Seeing My Skin
211 pages
English

Vous pourrez modifier la taille du texte de cet ouvrage

Seeing My Skin , livre ebook

211 pages
English

Vous pourrez modifier la taille du texte de cet ouvrage

Description

A personal journey of a priest’s understanding of his Whiteness widens into an invitation to wrestle with larger cultural issues of race and belonging

With humor, and a sharp, easily-readable style, Peter Jarrett-Schell delves deeply into how Whiteness has shaped his life. By telling his story, he challenges readers to personally consider the role of race in their own lives. In recent years, white institutions, congregations, and individuals have all begun to wrestle with their racial legacy. But these reflections often get lost abstracting ideas of “white privilege,” “white fragility,” “structural racism,” and the like, until they become nothing more than jargon. This book challenges its readers to look closely at how these concepts show up in their everyday lives. By examining how Whiteness has distorted his own perceptions, relationships, and sense of self, Jarrett-Schell argues for the personal stakes that white people have in dismantling racism, and offers the creative possibilities that emerge when we begin to do the work.


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Publié par
Date de parution 17 août 2019
Nombre de lectures 0
EAN13 9781640651937
Langue English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0750€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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Advance praise for Seeing My Skin
Peter Jarrett-Schell s vignettes, from childhood to present, paint a picture of the learnings and limitations awaiting white people striving to be racial allies and accomplices. Through humility and vulnerability, Jarrett-Schell drew me into his ongoing efforts to responsibly navigate racism inside and outside his interracial family and work relationships. In a way no other book has done for me, Seeing My Skin made visceral the reality that living in white skin will always dull my ability to sense racial danger, requiring me to develop and nurture cross-racial relationships that help direct my energies in ways that disrupt, not perpetuate, patterns of whiteness.
-Deborah Kittredge Irving, racial justice educator and author of Waking Up White, and Finding Myself in the Story of Race
Seeing My Skin is an important read; it is important because it is a conversation; it is a confession; it is a guide for anyone who is serious about eradicating race in this country. While Jarrett-Schell claims that it is not theological, it is a book for such a time as this. Perhaps for Whites to truly understand race in America, how life is lived in Black skin, they must take a walk on the wild side and see life-experience life-through the eyes of people for whom they would lay down their lives: the black children most will never have.
-The Rev. Gayle Fisher-Stewart, PhD, Calvary Episcopal Church, The Center for the Study of Faith in Justice Calvary
In his stunning new book, Seeing My Skin , Peter Schell recalls a series of haunting encounters with friends, family, and strangers and considers the seductive power and incalculable costs of his Whiteness. This vital work is essential reading for White people ready to confront the insidious workings of Whiteness in their own lives and in the world around them.
-Jacob Slichter, Adjunct Professor of Creative Writing, Sarah Lawrence College, and author of So You Want to Be a Rock Roll Star
A riveting, all-too-convincing testimony to the endemic and institutionalized racism in which all white Americans still participate, regardless how pure our motives or whether we notice or not. Jarrett-Schell helps me sense how dimly I ve understood my own blithe, lifelong trajectory along the rails of race. To me this book is more revealing than any other I ve read about the racist order of things in our country and why general White liberal goodwill in itself won t change the way things are.
-Alan Venable, author of Hope s Kids: A Voting Rights Summer
Seeing My Skin is an invitation to enter into the interior struggle of a White man who acknowledges the racialized air that he has been breathing. This air claims to sustain him as a White man, at the same time he realizes this same air is toxic to those who are not defined as White. It is like a fish who willingly jumps out of the water to see what water is like, all the while gasping for water. Through memory re-membered with the wisdom of age, experiences, and honest relationships with those who are not White, Jarrett-Schell debriefs his experiences by shedding light on the hidden, deep, dark, systemic racism that so shaped him and the United States. He offers no easy answers; instead, he shares his willingness to step out of denial, resist the temptation to turn back, and stay in this uncomfortable, uncompromising, and discerning place. His tenacity and courage to hang in there to keep digging into the deep, dark abyss of Whiteness is refreshing. His faith in his family and the people of his church is what holds him in this in-between place-not to make everything all right, or smooth things out for him, but to hold him accountable while supporting him to walk this life-long journey that will have impacts for the next generation: his son, his church, and his readers. This is a must-read for anyone who cares about the state of race relations in the United States.
-Eric Law, director, The Kaleidoscope Institute
From the beginning to the end of this important book, Jarrett-Schell takes us beyond jargon and deep into the world of Whiteness by means of a riveting and deeply personal series of flashbacks and erudite reflections. Any of us who claim the term White must interrogate the contours of privilege and cross-examine our own assumptions, intentions, and values about race. Jarrett-Schell s intimate unpacking of Whiteness in his own life is a brilliant example of what we all must do. Insightful, at times surprisingly humorous, and always honest, Seeing My Skin asks the deep questions of identity, invites us to join in on the long and hard work of dismantling White supremacy, and compassionately shows us the path of love and right relationship. This is an excellent book highly recommended for book clubs, churches, seminarians, and all people concerned with social justice working for liberation in our world.
-Dr. Jason B. Crawford, Humanities Instructor at Champlain College, Saint-Lambert, Quebec, and Lecturer in Christian Social Ethics at the Montreal School of Theology
(A STORY OF WRESTLING WITH WHITENESS)
PETER JARRETT-SCHELL
For Rondesia, to whom 40 percent of all credit is due. For Joshua, to whom is due the best of myself.
Copyright 2019 by Peter Jarrett-Schell
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.
Unless otherwise noted, the Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Church Publishing 19 East 34th Street New York, NY 10016 www.churchpublishing.org
Cover design by Paul Soupiset Typeset by Rose Design
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Jarrett-Schell, Peter, author.
Title: Seeing my skin : a story of wrestling with whiteness / Peter Jarrett-Schell.
Description: New York : Church Publishing, 2019.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019002071 (print) LCCN 2019022050 (ebook) ISBN 9781640651937 (ebook) ISBN 9781640651920 (pbk.)
Subjects: LCSH: Jarrett-Schell, Peter. Episcopal Church-Clergy-Biography. Race awareness. Ethnic attitudes. Whites-Race identity.
Classification: LCC BX5995.J275 (ebook) LCC BX5995.J275 A3 2019 (print) DDC 305.809/073-dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019002071
Contents
Prologue
Introduction
PART I San Francisco
PART II New Haven
PART III El Salvador
PART IV Berkeley
PART V Virginia
PART VI Maryland
PART VII Ethiopia
PART VIII Maryland,Again
PART IX DC
PART X Trayvon 1995-2012; Joshua Ibrahim 2013-?
PART XI An Election and Afterwards
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
Prologue
I scroll through the post one last time, scanning for grammatical and spelling errors. I think I ve already corrected them all, though it s hard to tell. My eyes won t quite focus right and my thumbs ache from an hour of typing on my smartphone. I confirm the edits, change the privacy settings to public, and hit Save. The updated post appears on my feed: Peter Jarrett Schell with Ronald Jarrett and Rondesia Jarrett Schell Yesterday Edited

While driving on the first leg of our road trip to Florida, with my wife, my son, and my brother-in-law, I noticed a white Dodge Charger in my rear view, tailgating me. After a couple minutes, I moved into the left lane to let him pass. He followed me. Then he turned on the flashing lights of the now-revealed undercover car. I pulled to the shoulder.
I ve been stopped by police before (always for traffic violations that were my fault). However, several things immediately seemed unusual about this stop.
One. Two officers emerged from their car and approached ours from the passenger side, where my brother was sitting. The lead officer knocked at his window, and asked first for his license, not mine.
Two. After checking my license as well, and the registration of our rental car, and after the officer informed me he was only giving me a warning for changing lanes without signaling (he was correct), he asked me to step out of the car. While his partner stood by our car, he walked me back to their patrol car, and asked me what I had in my pockets (keys, a wallet, and my phone).
Three. He asked me to take a seat in their car, and closed the door behind me. He took his seat on the driver s side, turned, and began to ask me questions.
How do you know the other people in that car?
They re my family: my wife, son, and brother-in-law.
Where are you going?
To Florida on vacation. We might stop in Augusta, Georgia, to visit my wife s father.
Where does he live in Augusta?
Honestly, I couldn t tell you.
Where did you come from?
Washington.
What time did you leave out?
Around eleven, I think.
Why did it take you so long?
There was traffic all the way from Quantico to Norfolk.
Where did you rent the car?
In Maryland.
From which rental company?
I don t know, my brother rented it.
Are you driving straight through to Florida?
No, we re stopping in Fayetteville for the night.
Why?
My son is two. He needs a break.
Is your license valid?
Yes.
If I checked your vehicle, would I find anything illegal?
No.
No marijuana, or cocaine?
No.
Four. As I answered, I noticed his partner was leaning in the rear passenger side window where my son was sitting. His hand was on his belt.
Five. After asking me these questions, he left the car and went to talk with my family. I checked the door handle to see if I could open it from the inside and get out in case . . . of something. In retrospect, this could have been a mistake. Thankfully nothing happened. It wouldn t open, anyway.
Six. After talking with Ron and Rondesia, he conferred with his partner for several minutes. The off

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