 2016. We experience his heartfelt welcome. It is evident that this isn’t his first conversation with strangers. He recounts the events of that day in great detail. Two large murals in the image of Alton Sterling have been spray painted on the Triple S convenience store exterior. A table adorned with flower, photos and mementos replace the music Cd’s that Alton Sterling once sold. Soon, we are greeted by other African American men ranging in age from teenagers to older adults.   Full time, gainful employment seems scarce for many adult black males’ north of Florida avenue. The men stop and talk with us about the day of the shooting, relationships with local law enforcement and the feelings of despair within the community. Rev. Brenda Smith reflects that, “Going to Baton Rouge reinforced that sometimes—all people need to know is that you are listening. Whether that is in sharing pain or what they think should happen next…. or reflecting on the past experiences of racism. People need an outlet. The situation may not change immediately but you can sense the feeling of relief.”

Our day on the ground in Baton Rouge continued with a meeting with Bishop Robert W. Muench of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge, followed by an ecumenical gathering with local clergy. Our experiences ranged from prayers that were offered to conversations about racial reconciliation. Bishop Rhinehart thanked the team for traveling to Baton Rouge. He said, “It was a blessing to be accompanied by and feel the support of Bishop Eaton and members of the Churchwide Organization. We felt the presence of the whole church with us.”

A few short days following our trip to Baton Rouge, our experience would be overshadowed by the killing of 3 Baton Rouge police officers on a Sunday morning by a lone African American male shooter. Again the city was confronted with violence, law enforcement and race once again. News of the Baton Rouge, shooting came on the heels of a sniper attack in Dallas, TX that killed 5 officers and left several wounded just days earlier. Again, bringing the nation to confront race relations, violence and law enforcement. On Saturday, July 23, 2016—the ELCA in all three expressions, in the ministry of presence joined the people of Dallas, TX for a prayer vigil service in honor of the slain officers.

These last few days and weeks, have been trying times in this nation. Lately the pain and images of death and violence have become all to consuming for too many of us. Yet in this time of grief, frustration and confusion, I am reminded even more of the power of presence and the witness of the church. The words were spoken clearly from a street preacher at the Triple S convenience store in Baton Rouge. He said, “The church must be present in the streets. It cannot simply protect buildings and watch over offering plates.” The power of a ministry of presence isn’t just about going to transform it is also about being transformed through relationships guided by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Jamal at the Triple S Convenience Store. T-shirt reads “Brothers Throw Down Your Guns!
Jesus Died For Us All. His Blood Was Enough.”

Voting for the First Time

For a moment, my home state was in the political spotlight. Literally. I walked into Lakefront Brewery (it was a work meeting, honestly!) and Chris Matthews and a crew from MSNBC are broadcasting live. Wisconsin had the only primary in the country on Tuesday, April 7. The frontrunners were expected to lose. There was a lot of talk about momentum pushes, brokered conventions and the almighty delegate counts.

In addition to the presidential primaries there were also many general elections. There was a state supreme court election and dozens of municipal elections. I live in Milwaukee where the sins of the city are legion: most segregated city; highest achievement gap; highest incarceration rate for black men; 5th poorest city; international hub for human trafficking; worst place in America to be black. We’ve had a breakdown in police-community relations as officers sexually assault citizens during unwarranted body cavity searches; a citizen calls 911 and the responding officer rapes her; issues of excessive force; racial disparity in traffic stops. The Black Lives Matter movement has rallied around the killing of Dontre Hamilton.

Yes, there are also amazing things happening in my city. There are incredible assets among us. We are making strides in multiple areas of justice. But even as someone who operates from the conviction of abundance rather than from the despair of what is lacking, there is a clear reality check: things here are bad. This ish is messed up.

When the votes were counted and winners declared, all but 1 incumbent in Milwaukee city and county elections won. This was a clear affirmation of the status quo.

Let me be clear – I like some of these incumbents. I work with them. But let’s remember – this ish is messed up. And the voters had a chance to elect some change but opted not to do so.

It is enough to make me think maybe rallying from the despair is a better plan. Politicians always go negative. It is a clear motivator. They do it because it works.

My congregation is deeply political. We are not partisan but we do not shy away from issues that affect our members and our city. Political and electoral solutions are never the only solution, but they are often a part of the solution. We register voters during worship. We preach about voting and pray for voters. We have candidates engage our congregation around issues. We march in the streets. We meet with legislators. We partner with faith-based organizing groups. We partner with secular advocates for workers rights. We aren’t just down with the struggle, we’re deep in it.

So in the midst of what was a depressing electoral outcome, an amazing thing happened. Sabryna, newly 18, was going to vote in her first election. And I as her pastor was invited to share that moment. A little after 8 am, I picked up Sabryna and her mom, Anna. We share the same polling place and we all went to vote. Anna was voter 100. I was 101. Sabryna needed to register so she was a little further down the line. But here were three folks, voting blocks from our congregation. We went to the polls together. The church rejoiced as a member marked this rite of passage in American democracy. We embodied #ELCAVotes.

Voting for the first time.

All Peoples Church member Sabryna, takes a selfie after voting for the first time.

Pastor Steve Jerbi, Sabryna and her mom Anna at the voting polls in Milwaukee.

Our Lutheran tradition teaches us we need to engage deeply in the world, not retreat from it. We can’t fulfill our baptismal covenant to strive for peace and justice in all the world by opting out. We can get frustrated with the outcomes but we cannot become so discouraged that we don’t show up. We go to the polls because it is one of the tools of change and we don’t leave our tools unused.

Voting wasn’t the mechanism to bring a change in political leadership to Milwaukee. This inspires our congregation to explore the other tools available to us. We can identify other assets. We will organize, educate, and advocate to change the statistics and more importantly the lives in our city. And come time for the next election, Sabryna will be ready to use the power of the vote again.

Rev. Steve Jerbi, is the senior pastor at All Peoples Church in Milwaukee, WI. He earned a Bachelors of Arts from the University of Montana – Missoula in English Literature with an Environmental Studies minor. He graduated from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago with a Masters of Divinity and an environmental ministry emphasis. Pastor Steve is a passionate leader in youth and cross-generational ministry and the interconnected work of racial, economic and environmental justice. Pastor Steve along with his wife Jennifer are raising two grade-school daughters.

The Racial Justice Ministries of the ELCA serve as catalysts and bridge builders.

We are called to be a church that embraces each person and confronts racial, ethnic, cultural, religious, age, gender, familial, sexual orientation, physical, personal and class barriers that often manifest themselves in unjust treatment, inequalities, exclusion and violence.

Welcome.