I am speaking from my personal experience.  I do not claim to be an expert on this issue, but I have been blessed with a number of experiences related to this recently.  I hope my experiences might be of use to you.  I feel it is essential for Friends’ own spiritual integrity to address this now.

Four years ago I was struggling for ways to address racism in my own life.  I had become increasingly upset by the privileges I have in our society based solely on the color of my skin, and denied others based on theirs.  The lack of diversity in the Midwest means these issues often seem removed from our daily lives, and is also the reason it can be more of a challenge to address them.  Friends are often bewildered when they are challenged about their privilege.  We have hundreds of years of history of building…