Vandalia ERT
An Early Response Team from First United Methodist Church in Vandalia, Ill., begins work helping Iowans recover from the Aug. 10 derecho storm that damaged some 8,000 homes in 150 communities. (Iowa Conference Photo/Catie Newman)
A United Methodist Insight Column
The second in a series of Town Halls for the Dismantling Racism initiative occurred this week against the backdrop of a sobering report: “Even with lockdowns and an overall decline in crime, the numbers for first-half 2020 are about the same as they were in 2018 and 2019,” reports Vice News.
The report, “The Other Epidemic: Fatal Police Shootings in the Time of COVID-19,” was released Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union. It’s “based on police shooting data from the Washington Post, with analysis from the University of Nebraska’s Criminology and Criminal Justice department,” Vice News said.
“The data, from January to June 30, shows that in these months police in the U.S. killed 511 people, consistent with the numbers in the same period the last two years. In the first six months of 2019 and 2018, there were 484 and 550 police-related deaths, respectively.”
Vice News reporter Trone Dowd continues: “A breakdown of the 5,442 people killed by police since the start of 2015 shows men and women of color are disproportionately affected. The report says that despite white Americans making up 60% of the population, they make up just 46% of fatal interactions with police.
“Black Americans on the other hand, make up 13% of the U.S. population but account for 24% of fatal police shootings in the U.S. The study also concludes that Black Americans have the same chance of dying from a police encounter, about a 1 in 1,000 chance, regardless of their economic status.”
White United Methodists who want to be allies in the campaign against the racism that often underlies police shootings may wish to sign up for a new course from the General Commission on Religion and Race: Anti-Racism 101: Required Skills for White People Who Want to be Allies.
The announcement says: “This online course centers on one big idea: the differences between anti-racism and defending oneself against charges of racism. As a 101 course, the content will focus on defining anti-racism as interrupting and dismantling racism; identifying which actions fall into categories of anti-racism (avoidance or defending oneself against charges of racism); and building resilience to white fragility. The three sessions will roughly fall under these categories: theory (big idea), practice (identifying the differences), and personal (internal work).
The announcement continues: “By taking this course, students will:
- Learn how to explain anti-racism to your church siblings or family
- Build your skills in interrupting racism in real-time
- Practice becoming stronger against white fragility – overcome the temptation to give up when the realities of racism become intense
- Create a foundational toolbox to disrupt and dismantle racism that will ground any other anti-racism work you do.”
Pre-registration is open now. For the first 100 registrations, tuition will be $34.99. Regular tuition: $39.99
Iowa disaster update
The Rev. Catie Newman, disaster response coordinator for the Iowa Annual Conference, issued a detailed disaster report from the Aug. 10 derecho storm that’s too long to be quoted here. But there’s a lot of important information in Rev. Newman’s report for United Methodists who want to help. Click here to read the report.
Snippets from the COVID-19 front
From Bishop Bob Hoshibata, Desert Southwest Conference: “While we wait for the moment when we can meet the benchmarks for entering Phase 1 of the DSC Ministry in the Season of COVID and Beyond (download here), I encourage you to continue to engage in safe practices that have demonstrated effectiveness in controlling the spread of the virus. While the continuing presence of COVID-19 in Nevada and Arizona make it important that we continue our suspension of in-person worship and other gatherings, there are exceptions being allowed for a variety of reasons.”
From the Duke Chronicle: Duke has released an online COVID-19 test tracker, to be updated every Monday. The current data shows four positive results among 516 tested faculty and staff, as well as 11 previously announced cases among more than 5,800 student tests.
From NPR’s Code Switch newsletter: “On top of everything else going on, the pandemic continues to batter the country’s most marginalized populations. In Chicago, a city molded by housing segregation, COVID-19 has hit different zip codes and racial groups in massively unequal ways. WBEZ reporters Esther Yoon-Ji Kang, Natalie Moore and María Inés Zamudio dug into the city’s public health data and talked to the relatives of 50 Chicagoans who have died, and found that the highest rates of cases and deaths in the cities came from neighborhoods consisting of mostly Black and Latino residents. They found that people in these neighborhoods who contracted the virus had more trouble accessing adequate health care and were more likely to be essential workers. And while Black folks have been more likely to die of COVID, Latino residents have had the highest infection rate, according to the city’s latest statistics.”
The above report seems to be reason enough to enroll in the GCORR course, to be able to recognize and work against such public health inequities in future.
Media Mentions as of Aug. 20, 2020
2,500 evangelicals sign pandemic statement warning: Don’t ignore science – Religion News Service
Christian groups unveil new criminal justice reform push – The Associated Press
Religions for Peace funds multi-religious actions on COVID-19 in 20 countries – Religion News Service
America's house will crumble if we don't repair our racist divide – Religion News Service
Cynthia B. Astle serves as Editor of United Methodist Insight, which she founded in 2011.