Jim Wallis, America’s
Original Sin: Racism, White Priviledge,
and the Bridge to a New America (Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2016).
Reviewed by Dorinda Rupe
This is a hard book to read because Wallis is so very
honest in pointing out our societal sins and the hard changes that need to be
made. I feel that all Americans need to read it, especially white Americans,
and then truly look at themselves to determine how each of us, and we as a
society, carry racism within us, often not meaning to, but accepting racist aspects
of society as the okay normal. Often we treat others, not meaning to demean,
but doing so because we haven’t really listened to them and heard their
heartache/pain and let that heartache and pain indwell us. Wallis challenges us
to repent as a society and as individuals, which, of course, means to listen
and then turn our attitudes and behaviors around as needed.
He indicates that the USA was built upon the sin of
racism—the genocide of the American Indians and the slavery of blacks brought
to the USA against their will and terribly, terribly abused/tortured. Despite
progress over the years there are deep and abiding sins still being committed
continually, some by our societal institutions that do not allow the equal
treatment of non-whites, what he calls “lingering racial sins,” and by
individuals, some openly and with hate and others unwittingly.
This truly is a must read book. Wallis has done research
that enlightens the reader and offers ideas and suggestions for moving ahead.
