In his Key into the Language of America (1643), the earliest Native American/English grammar, Roger Williams, that colonial disquieter of the religio-political peace, described his experiences with the Narragansets and other Northeastern native tribes: They were hospitable to everybody, whomsoever…
Juneteenth and the promise of freedom
June 19, 1865, is the day when the last enslaved persons in Galveston, Texas, received news that they had been emancipated. Juneteenth, as this day has been called, commemorates in the hearts and minds of Black folks the official end…
The Tulsa Race Massacre is personal to me, and remembering is a holy act
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…