The children鈥檚 song says we are all precious in His sight, but apparently that is not true in America. The Lost Cause narrative (as explained by ) comes post-Civil War, when an economy formerly propped up by slave labor was grasping at ways to ensure its power over African Americans (now technically free). It idealizes the antebellum South as virtuous and heroic. Tisby states, 鈥淎ccording to The Lost Cause narrative, the South wanted nothing more than to be left alone to preserve its idyllic civilization, but it was attacked by the aggressive, godless North, who swooped in to disrupt a stable society, calling for emancipation and inviting the intrusion of the federal government into small-town, rural life.鈥� This narrative fueled white supremacy and organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan.

The Lost Cause narrative has been cleverly regurgitated as Trump鈥檚 鈥淢ake America Great Again鈥� slogan. Using this story of an idealized time, our current President has played on the fears of many white Americans: an 鈥渋nvasion鈥� of Latinxs will steal jobs, increase crime, and disrupt society. He鈥檚 re-introduced an old, evil message: America was greatest when it was oppressing, harkening back to the days of nearly complete economic, spiritual, and social power of whites over people of color. The old America murdered, raped, and dehumanized African Americans long before and after the Civil War ended. America does not hesitate to do the same to other people of color. It’s not that things have drastically shifted since then, but he’s telling us they have.

2019鈥檚 massacre of Latinxs in El Paso and the Mississippi deportations are nothing more than the proliferation of the slave-era mentality, and The Lost Cause narrative 鈥� America would be greater without you. Trump and his supporters bank on Christian silence and complicity to spread their message of fear. The calls for peace, prayers, and reconciliation are platitudes that call us to overlook racism鈥檚 death wish for Latinxs and other people of color. I, too, want peace 鈥� a peace that comes after violence and wrongdoing have been addressed. There can be no peace without collective repentance (including mine) for the murders of innocent men, women, and children. Whether we have laughed at racist jokes, used stereotypes to justify our actions, or actually pulled the trigger of a gun, we have participated in a culture that hates difference.

When I am asked if I love my enemies, I can confidently say, 鈥測es.鈥� But loving my enemies means telling the truth, not sacrificing my family on an altar to the god of white supremacy.

“Jesus stood against the status quo, speaking truth to power and I must choose to engage life with the courage to advocate for myself and others.”

Am I angry? 鈥淵es.鈥� I am angry at the ways I have relied on the typical American narrative from textbooks written by people with power. I am angry that having acknowledged the harm done by my country I鈥檝e stood frozen and voiceless. And, I am angry at the proliferation of fear and dehumanization of Latinxs and other people of color.

We need to have conversations with our neighbors, family members, co-workers 鈥� the friend sitting next to us at church, and the leaders of those churches and organizations about the big and little ways white supremacy is still playing out today. I heard a white woman in her 80鈥檚, examine the stereotypes she has about people of other races. She questioned where she had learned to be afraid of men of color and is countering those stereotypes when they pop up. This is the kind of thinking we all need to be engaged in.

I belong to Jesus. His life of love is a beacon of hope. His offer of redemption is inclusive to white, black, red, yellow, brown, and anything in-between people. His message of reconciliation is a call for honoring all people. May Jesus find his way into our lives as hope, redemption, reconciliation and honor as we face racism鈥檚 violent past, present and future.

The post Precious in His Sight, Not Welcome in America appeared first on 天美视频 of Theology & Psychology.

The Relational Perspectives Series was founded by Dr. Roy Barsness in 2008 with the vision of creating an intimate, accessible environment to engage with relational and analytic theorists and clinicians who are contributing innovative, compelling work to the fields of psychology and psychotherapy.

The two-part event will focus on psychoanalytic perspectives on the roots of racism and xenophobia, and psychoanalytic understandings of sociocultural context in psychotherapy.聽

In her Friday evening public lecture at 天美视频, on September 20, Dr. Usha Tummala-Narra will speak on Why the Hate?: Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Immigrants, Race, and Caste in Contemporary U.S. Recent policies in the U.S., such as those resulting in heightened policing of Black and Brown people and deportation of undocumented immigrants and separation of children from parents have made explicit the connection between racism and xenophobia. These policies and the broader xenophobic and racist sociopolitical climate in which they are implemented have important implications for intrapsychic life and interpersonal relationships. 天美视频 is proud to partner with the Northwest Alliance for Psychoanalytic Study to offer this public lecture as part of the Relational Perspectives Series. The Alliance is a non-profit interdisciplinary organization dedicated to making psychoanalytic knowledge available and useful to interested professionals and the larger community in the Pacific Northwest.聽

Dr. Usha Tummala-Narra will return on Saturday, September 21 for a workshop titled Culturally Informed Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy. Saturday鈥檚 workshop will have a particular focus on indigenous narrative and the complexity of cultural identity formation within the context of choice and constraint. This workshop is reserved for 天美视频 alumni and current students. The general public is warmly invited to learn with us as we hear from Dr. Tummala-Narra at the public lecture on Friday, September 20, 7:30-9:00pm.聽

The post Dr. Usha Tummala-Narra named as Relational Perspective Series lecturer appeared first on 天美视频 of Theology & Psychology.