Silencing White noise : six practices to overcome our inaction on race

Silencing White noise Six practices to overcome our inaction on race

Willie Dwayne Francois, 1986-

Book - 2022

Racism is omnipresent in American life, both public and private. We are immersed in what prominent faith leader Willie Dwayne Francois III calls white noise--the racist speech, ideas, and policies that lull us into inaction on racial justice. White noise masks racial realities and prevents constructive responses to microaggressions, structural inequality, and overt interpersonal racism. In this book, Francois calls people of all racial backgrounds to take up practices that overcome silence and inaction on race and that advance racial repair. Drawing from his anti-racism curriculum, the Public Love Organizing and Training (PLOT) Project, Francois encourages us to move from a "colorblind" stance of mythic innocence to one that takes... an honest account of our national history and acknowledges our complicity in racism as a prelude to anti-racist interventions. Weaving together personal narrative, theology, and history, this book invites us to engage 6 "rhythms of reparative intercession." These are six practices of anti-racism that aim to repair harm by speaking up and "acting up" on behalf of others. Silencing White Noise offers concrete ways to help people wrest free from the dangers of racism and to develop lifelong Christian anti-racist practices.

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Subjects
Race relations > Religious aspects > Christianity.
Racism > Religious aspects > Christianity.
Racism.
Published
Grand Rapids, Michigan : Brazos Press, a division of Baker Publishing Group [2022]
Language
English
Main Author
Willie Dwayne Francois, 1986- (author)
Physical Description
203 pages ; 22 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 193-203).
ISBN
9781587435515
9781587435652
  • Acknowledgments
  • Introduction: Why We Are Lulled to Racial Inaction
  • 1. Cues to Color: Embracing Difference as Gift
  • " White Noise: "I don't see color. We are all the same in Christ."
  • 2. Momentum to Encounter: Confronting the Histories of Whiteness
  • " White Noise: "It's not my fault. Slavery was so long ago. Get over it."
  • 3. Pattern Recognition: Honoring Our Interdependence
  • " White Noise: "I've had it hard too, but I worked hard."
  • 4. Syncopated Identity: Exploring Our Fuller Selves
  • " White Noise: "Why does everything have to be about race?"
  • 5. Pulse to Risk: Sacrificing Our Power and Privilege
  • " White Noise: "It's not my job to fix racism."
  • 6. Downbeat Truth: Naming Our Complicity in Racism
  • " White Noise: "I'm scared of the backlash."
  • Conclusion: Invent Hope Every Day
  • Notes
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

"If we abandon racial justice, we abandon God," contends pastor Francois (Christian Minister's Manual) in this lucid clarion call. To combat "the racist ideas, speech, silence, and misrepresentations that protect and perpetuate Whiteness"--what Francois calls "white noise"--he offers six "oral, attitudinal, and behavioral practices that... build the moral muscle to topple Whiteness." The author suggests that white supremacy is a form of idolatry in which whiteness assumes the significance of a deity. Countering it requires embracing racial differences as "gifts of creation." Francois examines U.S. Christian churches' role in supporting slavery and encourages Christians to confront the ongoing impact of historical injustices by listening to marginalized voices and making connections between past and present manifestations of oppression. Other practices include urging white people to acknowledge the ways they benefit from white privilege and discussing "what they are willing to sacrifice" to pursue racial justice. Francois packs this stunning manifesto full of history and theory, providing reliably sharp analysis whether dissecting the Bible or Foucault. This is a superior volume on Christian antiracism. (Aug.)

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