College in Prison, Racist Appraisals, #MeToo and Hip-Hop
KTF Weekly Newsletter
Hey everybody,
Tamice had a number of podcast interviews come out this week, all fascinating and quite different from each other, about her book. Check her out on The New Evangelicals, Can I Say This at Church?, and Queer Theology. And now, on to this week’s highlights.
Sy’s recommendations:
I’ve heard many stories from disabled parents over the years about the sharp contrast between how adults and children view them. Often, adults are judgmental or outright hostile to the notion that a disabled person could competently care for a child. But children seem remarkably unconcerned that their caretaker can’t walk, or whatever the case may be. My own daughter, though she is less than a year old, seems to have realized that dad doesn’t respond to her motions an facial expressions the way mom does, and has consequently taken to happily shouting baby babbles at me all day. She’s also become quite good at the game “snatch the white cane,” which she plays when I’m walking next to her stroller. Kids’ adaptability and joy is often a welcome respite for disabled people or anyone with identities the world marginalizes. So I really resonated with this article by former Shake the Dust guest Dr. Lamar Hardwick about ways that his autism positively impacts his relationship with his children, even though it doesn’t apply directly to me. May we all strive for more of this childlikeness that Jesus said is the marker of those to whom the kingdom belongs.
Also on the subject of parenting, as I mentioned last week, the US supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act in a surprisingly one-sided 7-2 vote. A white, evangelical couple challenged the law, arguing that it was making it difficult for them to adopt a native child because they are not themselves indigenous. Of course, it was. But the reason is, before the law, adoption was a key tool in the country’s systematic removal of indigenous children from their families in order to forcibly assimilate them into white culture. But this couple is sadly part of a long tradition in American history of white Christians insisting that we have the right to raise other people’s children. This article by Melissa Guida-Richards, herself an adoptee, charts some of that history. It also breaks down the idolatry of parenting as well as the racial animus behind the history. Adoption is a difficult and highly-emotional subject for many people, but that shouldn’t stop us from examining the ways that we can participate in harmful systems, even with the seemingly unassailable intention of caring for children.
A recent article from Bloomberg highlights the work of an organization called Eruka, which works to fight housing inequity by focusing on racial penalties in home appraisals. Eruka has compiled housing data confirming what individual anecdotes have told us for a long time: there are enormous differences in home values based solely on the race of the owner. The article highlights a law suit brought by Black home owners who had their homes appraised twice, removing any indication of their race from their home and using a white representative to interact with the surveyors the second time around. Their home value went up $500,000. The average racial penalty in urban areas with high housing costs can be over a million dollars. You can read a newsletter from Eruka on the founder’s reaction to her simply stunning finding that “Collectively, the racial inequality in appraisals has resulted in White communities having access to $15 trillion more in capital simply because of the presence of White residents.” Eruka is also trying to create racially just home appraisals, an effort I sincerely applaud.
Jonathan’s recommendations:
This article is short but significant. Only slightly over 20% of inmates in the United States receive higher education, but those who do have far lower recidivism rates. The article profiles Marcus Harvin, a participant in an innovative Connecticut program. He’s part of the Yale Prison Education Initiative, and now that he’s on parole, he says people are often surprised to hear he’s a college student. So, as he puts it, “I’ll show them my jail I.D. and my Yale I.D.” In 2016, Yale Alum Zelda Roland launched the program, which is now part of a partnership with the University of New Haven, and two Connecticut prisons. The partnership puts inmates on a track to a two or four-year college. Harvin is hoping to go beyond that and become a defense attorney. The class of 2023, the program’s first, only has seven graduates. But I pray for more, and for the seeds that the program has planted to lead to individual, communal, and generational transformation.
Season Two of NPR’s podcast, Louder than a Riot, shines a light on the enduring, entrenched misogynoir within the most-consumed genre of music in the United States: hip-hop. The question the show asks that stood out to me the most was: how come the #MeToo Movement skipped over the rap game? The answer is complex, but easy to comprehend because of the great way the hosts organize and present their show. I particularly liked this episode which chronicles the trial and conviction of rapper Tory Lanez for shooting platinum recording artist Megan Thee Stallion. Misogynoir is not part of the kingdom of God and we must interrogate our entertainment diet if it comes up.
This episode of season two of the podcast White People Work wrecked my week in all the best ways. Host (and future guest on Shake the Dust) Scott Hall interviews Brandi Miller, and the conversation pressed me to ask myself where I have been complicit with systems like white supremacy that oppress, and why it was that I compromised. Brandi is direct, humble, and clear without casting unnecessary blame. She gives a masterclass in naming the effects of White Supremacy, elaborating on its specific methods of indoctrination and entrapment with concrete examples from her leadership experience and upbringing. I will listen to this conversation a few times, and I hope you do the same.
Shake the Dust Preview
Tomorrow, we’re speaking with Rev. José Humphreys and Dr. Adam Gustine about their book, Ecosystems of Jubilee: Economic Ethics for the Neighborhood. We cover how God’s vision for the Hebrew people’s society gives us a framework for imagining neighborhood flourishing, how our scarcity mindset negates God’s abundant provision, how churches can decenter themselves in community life in order to spread good economic news, and a lot more! It’s a really good one that you don’t want to miss!
Thanks for reading, and see you next week!
Jonathan and Sy