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klanca's review against another edition
3.0
A nice discussion of restorative justice from a religious leader. Overall I appreciated most everything discussed. I was a bit concerned about his use of the concept “blue lives matter” however his discussion was appropriate and not used as many use it...an achieved status should never be compared to an ascribed. Police should be respected because they are not all bad (most are good) but they are not treated badly for their position. I would recommend this to any Christian who feels that the Black Lives Matter Movement is unnecessary or inappropriate.
katscribefever's review against another edition
5.0
This book delves into the core of America's most egregious sin: the foundation and maintenance of a civilization that stays "on top" through various degradations of all peoples who do not appear to be European American. It tackles so many issues, some I've read about before and a few I had never heard anything about. Reading through this pricked my heart time and again--in truth, it overwhelmed me with the huge mountain of work still undone--but as the text wrapped up I felt I could hear a swelling orchestra that was proclaiming that yes, the bridge to healthy racial relations in the United States will take an immense effort, but crossing that bridge will demonstrate the heart of God. A racially just world is one I must hold onto a willingness to work and hope for. There is a blurb on the cover of this book that says "A BOOK THAT EVERY WHITE PERSON--ESPECIALLY EVERY WHITE CHRISTIAN--MUST READ" and I couldn't agree more. I'm blown away.
postitsandpens's review against another edition
2.0
While this book has a good premise, I wasn't completely sold on the execution. I feel like this is a book that people who already agree with the author will read, while those who need to read the book won't do so. I also found that there's a lot of repetition in this book, especially in the statistics scattered throughout the chapters, and towards the end I was skimming more than reading just so I could get through it. It was dry in some parts as well, which made getting through it a bit of a struggle. I do think he made some really great points, relating some of the US's history and current laws to scripture and pointing out how they go against the Bible, and how Jesus himself would be against the US's treatment of POC, but it was all just lackluster. All in all, I didn't really enjoy reading this; the repeating statistics, the dry tone and delivery, and the "preaching to the choir" subject matter personally just didn't work for me.
adamrshields's review against another edition
3.0
Summary: A broad overview of racism in American told from the perspective of Christianity and our call toward justice.
The preface to America's Original Sin opens with a description of the shooting and Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC. Just a few days before that I read that section, I watched the documentary Emmanuel that also recounted that shooting. Wallis hoped that in the aftermath of the shooting there would be a change in the way that we talk about race and racism within the church and country as a result. But four years after the shooting, there has not been a fundamental shift in the conversation. The Confederate Flag was removed from the South Carolina Capital grounds, the SBC condemned the flying of the Confederate Flag at its annual meeting that next year. But it is hard to point to any other fundamental changes in the conversation.
That lack of change is not particularly surprising given the history of Christianity in the US, but I do think that as we read books like America’s Original Sin, it is important that we pay attention not just to the theological affirmations of what we as Christians should be doing, but also the history of what we have done. The Emmanuel AME Church shooting should have been a wake up call to the church, but it wasn’t. There are hundreds of other points history, including the church kneel in rallies in the 1950s and 60s that should have been significant wake up calls, but they haven’t been.
I probably would not have picked America's Original sin up if a group in my church had not been reading it, but I wanted to participate in the discussion, so I read it. I respect Jim Wallis and I thought the book was worth reading. In general, I try to primarily read minority voices when I am reading about racism. There are other books that also have introductions to Christianity and Racism that are similarly good. Every book has its own orientation and focus. And Wallis does have a real history working for racial justice within the church.
But at the same time I do not agree with how all of that shakes out in every point. I think that many that are resistant to discussing racism within the church or even acknowledging racism as a real problem either in or outside of the church are going to be turned off by Wallis’ politics. It is not that I disagree with all of Wallis’ politics or that I disagree with how this Christianity influences his politics, but like it or not, Jim Wallis is identified primarily with the Evangelical political left. So I think that limits who will pick up this book and how those that do, will respond. There is certainly need for the political left to deal with its own racism. And if Wallis had more directly targeted the racism of the political left (as Robin DiAngelo particularly focused her book, White Fragility, toward liberal Whites, I think this could have been a more helpful book.
If I have a complaint, it is that Wallis makes himself too much of a character in America's Original Sin. I understand that he is personalizing and giving illustration to why racism matters. But I also think that it ends up centering his experience more than is helpful.
Again, I agree with many of the conclusions and steps along the way. This quote I think rightly focuses racism on the systemic:
But I think that those that object to his understanding of systemic racism are going to be relatively unconvinced by America's Original Sin.
The preface to America's Original Sin opens with a description of the shooting and Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC. Just a few days before that I read that section, I watched the documentary Emmanuel that also recounted that shooting. Wallis hoped that in the aftermath of the shooting there would be a change in the way that we talk about race and racism within the church and country as a result. But four years after the shooting, there has not been a fundamental shift in the conversation. The Confederate Flag was removed from the South Carolina Capital grounds, the SBC condemned the flying of the Confederate Flag at its annual meeting that next year. But it is hard to point to any other fundamental changes in the conversation.
That lack of change is not particularly surprising given the history of Christianity in the US, but I do think that as we read books like America’s Original Sin, it is important that we pay attention not just to the theological affirmations of what we as Christians should be doing, but also the history of what we have done. The Emmanuel AME Church shooting should have been a wake up call to the church, but it wasn’t. There are hundreds of other points history, including the church kneel in rallies in the 1950s and 60s that should have been significant wake up calls, but they haven’t been.
I probably would not have picked America's Original sin up if a group in my church had not been reading it, but I wanted to participate in the discussion, so I read it. I respect Jim Wallis and I thought the book was worth reading. In general, I try to primarily read minority voices when I am reading about racism. There are other books that also have introductions to Christianity and Racism that are similarly good. Every book has its own orientation and focus. And Wallis does have a real history working for racial justice within the church.
But at the same time I do not agree with how all of that shakes out in every point. I think that many that are resistant to discussing racism within the church or even acknowledging racism as a real problem either in or outside of the church are going to be turned off by Wallis’ politics. It is not that I disagree with all of Wallis’ politics or that I disagree with how this Christianity influences his politics, but like it or not, Jim Wallis is identified primarily with the Evangelical political left. So I think that limits who will pick up this book and how those that do, will respond. There is certainly need for the political left to deal with its own racism. And if Wallis had more directly targeted the racism of the political left (as Robin DiAngelo particularly focused her book, White Fragility, toward liberal Whites, I think this could have been a more helpful book.
If I have a complaint, it is that Wallis makes himself too much of a character in America's Original Sin. I understand that he is personalizing and giving illustration to why racism matters. But I also think that it ends up centering his experience more than is helpful.
Again, I agree with many of the conclusions and steps along the way. This quote I think rightly focuses racism on the systemic:
Sociologist Allen Johnson, whom I cited earlier on the history of white supremacy, also discusses the implicit nature of our biases from that history. He says: Most of the choices we make are unconscious, it being in the nature of paths of least resistance to appear to us as the logical, normal thing to do without our having to think about it. This means, of course, that we can participate in systems in ways we’re not aware of and help produce consequences without knowing it and be involved in other people’s lives, both historically and in the present, without any intention to do so. . . . I could say this history has nothing personally to do with me, that it was all a long time ago and done by someone else, that my ancestors were all good, moral, and decent people who never killed or enslaved anyone or drove anyone from their land. Even if that were true (I’ll never know for sure), the only way to let it go at that is to ignore the fact that if someone was willing to take the time to follow the money, they would find that some portion of the house and land that we now call home can be traced directly back through my family history to the laws and practices that whites have collectively imposed through their government and other institutions. Back to the industrial capitalist revolution and the exploitation of people of color that made it possible. And back to the conquest, forced expulsion, and genocide through which the land that is now the United States was first acquired by Europeans. In other words, some portion of this house is our share of the benefits of white privilege passed on and accumulated from one generation to the next.
But I think that those that object to his understanding of systemic racism are going to be relatively unconvinced by America's Original Sin.
kasfeldt's review against another edition
3.0
I found it encouraging and hopeful to read the perspective of Wallis, a White Evangelical, in the conversation of America’s race issues. It made me think that hopefully there are more people like Wallis out there who want to help and actively change. And while Wallis provides some actionable things the church could to, there were too many times when reading where it felt as if he was just praising himself and the work he had done already. Almost to say, “Look what I’ve done, I am so good,” without enough of the “Now it’s your turn to give it a try” to back up his life stories.
annelisa614's review against another edition
5.0
I read excerpts of this in class, but my professor loaned me his copy and, voluntarily, I read the whole thing. I read ~160 pages in one day. I couldn’t get enough. It’s so powerful. Wallis does so much in 230 pages.
marie_gg's review against another edition
4.0
http://mariesbookgarden.blogspot.com/2016/08/americas-original-sin-racism-white.html
Jim Wallis calls this book his "lament of the white father." A central theme of the book is the fact that parents of black children have to have "the talk," about how to behave around police and how to just behave in general, in order to survive. Wallis was inspired to write this book after Trayvon Martin was shot and he witnessed the ignorance of the white Christian evangelicals in his midst. He realized that if his own son, a six-foot-tall athlete, had been walking down the street, doing the same thing, he would have been fine.
Wallis identifies racism as the true original sin. As Michelle Obama recently said, "I live in a house that was built by slaves." As Wallis says, "This nation was founded by the near genocide of one people and the kidnapping of another people to build this nation. So slavery and the indigenous destruction of those who were here--that was our original sin. And it still lingers in our criminal justice system--in most of our systems."
Wallis aims most of his message specifically evangelical Christians, because he was disappointed and dismayed by their response to recent highly publicized shootings of African-American men. But it's an important message for all white Americans to hear. He believes it's the call of our Christian faith to work for racial justice, and I agree.
Jim Wallis calls this book his "lament of the white father." A central theme of the book is the fact that parents of black children have to have "the talk," about how to behave around police and how to just behave in general, in order to survive. Wallis was inspired to write this book after Trayvon Martin was shot and he witnessed the ignorance of the white Christian evangelicals in his midst. He realized that if his own son, a six-foot-tall athlete, had been walking down the street, doing the same thing, he would have been fine.
Wallis identifies racism as the true original sin. As Michelle Obama recently said, "I live in a house that was built by slaves." As Wallis says, "This nation was founded by the near genocide of one people and the kidnapping of another people to build this nation. So slavery and the indigenous destruction of those who were here--that was our original sin. And it still lingers in our criminal justice system--in most of our systems."
Wallis aims most of his message specifically evangelical Christians, because he was disappointed and dismayed by their response to recent highly publicized shootings of African-American men. But it's an important message for all white Americans to hear. He believes it's the call of our Christian faith to work for racial justice, and I agree.
drbobcornwall's review against another edition
5.0
Racism is America's original sin. Racism has been deeply embedded in the American psyche since the first European settlers stepped foot on the shores of North America. The Civil War brought an end to slavery, but not racism. The Civil Rights Movement and the legislation that it pursued put an end to most overt forms of segregation, but it did not rid us of racism. The election of the first Black President was a move forward, but it didn't end racism. Indeed, nearly fifty years after the death of Martin Luther King, Jr. the church remains just about as segregated today as it did then.
Jim Wallis, founder of Sojourners and Christian social activist, has written an important primer on America's original sin. In a book that is deeply personal, Wallis, who is White himself, addresses the often unaddressed problem of White privilege that hangs over our national conversation, including the conversation within the Christian community. He admits, as we who are white and male must do, that he is the beneficiary of a system that rewards those who are white and male. He grew up in Detroit, a city that has been deeply affected by racial divisions and white flight. As an adult he has spent much of his life living in communities where is the minority ethnicity. He encounters with his neighbors has influenced his life and vision. He also admits that "no matter what you do to help overcome racism, you can never escape white privilege in America if you are white" (p. xxii).
This is a challenging book, but it is also a hopeful one. It involves a confession of sin, but it also offers a vision of a bridge to a new America. The cover of the book features the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma, Alabama. Those who crossed that bridge in the 1965 participated in one of the most pivotal moments in the Civil Rights Movement. That is one bridge that has been crossed, but we still bridges to build and to cross so that we can become the nation that Dr. King and others envisioned.
The book begins with the story of race, takes us to Ferguson and Baltimore. It develops the premise of original sin and its legacy. Being theological, there is also a call to repentance, which is more than saying your sorry. Moving further in Wallis talks about dying to "Whiteness." That doesn't mean we who are of European ancestry must feel guilty about our heritage, but does require that we reject the ideology of whiteness, that is the ideology of white supremacy.
An important chapter takes us into the church, which remains largely segregated -- that includes most liberal/progressive congregations. What does a truly multi-racial church look like? Getting here will require intentionality, acknowledgement that diversity isn't an end in itself, developing a spirit of inclusion, and empowering leadership that is multi-racial. This all requires a great deal of adaptability!
Any conversation about race and America cannot avoid discussion of the role of police in our country. Wallis speaks of moving from envisioning the police as warriors to guardians. Serving and protecting needs to be made a priority! It is important to affirm that both black lives and blue lives matter. All of this requires building trust within communities, and this requires moving more fully toward community policing, ending the school-to-prison pipeline, and mass incarceration. Speaking of that, we need to address what has come to be called the "New Jim Crow." The racial disparity of our prison population must be addressed. Much of the problem is rooted in America's drug policies, which affect African American communities much more than other communities. Along with recognizing the disparities in our laws, Wallis encourages a move toward restorative justice, so that the purpose of the criminal justice system is to repair harm.
It's not just the African American community that faces the impact of original sin. Immigrant communities do so as well. Immigration policy today has become very politicized, and peoples lives are at stake. The system is broken, but there is no political will, despite the fact that both the Roman Catholic Church and evangelicals have been calling for reform. There is, of course, fear in the land that "those people" will come and take over. White America feels threatened. The response isn't pretty. It's also not very Christian.
Racism is our original sin. It affects everything that occurs in our nation. But it need not have the final word. We can build a new bridge. We can cross the bridge to that new America Jim Wallis envisions. We must do so because the demographic shift is leading quickly to a multi-racial country. So will we adapt and embrace the other, or will we dig in our heals. Wallis suggests the former, and I agree.
I believe this is more than an important book. It is an essential book to read. It is important that those who, like me, are white hear from one who is also white calling on us to repent. Repentance is not easy. We prefer a cheap grace that requires nothing of us, but that is not what Wallis offers. So, let us read and consider what it will take to cross the bridge.
Jim Wallis, founder of Sojourners and Christian social activist, has written an important primer on America's original sin. In a book that is deeply personal, Wallis, who is White himself, addresses the often unaddressed problem of White privilege that hangs over our national conversation, including the conversation within the Christian community. He admits, as we who are white and male must do, that he is the beneficiary of a system that rewards those who are white and male. He grew up in Detroit, a city that has been deeply affected by racial divisions and white flight. As an adult he has spent much of his life living in communities where is the minority ethnicity. He encounters with his neighbors has influenced his life and vision. He also admits that "no matter what you do to help overcome racism, you can never escape white privilege in America if you are white" (p. xxii).
This is a challenging book, but it is also a hopeful one. It involves a confession of sin, but it also offers a vision of a bridge to a new America. The cover of the book features the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma, Alabama. Those who crossed that bridge in the 1965 participated in one of the most pivotal moments in the Civil Rights Movement. That is one bridge that has been crossed, but we still bridges to build and to cross so that we can become the nation that Dr. King and others envisioned.
The book begins with the story of race, takes us to Ferguson and Baltimore. It develops the premise of original sin and its legacy. Being theological, there is also a call to repentance, which is more than saying your sorry. Moving further in Wallis talks about dying to "Whiteness." That doesn't mean we who are of European ancestry must feel guilty about our heritage, but does require that we reject the ideology of whiteness, that is the ideology of white supremacy.
An important chapter takes us into the church, which remains largely segregated -- that includes most liberal/progressive congregations. What does a truly multi-racial church look like? Getting here will require intentionality, acknowledgement that diversity isn't an end in itself, developing a spirit of inclusion, and empowering leadership that is multi-racial. This all requires a great deal of adaptability!
Any conversation about race and America cannot avoid discussion of the role of police in our country. Wallis speaks of moving from envisioning the police as warriors to guardians. Serving and protecting needs to be made a priority! It is important to affirm that both black lives and blue lives matter. All of this requires building trust within communities, and this requires moving more fully toward community policing, ending the school-to-prison pipeline, and mass incarceration. Speaking of that, we need to address what has come to be called the "New Jim Crow." The racial disparity of our prison population must be addressed. Much of the problem is rooted in America's drug policies, which affect African American communities much more than other communities. Along with recognizing the disparities in our laws, Wallis encourages a move toward restorative justice, so that the purpose of the criminal justice system is to repair harm.
It's not just the African American community that faces the impact of original sin. Immigrant communities do so as well. Immigration policy today has become very politicized, and peoples lives are at stake. The system is broken, but there is no political will, despite the fact that both the Roman Catholic Church and evangelicals have been calling for reform. There is, of course, fear in the land that "those people" will come and take over. White America feels threatened. The response isn't pretty. It's also not very Christian.
Racism is our original sin. It affects everything that occurs in our nation. But it need not have the final word. We can build a new bridge. We can cross the bridge to that new America Jim Wallis envisions. We must do so because the demographic shift is leading quickly to a multi-racial country. So will we adapt and embrace the other, or will we dig in our heals. Wallis suggests the former, and I agree.
I believe this is more than an important book. It is an essential book to read. It is important that those who, like me, are white hear from one who is also white calling on us to repent. Repentance is not easy. We prefer a cheap grace that requires nothing of us, but that is not what Wallis offers. So, let us read and consider what it will take to cross the bridge.
notesonbookmarks's review against another edition
4.0
I believe that Jim Wallis will be remembered as a white ally who walked the talk on the right side of history. I also think that if he updated this book just these 4 years later, he would have something different to say in his "Blue Lives Matter" chapter.