While my writings seek to aid us in the ministry of reconciliation as we must view race differently, it cannot be said often enough that there is much work to be done.  If we are to have healthy cross- cultural relationships, we must communicate authentically.  If we are to stand in unity, then the ground must be level.

This week, the U.N. Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent released its preliminary recommendations and its members are “extremely concerned about the human rights situation of African-Americans.”  The chair Mireille Fanon Mendes-France of France said, “The colonial history, the legacy of enslavement, racial subordination and segregation, racial terrorism and racial inequality in the U.S. remains a serious challenge as there has been no real commitment to reparations and to truth and reconciliation for people of African descent.”  After meeting for more than a week with persons from Baltimore, Chicago, District of Columbia, Jackson, Mississippi, New York City and Philadelphia, they likened the treatment of African Americans to that which preceded the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 60s.

While reparations is highlighted, the group calls for much more.  The reparations must not only be financial but social, political, personal and relational. Click here to read the full article.