Enter the River Study Guide

by Tobin Miller Shearer
Revised July 1997

This study guide is also available in PDF Acrobat format.

• Introduction
  
  
• Sessions
  
  
  • Session 1: Preparing for the journey
    • Handout for Session 1: A quiz about racism
    
    
  • Session 2: Hearing our stories.
    • Handout for Session 2: First memory of race
    
    
  • Session 3: Considering the journey
    
    
  • Session 4: Exploring prejudice
    • Handout for Session 4: Self-examination - Reflecting on Attitudes and Behaviors
    • Handout #2 for Session 4: Self-examination - digging deeper
    
    
  • Session 5: Putting on new lenses
    • Handout for Session 5: Case studies
    
    
  • Session 6: Seeing the world around us
    
    
  • Session 7: White-washed
    • Handout for Session 7: A privilege puzzle
    
    
  • Session 8: Wrestling with privileges
    • Handout for Session 8: Race as science
    • Handout for Session 8: Dates
    
    
  • Session 9: Celebration
    • Handout for Session 9: Cultural tasks
    
    
  • Session 10: Bringing it home to the church
    
    
  • Session 11: Dealing with Controversy
    • Handout for Session 11: Affirmative action - a one-page history
    • Handout for Session 11: Affirmative action - what's included?
    
    
  • Session 12: Where do we go from here?
    • Handout for Session 12: Ally behavior for White people as if it mattered
    
    
  • Session 13: A faithful response
  
  
• Readings for times of prayer and reflection
  
  
• Bibliography

Welcome to a journey! Your decision to lead a study of Enter The River will, I hope, challenge, invigorate and encourage you in the work of dismantling racism.

This guide provides discussion questions, activity ideas, supplemental homework assignments and informational handouts. A limited number of worship resources are also included.

I wrote the guide with the idea that it would be used by primarily European-American audiences. If you are leading this in a racially diverse group, you may need to modify some of the activities to include more people.

If you have questions about how to facilitate a given session or how to conduct a suggested exercise, please feel free to contact me. I'd enjoy talking with you.

Peace,

Tobin Miller Shearer, 1997
(If you'd like to contact Anti-Racism Program staff about this study guide, please email or call (717) 859-3889.)

Goal:

To prepare participants to take biblically based, anti-racist action as individuals and as a group.

Commitment:

The discussion of racism always holds the potential for intensity and conflict. As such it is easy for class members to disengage if the discussion becomes uncomfortable. One way to encourage continuity from class to class is by using a "covenant."

If using this option, prepare a "covenant" or "contract" and invite each person to sign it. A sample covenant could read:


Recognizing that racism is a difficult subject to address, we agree to attend each session of this class throughout this quarter. If work schedule or family emergency dictate otherwise, we will check with another member of the class to hear what happened in the course of our discussion. We do this not to promote legalism, but to encourage our common growth and prepare for faithful response.

While this must be done with sensitivity and flexibility in light of the demands of contemporary work and family commitments, when done well it serves as a call to commitment and consistency.

Prayer Times:

Use worship resources included or listed in this study guide for scripture readings, prayers and litanies at the opening and/or closing of the study time. You may also want to pass these on to your church-wide worship committee for use with the rest of the congregation.

Sessions:

Each session includes discussion questions, additional activity options, and, usually, supplemental handouts. Rarely will you be able to do everything suggested for a given session. Choose those elements that best fit the needs and goals of your setting.

Prior to first session:

Assign foreword and preface.

Yo! Yes! Chris Raschka

Litany of Community, Developing Harmony Through Diversity

"Someone's Crying, Lord: A litany," Creating A New Community

Three litanies, Walking the talk of diversity

"Opening Dialogue" Jody Miller Shearer

"Litany of Confession" Jody Miller Shearer

Luke 9:23-25 Losing life (privilege) to gain it

John 17:22-23 Jesus' prayer for unity

Acts 2:1-11, 43-47 Indwelling of the Holy Spirit

Acts 10:1-36 Peter's vision of inclusivity

Ephesians 2:19-22 Building a new household for God

Galatians 3:26-29 Paul's call for the new community

Revelation 7:9-12 Vision of the new Jerusalem

Adair, Margo and Sharon Howell. Breaking Old Patterns, Weaving New Ties. San Francisco: Tools for Change, 1990.

Barndt, Joseph. Dismantling Racism: The Continuing Challenge to White America. Minneapolis, Minn.: Augsburg Fortress, 1991.

Cruz, Virgil and Jean Cooley. "Breaking Down The Walls: Responding to the Racism that Divides Us." Presbyterian Church, 1991.

Matthias, Dody S. Working For Life: Dismantling Racism. Lima, Ohio: Fairway Press, 1990.

Raschka, Chris. Yo! Yes? New York: Orchard Books, 1993.

Shearer, Jody Miller. Challenging Racism. Newton, Kans.: Faith and Life, 1993.

Shearer, Jody Miller. Enter the River: Healing Steps From White Privilege to Racial Reconciliation. Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 1994.

The following videos are available for loan, free of charge, from Mennonite Central Committee's Resource Library, P.O. Box 500, Akron, PA 17501-0500; (717) 859-1151:

"Free Indeed." A dramatic portrayal of White young adults playing a pre-requisite card game about White privileges prior to doing a work project in an African-American community.

"True Colors." An episode of ABC's Prime Time Live that follows a Black man and a White man with hidden cameras as they attempt to rent apartments, buy a new car, hail cabs, and find a job.