Continuing our “Conversations about Race” series, UMAction Director John Lomperis interviews Mr. Timothy Crisler, former lay leader of the Mississippi Conference of the United Methodist Church.
(For the introduction explaining the purpose and vision of this video series, click here.)
In this interview, Crisler shares his thoughts about how much things have and have not changed, and his response to the feeling of many white Americans that widespread and systemic white racism was already fixed in our country decades ago.
Crisler also shares about such important matters as his own negative past experiences, his native Mississippi’s reckoning with its publicly well-known history, “the talk” African American parents have with their children, and what has given African Americans nightmares.
The video is below:
If you prefer, you can download an audio-only version of this interview here:
Comment by Timothy on July 9, 2020 at 11:10 pm
I live in a city of about 1 million souls. I’m white and now moved to the suburbs. Some of my Black friends still believe there’s KKK and Aryan nation types EVERYWHERE. I keep telling them I’ve never met a KKK member or Aryan nation type. Yet this urban myth persists. Race baiters, news media and social media have pushed this misinformation to scare Blacks and incite hatred and violence. I should know; I was a reporter in the corrupt media for many years. The media will dig deep to find an isolated, troubled white person or tiny group, who claims KKK ties, then push this fear porn into our homes on a regular basis.
Comment by Lee Cary on July 10, 2020 at 10:22 am
Thank you, Timothy. You described an entrenched media tactic – “race baiting” via slanted reporting, designed to spread alarm. The specialty of white J-School grads.
The three years I spend in the US Army was the only time I escaped race baiting from any source. My CO was an Inuit from Alaska, and the two black senior sergeants were among the finest men I ever knew.
Comment by Rebecca on July 11, 2020 at 2:51 pm
It is a shame no one will speak about the elephant in the room. And that is the increasing crime rate in black communities. The crime rate across society has increased since the Great Society, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The crime rate hit a peak in the 1980s, about twenty years after the Civil Rights Act- one generation. Also, the cause of crime was said to be largely due to no fathers in the home. But, what has been done since? In 1970, the California No Fault Divorce legislation was put into effect in order to get rid of support for Christian marriage and stable relationships. School textbooks praise the fact that very few real Christian marriages take place today. Anyway, it seems we are to just accept crime of any sort, as no solutions are forthcoming. And, Christians cannot accept crime, and still call themselves Christians. Solutions anyone?
Comment by Lee Cary on July 11, 2020 at 4:41 pm
Rebecca, it’s not “elephant in the room,” it IS the room.
The “Great Society” and the “War on Poverty” (not to mention the failed “War on Drugs”) are part of the Progressive Movements agenda of the 2nd half of the 20th Century that has brought monumental failures to urban America.
The Democratic Party drove the agenda, while the Republican Party played golf. The suffering of consequences may have just begun. The Big Blue Cities – most run by Democrats for decades – are crumbling, in all respects. A retconning is underway.
Comment by Ed Nagy on July 13, 2020 at 8:35 pm
The term “BLACK LIVES MATTER “ has come into the media especially during the protest at the time of the murder of George Floyd.
Is this the name of an established organization?