Brown Faces, White Spaces: Confronting Systemic Racism to Bring Healing and Restoration

In this ambitious outing, diversity consultant Morrison (Be the Bridge) examines systems of oppression that undergird American society and uses biblical principles to call for reform. Morrison delineates the de facto segregation that remained after the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education ruling; traces the history of racism in the American medical system, from white doctors who used Black people as experimental subjects, to present-day care inequities; and examines the legacy of redlining in limiting Black property ownership. Contending that “God created all people with equal dignity,” she uses biblical examples to explore why each system—educational, medical, and property, as well as the justice system and the military—must be reformed. Unfortunately, the resulting insights can feel strained: in the chapter on educational reform, for example, Morrison notes that in the early days of the church, the apostles corrected an unequal distribution of food to Hellenistic and Hebraic Jews, and how “likewise... we can provide services, including educational ones, to everyone equitably.” More inspiring are the profiles of average people who’ve made a difference, such as a Black couple who started a group to share regenerative farming practices with a “growing community of Black farmers”; these case studies reinforce Morrison’s message that systemic reform begins with small-scale change. It’s a solid starting point for Christians looking to help build a more equitable world. (May)