Day 8: What is racism?
"[Racism is a mystery of evil that includes] the base belief that some of us are more important, deserving and worthy than others. It includes the ugly conviction that this country and its history and opportunities and resources as well as our economic and political life belong more properly to ‘white’ people than to people of color. This is a perverse way of thinking that divides people based on heritage and tone of skin into ‘us’ and ‘them’, ‘worthy’ and ‘unworthy’, paving the way to dehumanization."                                                                                                                           - Bishop Mark Seitz, "Night Will Be No More" (2019)

• In their research, the National Museum of African American Culture and History found that the American concept of race developed alongside slavery and other forms of oppression of non-European peoples. The research authors argue that this history has left deep divisions of inequality in our nation ("Historical Foundations of Race").  
• Do you believe that racism still exists in our country? Why or why not?  What graces do you need to listen respectfully to those who believe differently than you?

Day 9: The Standard is Justice
"Too many good and faithful Catholics remain unaware of the connection between institutional racism and the continued erosion of the sanctity of life.  We are not finished with the work.  The evil of racism festers in part because, as a nation, there has been very limited formal acknowledgement of the harm done to so many, no moment of atonement, no national process of reconciliation and, all too often a neglect of our history. Many of our institutions still harbor, and too many of of our laws still sanction, practices that deny justice and equal access to certain groups of people.  God demands more from us.  We cannot, therefore, look upon the progress against racism in recent decades and conclude that our current situtation meets the standard of justice.  In fact, God demands what is right and just." - Open Wide Our Hearts, USCCB (2018)

"Racism is like the corn syrup of society - it's in everything." -Trevor Noah, The Daily Show, 6/10/2020

• In the video, "Race in America," Phil Vischer explores the history of discrimination against African Americans, and its impact on our country today. He concludes by saying, "I am not here to tell you what the solutions [to racism] are, because I don't know. I am just here to ask you to do one thing.  It is the thing that begins the journey for every solution to every problem. What am I asking you to do? Care."
• What did you hear in the video that surprised or upset you? Is there a particular issue you want to know more about (i.e., redlining, vagrancy laws, Jim Crow laws, desegregation)?  Take some time today to learn about it.

"Let the church proclaim to all that the sin of racism defiles the image of God and degrades the sacred dignity of humankind which has been revealed by the mystery of the Incarnation. Let all know that it is a terrible sin that mocks the cross of Christ and ridicules the Incarnation. For the brother and sister of our brother Jesus Christ are brother and sister to us."                                                                                                                    - Brothers and Sisters to Us, USCCB (1979)

• Beginning in the late 1800's, thousands of Native American children were taken from their families and placed in boarding schools (later, in foster homes).  Native children were taught that they must forget their connections to their families, languages, and cultures in order to become "civilized."  In the brief documentary, "How the US Stole Thousands of Native American Children," activist Terri Yellowhammer explains the impact of these policies on Native families: "Without our relatives, we cease to exist."
• What did you hear in the video that surprised or upset you? Is there a particular issue you want to know more about (i.e., Indian boarding schools, the reservation system, the Indian Children's Welfare Act)?  Take some time today to learn about it.

Day 11: Racism is a sin against justice.

The Lord's question: "What have you done?", which Cain cannot escape, is addressed also to the people of today, to make them realize the extent and gravity of the attacks against life which continue to mark human history; to make them discover what causes these attacks and feeds them; and to make them ponder seriously the consequences which derive from these attacks for the existence of individuals and peoples."          -  Evangelum Vitae ,St. Pope John Paul II (1995)

• The short video "Terror Lynchings in America," describes how, beginning in the 1870's, former Confederate states passed racist laws meant to re-establish slavery in all but name.  These "Jim Crow" laws were enforced by a system of domestic terrorism which encouraged acts of violence against African American citizens who "stepped out of line."  In the period between 1870-1950, more than 4,400 African American people were lynched for "offenses" such as bumping into a white person, correcting white children in public, or simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. 
• In another short video, " How is Lynching Related to the Death Penalty Today?" Brian Stevenson, Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative (and the lawyer whose story is told in the book and movie, "Just Mercy") calls the modern death penalty the "stepchild" of lynching.  "We used this threat of lethal violence through an electric chair to replace the threat that created through hanging. And I don't think it's an accident that the states with the highest lynching rates  are the states with the highest execution rates." 
• What did you hear in the videos that surprised or upset you? Is there a particular issue you want to know more about (i.e., the legacy of lynching in America, race and capital punishment, racial bias in criminal sentencing, criminal justice and disenfranchisement, the Equal Justice Initiative )?  Take some time today to learn about it.

Day 12: Racism is a sin against the dignity of the human person.

As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit . . . God has so constructed the body as to give greater honor to a part that is without it, so that there may be no division in the body, but that the parts may have the same concern for one another. If [one] part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy."                                                - I Corinthians 12:12-13;24-26

• Poet Caroline Randall Williams' essay, "My Body is a Confederate Monument," begins with this powerful line: "I have rape-colored skin."  She goes on to reflect on the brutal violence of slavery, particularly against enslaved women: "I am a black, Southern woman, and of my immediate white male ancestors, all of them were rapists. My very existence is a relic of slavery and Jim Crow."
• The short video, "The US Medical System is Still Haunted by Slavery" tells the story of how, beginning in the 1830's, American medical science relied on racist psuedo-scientific theories to justify conducting unethical medical proceedures on African Americans. These theories de-humanized African Americans, and allowed doctors to justify using them for experiementation, including sterilization and organ removal. In the twentieth century, African American women were targeted for birth control campaigns which included forced sterilization. Medical ethicist Harriet Washington explains why:  "African American babies were no longer economically valuable, and African Americans themselves had gone from being a resource, to a nuisance.
• What did you hear in the video / read in the article that surprised or upset you? Is there a particular issue you want to know more about (i.e., the rule of hypodescent [aka, the "one drop rule"], Confederate monuments, medical experimentation on African Americans, Planned Parenthood, "Negro Medicine", polygenecy)?  Take some time today to learn about it.

Day 13: Examen: Racism is a Soul Sickness
"If we are honest, racism is really about advancing, shoring up, and failing to oppose a system of white privilege and advantage based on skin color. When this system begins to shape our public choices, structure our common life together and becomes a tool of class, this is rightly called institutionalized racism. Action to build this system of hate and inaction to oppose its dismantling are what we rightly call white supremacy. This is the evil one and the ‘father of lies’ (John 8, 44) incarnate in our everyday choices and lifestyles, and our laws and institutions. 

The theologian Father Bryan Massingale has aptly named all of this soul sickness. Truly we suffer from a life-threatening case of hardening of the heart. In a day when we prefer to think that prejudice and intolerance are problems of the past, we still find acceptable groups to treat as less than human, to look down upon and to fear."                                                                                                                                                                - Bishop Mark Seitz, "Night Will Be No More" (2019)

• In the Beatitudes, Jesus tells us, "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, they will be satisfied." Reflect on these words as you listen to this beautiful verson of the Beatitudes by a capella group Sweet Honey in the Rock. 
• Look over your prayer journal from the past week, and reflect: Where am I satisfied with my actions on behalf of racial justice? Where do I still hunger for justice?

Day 14: Call to Action 
"The injustice and harm racism causes are an attack on human life. The Church in the United States has spoken out consistently and forcefully against abortion, assisted suicide, euthanasia, the death penalty, and other forms of violence that threaten human life. It is not a secret that these attacks on human life have severely affected people of color, who are disproportionally affected by poverty, targeted for abortion, have less access to healthcare, have the greatest numbers on death row, and are most likely to feel pressure to end their lives when facing serious illness. As bishops, we unequivocally state that racism is a life issue. Accordingly, we will not cease to speak forcefully against and work toward ending racism. Racism directly places brother and sister against each other, violating the dignity inherent in each person. The Apostle James commands the Christian: “show no partiality as you adhere to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ” (Jas 2:1)"     - Open Wide Our Hearts, USCCB, 2018

• In 1899, African American poet James Weldon Johnson asked his brother John Rosemond Johnson to set one of his poems to music.  The result of the Johnson brothers' collaboration is the beautiful anthem, "Lift Every Voice and Sing,." Because of its powerful, spiritual appeal to oppressed African Americans at the beginning of the twentieth century it also came to be known as the "Negro National Anthem."  (Be sure to listen to this stunning version by Stanford Talisman, an a capella group from Stanford University)
• The song is essentially a prayer. It gives thanks to God, who has brought African Americans through the brutality of slavery, and asks for His continued help as they strive for true freedom.  You can read the lyrics here. The final verse says: 

• This week we have reflected on some very difficult and disturbing topics.  Perhaps you are hearing these stories for the first time; or perhaps, one or more of these stories reflected your own experience. Take a moment now and pay attention to any feelings that these stories have brought up for you (anger, frustration, sadness, overwhelmed, etc.) Name these feelings, and allow Jesus to come and sit with you as you reflect on them.
• Choose one topic that you found especially compelling, challenging, or interesting this week. Commit to pray about this topic every day, for the next seven days.  Specifically, ask God if he is asking you to take action on this topic.
• Ask St. Katharine Drexel (or your own patron saint) to pray with you this week as you discern.