Let's Talk About It: Reparations

You are invited to be a part of a pair of conversations on the topic of reparations. These conversations will be happening at both of our sites:

February 6th and 20th at HTLoop following worship

JOIN VIA ZOOM HERE (MEETING ID: 200 920 453 PASSWORD: 068508)

&

February 14th and 28th at HTLakeview following worship

JOIN VIA ZOOM HERE (MEETING ID: 440 750 769 PASSWORD: 402069)

These conversations will be rooted in possibility, not prescription. Before the conversation we invite you to read The Case For Reparations by Ta-Nehisi Coates. If you don't have time to read the full article, we encourage you to focus on these three paragraphs for our conversation:

"And so we must imagine a new country. Reparations—by which I mean the full acceptance of our collective biography and its consequences—is the price we must pay to see ourselves squarely. The recovering alcoholic may well have to live with his illness for the rest of his life. But at least he is not living a drunken lie. Reparations beckons us to reject the intoxication of hubris and see America as it is—the work of fallible humans.

Won’t reparations divide us? Not any more than we are already divided. The wealth gap merely puts a number on something we feel but cannot say—that American prosperity was ill-gotten and selective in its distribution. What is needed is an airing of family secrets, a settling with old ghosts. What is needed is a healing of the American psyche and the banishment of white guilt.

What I’m talking about is more than recompense for past injustices—more than a handout, a payoff, hush money, or a reluctant bribe. What I’m talking about is a national reckoning that would lead to spiritual renewal. Reparations would mean the end of scarfing hot dogs on the Fourth of July while denying the facts of our heritage. Reparations would mean the end of yelling “patriotism” while waving a Confederate flag. Reparations would mean a revolution of the American consciousness, a reconciling of our self-image as the great democratizer with the facts of our history."

Be sure to come with any thoughts or questions you might have as there will be ample small group time for everyone's voice to be heard. Let's talk about it!