1921 is personal to me. It is personal for two reasons. 1921 was the year of my mother’s birth in Muskogee, Okla. Had she lived, she would be 100 years old this coming September. My mom used to say, “If…
Is it now illegal to mention the Tulsa Race Massacre in the classrooms of Oklahoma?
On June 1, 1921, the Greenwood district of Tulsa, home to more than 10,000 Black residents, was intentionally destroyed by a white mob. An estimated 300 Black residents died; close to 1,000 were seriously injured. Every home in the 30-block…
When did ‘woke’ become a four-letter word?
The Texas Legislature is currently considering bills forbidding the teaching in public schools of Critical Race Theory or the notion that America’s founding on slavery and taking land from indigenous people might in any way complicate the greatness of our…
Naming and un-naming: Slavery, schools and the present moment
Wake Forest College was founded by North Carolina Baptists in the town of Wake Forest in 1834. The Reverend Samuel Wait, the school’s first president, was a slaveholder, as were his three successors, including the Reverend Washington Manly Wingate, the…
Now there appear to be three paths for once-united Methodists
For more than half a century, leaders of The United Methodist Church have seen the denomination as a “big tent,” a place where different theological and ecclesiastical identities could co-exist and perhaps even co-mingle as a single entity. Now that…
Reflecting on a Baylor commencement 60 years later
“Oh, what a beautiful morning.” Those words obviously were made famous in the song by that title in the Broadway Musical Oklahoma!, which is my home state. I gladly loaned them to Texas on the morning of May 6 and…
Barna: Racism a reality even in multiracial churches
Multiracial churches are growing in the U.S., which may seem like a good thing. Unless you are Black. “Almost three in 10 Black practicing Christians in a multiracial church (29%) say they have experienced racial prejudice on some level,” the…
Five reasons churches should not embrace reaching a multiethnic culture
As a writer, there are some stories that I cannot believe I get to lend my voice to the narrative. However, over the years, I have learned to be honest with myself when it comes to the issue of race…
That’s just the way it is? Don’t you believe it
One afternoon almost 20 years ago, I was sitting in my office at Baylor University when my desk phone rang. Even in those days, I usually ignored it. It was much more likely to be a telemarketer than a student…
Losing my religion
Do we really wonder why so many people are leaving organized religion? A new Gallup poll has found that for the first time, the proportion of Americans who say they are members of a church, synagogue or mosque has dropped…
George Floyd found innocent, and we can breathe again
There were those who were holding their breath and did not even know it. They had suspended their respiration — instinctively but unconsciously — because for so long, none of us have been able to breathe in an atmosphere polluted…
Learn about the kinds of oppression that are different than your oppression, McMickle urges
Black Christians engaged in the struggle for racial justice must not turn a blind eye to the oppression in church and culture of gays and lesbians, women and Latinx, Asian and Native Americans, author and scholar Marvin A. McMickle said…