A review by esnapp1
America's Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege, and the Bridge to a New America, by Jim Wallis
3.0
This is a book evaluating racism and white supremacy by a white, male, Christian pastor. I mistakenly expected there to be more theological evaluation or exploration of the negative impact that the Christian church has had on race relations. What I found was more so the author patting himself on the back for his work throughout the civil right era and beyond.
As I mentioned, this book is written by a white man and it’s definitely written for white Christian people, so my expectations may have been high to begin with. It felt a little too white savior-y for me and he also got a bit too pro-police for me, as well.
Interesting bit though - my city was used as an example for its racist policing record. I volunteer with an organization here that has been bringing this up (the exact same stats) for the last year, and the city officials continue to dismiss us or accusing us of falsifying the stats. I’m going to gladly read this quote for them at the next city council meeting though ☺️
As I mentioned, this book is written by a white man and it’s definitely written for white Christian people, so my expectations may have been high to begin with. It felt a little too white savior-y for me and he also got a bit too pro-police for me, as well.
Interesting bit though - my city was used as an example for its racist policing record. I volunteer with an organization here that has been bringing this up (the exact same stats) for the last year, and the city officials continue to dismiss us or accusing us of falsifying the stats. I’m going to gladly read this quote for them at the next city council meeting though ☺️