Healing Racial Divides: A Review

A positive aspect of teaching classes for Central Seminary (Shawnee, KS) has been the diversity of the student body. In addition to working with students from a number of denominations, I also have the opportunity to engage students of different racial and ethnic backgrounds. I have especially learned from the experiences of African-American Christians who have been willing to share not only their church culture but their personal experiences as well. Even with this exposure, I still have a lot to learn about relating across the racial gap, so I appreciate Terrell Carter’s informative and challenging book Healing Racial Divides: Finding Strength in Our Diversity.

Dr. Terrell Carter is an artist (he provided the cover art), pastor, theologian, educator, and former police officer. He combines these experiences with the insights of theology, the social sciences, law, and cultural analysis to address the key issue in American life--the racial divide that inhibits our interactions and poisons public discourse. Carter’s very personal engagement with the topic encourages us to find strength rather than division in our diversity. His approach is fresh, informative, and a source of healing.

In Healing Racial Divides, Carter helps us:

Understand the roots of racism in the world, the church, and ourselves;
Gain a biblical perspective on the sin of racism, as well as the biblical call to Christian unity;
Examine how racism continues to be perpetuated in America today;
Explore the concept of "white normality" and its aftereffects;
Discover a way across the divide through the creation of multi-cultural relationships, churches and communities.

I think you will find Carter’s observations not only informative but uncomfortable, especially if you are not an African-American. I appreciate his willingness to tackle this tough subject.

(Note: The book will not be released until January 2019, but it is available now for pre-order on Amazon.)

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